Death on the Move - A Dan Rhodes Mystery (Dan Rhodes Mysteries): Bill Crider: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Someone in Blacklin County, Texas, is being disrespectful of the dead, and Sheriff Dan Rhodes must put a stop to it.
First, there's the matter of the bodies at Ballinger's Funeral Home and the apparent misplacing of their valuables; the bereaved are beside themselves. There'd best be immediate action or the bell could toll again, this time for Sheriff Dan's reputation as the guardian of justice and decency in these parts.
As if that weren't enough to contend with, yet another body tumbles into Sheriff Dan's path—out of a closet this time, and trussed up in most unsavory fashion. More disrespect, but obviously a separate case from the funeral home. Or is it?
Meanwhile, with Hack Jensen and his sidekick Lawton (more comic than cop team) minding the jail, thank heavens there's Deputy Ruth Grady for backup. On the personal front, his fiancee, Ivy Daniel, is supportive as always, but a mystery rears its perplexing head here as well—namely, will Sheriff Dan propose or will he not?
Tough questions on every side, and guess who's expected to come up with the answers before he gets carried away by Death On the Move?
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Cursed to Death - A Dan Rhodes Mystery (Dan Rhodes Mysteries): Bill Crider: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: In tiny Blacklin County, Texas, a curse is nothing more than a four-letter word hollered in a barroom or muttered in the heat. So Sheriff Dan Rhodes is more curious than concerned when he dutifully responds to a complaint of witchcraft.
When Dr. Samuel Martin, the local dentist — and unpopular landlord — claims he's been hexed by a tenant, Rhodes does his best to smooth things out between the distressed D.D.S. and the would-be witch. But in two shakes of a black cat's tail, the good doctor disappears... and his wife turns up bludgeoned to death.
For Rhodes, it means there's a bad moon rising over Blacklin County. And now he's got to do the voodoo he does best — asking pointed questions and extracting the painful truth from some tight-lipped suspects who also bite...
You can see the full title of this book on the cover to the left. It's an entertaining biography of Davy Crockett, but it's also a road trip, a story about the power of myth and Walt Disney, and a lot more.
One of the amazing things about Born on a Mountaintop is the number of people who were influenced by the Walt Disney version of Crockett's story to devote a big part of their lives to research into Crockett's life and to preserving his memory. Thompson is just one of them, and in his case it's a generational thing. His young daughter became instantly enchanted when she heard the famous song from which the book draws its title. And is there anybody around my age who can't sing the rest of the line that follows the title? And more besides? In addition to the song, at least in the daughter's case, there's even a Nic Cage connection. Who would have guessed?
What did I learn from the book? Here are two things I'll remember. One, Crockett preferred to be called David. And two, he was quite likely the first author ever to go on a promotional tour for his book. Now we know who's to blame.
Thompson wants to try to separate the truth about Crockett from the myths, and he spends a year "walking where Davy walked," visiting all the places where Crockett lived or passed some time. In every one of them there's a local historian who knows all the stories, some of which might even be true. One conclusion that Thompson reaches, however, is that there's no way to be sure, no way to separate the myth from the reality in every case or even in most cases. Thompson does an admirable job of presenting the stories and the evidence supporting or debunking them, and he does it with skill and in an engaging writing style that makes reading the book a lot of fun.
The most controversial part of Crockett's life is his death, and Thompson spends a lot of time discussing how Crockett might have met his end at the Alamo. He does a great job of it, too, though again, nobody knows what really happened and never will.
Three more things I learned. If I knew, I'd forgotten that Tom Blackburn, a western writer whose name I've seen on many books but never read, wrote the screenplay for the Disney series. Also, Blackburn wrote the lyrics for the famous song. I hope he had a piece of the action. Finally, Fess Parker got the role of Crockett because of his bit part in Them.
I liked this book a lot, and it's highly recommended for anybody who's curious about Crockett, about the Alamo, or about how a three-hour TV series can change the world.
