Saturday, April 15, 2017
Clifton James, R. I. P.
Clifton James Dead: 'James Bond' Sheriff Dies at 96: His long list of roles includes the swaggering, tobacco-spitting Louisiana Sheriff J.W. Pepper in the Bond films.
Lesley Stahl: By the Book
Lesley Stahl: By the Book: The journalist and author of “Becoming Grandma” says Ann Patchett’s “Bel Canto” reminded her of Gabriel García Márquez, a high compliment: “My all-time favorite book . . . is ‘Love in the Time of Cholera.’”
Friday, April 14, 2017
“Women Writers of Mystery” (by Leah Pennywark)
“Women Writers of Mystery” (by Leah Pennywark) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN: In September of 2016 Leah Pennywark appeared on one of the panels for EQMM’s 75th Anniversary Symposium at Columbia University’s Butler Library (available on YouTube and as part of our podcast series!), illuminating the discussion with her extensive knowledge of both EQMM and crime and detective fiction generally. She has recently completed a PhD in American literature with a particular focus on detective fiction. Her work is published in LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory and is forthcoming in Studies in American Indian Literatures. She tells us she’s currently at work on two articles: “the contributions of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine to the development of postmodern literature and the tradition of women’s hard-boiled detective fiction.” She is also planning a book on U.S. detective literature during the Cold War. Her post today centers on some largely forgotten early women writers in our field.—Janet Hutchings
All of You Know This Stuff Already
Neatorama: The mysterious femme fatale. The jaded private eye. The rare object worth killing for. Dashiell Hammett invented all these classic elements of noir fiction with his 1930 breakthrough novel, The Maltese Falcon. But how did Hammet dream up this dark, new world of literature? By writing from experience.
Forgotten Hits: April 14th
Forgotten Hits: April 14th: You'll find very few memorable top debuts this week … Percy Sledge hits the chart at #69 with "Out of Left Field" and Otis Redding premiers at #74 with "I Love You More Than Words Can Say" … but newcomer Engelbert Humperdinck will soon make a mark for himself here in The States as "Release Me" (a UK chart-topper for six weeks earlier this year) finally premiers on the US Chart at #76. (The Guinness World Records British Hit Singles and Albums book refers to Engelbert this way … "Internationally popular cabaret entertainer and easy-on-the-ear vocalist". I think most of his fans would tend to agree.)
FFB: The Dame's the Game -- Al Fray
An article by Gary Lovisi in Paperback Parade reminded me of Al Fray, all of whose novels I'd read except The Dame's the Game. So naturally I decided to read it. Barney Conroy, who was once a crooked gambler, is now reformed and is a detective working in Las Vegas. Shelly Tanner comes to town from Los Angeles. She's looking for someone to help with her husband, who's been suckered into an ongoing dice game that she's convinced is crooked. Conroy doesn't want to take the job, but when he's beaten up in the casino parking lot after talking to Shelly, he decides he'll investigate.
The came is crooked, all right, and when Tanner is murdered, Conroy finds himself in trouble with both the cops and the bad guys. Nothing new here, but what sets the book apart is Fray's discussion of dice games and how they can be rigged. He doesn't tell anything new, but he does a good job of explaining things. The cover suggests that the book might be the first in a series, but a second never appeared. This was Fray's last novel. It's entertaining and a fast read. Lovisi has done some investigating and might have discovered Fray's real name, as well as a reason for his retirement from writing, but there's no way to know for sure.
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