Leonard Q. Ross, The Dark Corner, Century Mystery, 1945
AFP:: A lost medieval city that thrived on a mist-shrouded Cambodian mountain 1,200 years ago has been discovered by archaeologists using revolutionary airborne laser technology, a report said.
Stewart Sterling, Five Alarm Funeral, Handi-Books, 1944
Johnny Smith, Revered Guitar Player, Has Died : The Record : NPR: The man who wrote the surf guitar anthem "Walk, Don't Run" has died. Guitarist Johnny Smith died Tuesday night at his Colorado home of natural causes. He would have been 91 years old on June 25.
Smith's tune was a Top 10 hit for The Ventures — twice. The group's 1960 recording hit No. 2. They re-recorded it in '64 and that version got up to No. 8 — at that time, the first occurrence of the same song by the same group cracking the Top 10 twice. The Ventures never heard the songwriter's '54 recording of "Walk, Don't Run." Instead, they took their version from a '57 Chet Atkins record. Chet, being the Southern gentleman that he was, asked Smith's permission after one of Smith's shows at the celebrated jazz venue Birdland in New York City. Smith readily agreed but Atkins insisted the composer hear his arrangement of it. So he played it on Smith's guitar in his dressing room.
Flag Day (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened on that day in 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress.[1] The United States Army also celebrates the Army Birthday on this date; Congress adopted "the American continental army" after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole on June 14, 1775.[2][3]
When Jack Vance died, I thought about which book of his I might like to reread. But then it occurred to me that I had a Vance book that I'd never read. It's a paperback in such good shape that I kind of hated to read it, but I figured that now was the time. So I took it off the shelf and out of its little plastic bag and read it.
Robert Struve, age 13, is riding a borrowed motor scooter when he's hit by a car being steered by an 8-year-old girl named Julie Hovard (she's sitting in her father's lap). The accident results in a fire that severely burns Robert's face. His mother can't afford plastic surgery, and Robert comes to accept his looks. He drives himself at school and at football and does very well both academically and on the field. As a senior he's invited to a sorority party, and as part of their initiation several girls, including Julie, are supposed to kiss him. Robert has no idea that Julie was responsible for his facial disfigurement, but the prank upsets him. He attacks her (not seriously) and is sent to reform school.
Years later one of the other girls is murdered, her face slashed. Her husband confesses, but her brother is sure someone else did the deed. And then he finds out that Robert has been released from reform school. While there, he had plastic surgery, and no one knows what he looks like now. And there's a new guy in town. Julie finds herself falling for him, but then there are two more murders of women who were at that party and part of the prank.
This book is a nice look at the 1950s, a very different time. Vance was a fine observer of society, and while all the things he talks about are familiar to me, younger readers might be aghast at the way things were. There's a lot of story packed into a very short novel, and of course there are some twists along the way. The violence is mostly offstage (except for one time), so the gore is minimal. Vance isn't writing in the style of his more famous SF novels, but he's just as good in this mode as the other. I'm glad I finally got around to reading this one.
Blog of writer, editor, reviewer Gerald So | My Life Called So: Spenser's Sneakers member Fred Gillis posted today that Joan Parker, widow of author Robert B. Parker, has died.
This puzzler was created by Hy Conrad, who's the new author of the Monk novels: Whodunit: A Maze of Suspects
I'm a big fan of the work of Lee Goldberg, and Judy's a big fan of the work of Janet Evanovich. So when the review copy of this book arrived, I hid it from her. Yes, it's true. I wanted first crack at it, so I didn't tell her about it. She says she's going to forgive me, but only because I finished reading it quickly and passed it on to her.
Kate O'Hare is a former Navy SEAL and current FBI agent. She's smart, she's tough, she's tenacious. Sure, she has a rotten social life, but so what? She gets to put bad guys behind bars, and the bad guy she wants to nail (in more ways than one, actually) is Nicolas Fox, a consummate con man who's defeated her again and again. The book opens with Fox running a superlative con and then a complicated heist and then . . . . That's all I'm saying. You should let it be a surprise.
Okay, so I lied. I'll say a little more. [POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD] O'Hare and Fox wind up working together to fight crime. Really big crime, perpetuated by the kind of criminals the FBI can't legally go after. In this case, they're after a famous scammer who took people for millions and got away with it. Now he's where the law can't touch him. O'Hare and Fox assemble their team of oddballs to go after him and pull off a big con to get their man.
The Heist takes off at a run and hardly ever pauses for breath. The action scenes are wonderfully choreographed, and you can see the movie playing in your head. I wouldn't be surprised if the film rights had already been sold. There are heists, narrow escapes, great acting performances, pirates (yes, pirates), cons, sexual tension, and laughs on every page. If you're in the mood for pure summertime fun, grab this one as soon as it hits the streets.
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Elizabeth Kata, A Patch of Blue (Be Ready with Bells and Drums), Popular Library, 1965
Amazon.com: Scoundrel (A Noah Milano Novelette) eBook: Jochem Vandersteen: Kindle Store: A pregnant woman hires ex-mob fixer and security specialist Noah Milano to track down the man who got her pregnant. When it turns out this man is quite the scoundrel Noah gets involved with Russian gangsters and a murder case.
Free Advice from James Lincoln Warren: Here, completely free, is some advice for aspiring short story writers of crime fiction.
F. van Wyck Mason, The Multi-million-dollar Murders, Cardinal, 1960
Jan Cooper: Grandmother, 72, fended off burglar with .357 magnum handgun: A 911 call reveals Jan Cooper screaming 'Back up you son of a b****! Back up! Get the hell out of here!' before firing a round from the mighty handgun. It missed the burglar by just inches.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
20 Scariest Movies of All Time
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Yes, it's an annoying slideshow.
Jun. 11, 2013: A new company in Texas is selling a precision rifle with a unique technology that allows even an inexperienced shooter to hit a target 10 football fields away. The price tag is a staggering $27,500.
Mail Online: A 50-year-old Missouri woman was jailed after she threatened some neighborhood children with a chainsaw while wearing a ski mask.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
AN IMAGE OF DEATH (The Ellie Foreman Mysteries): Libby Fischer Hellmann: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Who knew that a career in video documentaries could lead to crime? Such is the fate of Chicago's Ellie Foreman whose shoots hook her up with misdeeds past and present. Here she is producing a video about foster children that's being financed by a successful Chicago real estate developer. Her plans get thrown for a loop when a mysterious package appears at her door one winter night. Inside she finds a surveillance video showing the murder of a young woman. Who was this woman and what is her connection to Ellie?
The cops shunt her aside, but the urgency she feels to find answers, coupled with her professional knowledge of film, compel her to sleuth despite the difficulties borne from a complex history with her lover, David. A little digging reveals that the murder victim was a courier with a dark history forged in Eastern Europe at the time of the Soviet Union's collapse. And a little more digging reveals dark happenings here at home, money laundering, and the deadly price of dealing in diamonds...
Young Tampa monk seeks to build a monastery here | Tampa Bay Times: The 27-year-old monk leads meditation classes and events here, at the rental home, and on the road, Naples, Sarasota, Miami, New Jersey. Their local group has about 60 regulars. The monk and his roommate — author Walter Satterthwait, 67, tall, thin, the author of 14 novels, many featuring the evil humans do — are raising money to create an actual monastery somewhere in Tampa Bay, preferably in the woods by a lake; a peaceful place where tranquility isn't so difficult to achieve. They would love for someone to donate land.
Henry Kuttner & C. L. Moore, No Boundaries, Ballantine, 1955
And if you don't, you can vote for your own favorites.
10 best film sequels, selected by Tim Robey
Nostalgia time. This is a particularly memorable movie for me for reasons entirely unrelated to the movie itself. Judy and I saw it in the Varsity Theater on the Drag in Austin, just across the street from the University Methodist Church. As an undergrad, I saw a number of memorable movies there, including North by Northwest. The theater closed in 1990 and became a Tower Records store. Later it was a bookstore. I don't know what occupies the space now. Here's a photo of the concession stand taken a couple of years before we saw this movie, and here's the interior. And the mezzanine. And the exterior in the good old days.
But I digress. The reason I remember this movie so well is that when we got home after seeing it, I discovered that my billfold wasn't in my back pocket. I got in the car and drove back to the theater, which was closing up for the night. I located someone with a flashlight, and we went to the row where I'd been sitting. Luckily for me, my billfold was lying right there in the floor under the seat. What a relief. I've been a lot more careful about it ever since.
The movie itself was a lot of fun. It opens with a scene that would probably be hard for anyone traveling by air today even to imagine. A woman takes a big doll filled with bags of heroin on a flight from Canada to New York. Things were different in the 1960s. When she arrives, she asks a man she's met on the plane (Sam, played by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) to hold it for her. She's being stalked by a vicious killer named Roat (Alan Arkin), and she leaves the doll with Frank when Arkin accosts her. Later, Roat kills her in the apartment where Sam and his wife, Susy (Audrey Hepburn), live. Samand Susy aren't home, of course. After that, a couple of hoods (Richard Crenna and Jack Weston) show up to look for Lisa. Roat convinces them that they'll be blamed for the murder, but if they'll help him dispose of the body and find the doll, he'll split the money from the sale of the drug with them.
Susy is blind, so when Sam leaves on a business trip, Roat and his new pals show up. They pose as cops, and while Roat engages Susy in conversation, the other two search the apartment. After all, she can't see them. The doll's not there, though, because a young woman who lives in another apartment and who helps Susy out now and then has stolen it.
There's a lot more stuff that goes on, but it's all just building up to the big climax when Arkin and Susy are alone in the apartment at night. Susy has turned off all the lights, so she'll have a chance, and this sequence is the whole point of the movie. I hate to spoil if if you haven't seen it so SPOILER ALERT. After some suspenseful cat-and-mousing, Susy stabs Roat with a kitchen knife. Shortly afterward, there's the first instance that I remember of a scene that's been endlessly replayed in movie after movie, but this was the first and the best use of it. I admit that I jumped a foot or so, and that's probably when I lost the billfold. Shortly after this shocker, there's the scream that everyone who's see the movie will remember. A lot of people in the theater screamed, too. And that's the end of the SPOILER ALERT.
This isn't really an overlooked movie, of course, but then a lot of the ones I've mentioned recently haven't been. I'm sure that people around my age have seen it and remember it well. The rest of you should give it a chance. Hand onto your wallets.
Lincoln Notebook's Math Pages Suggest More Education: Two math-notebook pages recently authenticated as belonging to Abraham Lincoln suggest the 16th president, who was known to downplay his formal education, may have spent more time in school than usually thought.
Tennessee Williams, Sweet Bird of Youth, Signet 1962
Naples man attacked over neighborhood rules: A Naples man was arrested after deputies said he attacked his neighbor for not putting his garbage can in the proper place and for parking his car on the street.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
NY Daily News: Harold “Stumpy” Cromer, a well-known tap dancer and comedian for more than half a century on television, Broadway, theater and vaudeville stages, died Saturday. He was 92.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
NYTimes.com: Tom Sharpe, a British novelist whose work was a riotous dark amalgam of Dickens, Waugh, Wodehouse, Rabelais and Benny Hill, died on Thursday at his home in Llafranc, in the Catalan region of Spain. He was 85 and had lived in Spain, in cheerful dyspepsia, for many years.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
HometownDailyNews.com: Bowman was known for his comedy albums in the 60s and 70s. He was the CMA’s first Comedian of the Year. As a songwriter, he co-wrote Just to Satisfy You for Waylon Jennings, and Wildwood Weed, which became a hit for Jim Stafford.
Iain Banks, 1954-2013 - Boing Boing: Iain Banks, author of bizarre literary novels and visionary science fiction, is dead at 59.
John Dickson Carr, The Problem of the Wire Cage, Bantam, 1948
WHIMSEY: A NOVEL: Events: And now, my friends, it's time for another Whimsey Give-Away!
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