August | 2025 | Ah Sweet Mystery!
9 posts published by Brad during August 2025| Ah Sweet Mystery!
What is the world coming to? It used to be that if one announced a new film based on a hugely popular novel and starring Oscar, Tony and Olivier winner Helen Mirren, Oscar and Grammy winner Sir Ben Kingsley, Tony and Olivier winner Sir Jonathan Pryce, and 72-year-old-but-he’s-still-got-it former Bondsman Pierce Brosnan, you would reach … Continue reading SATURDAY REVIEW: The Thursday Murder Club| Ah Sweet Mystery!
This is a work in progress dedicated to the reading of one of my favorite authors. To say that Gardner was prolific is beyond understatement. There are hundreds of writings that have nothing to do with his three biggest achievements: the Perry Mason series, the Cool and Lam series, and the D.A. series. (There is … Continue reading THE ERLE STANLEY GARDNER INDEX| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Dr. John Curran’s description of what he found over the fifty pages of Notebook 12 that comprised the planning of Hickory Dickory Dock (U.S. title: Hickory Hickory Death) suggest that Agatha didn’t have much fun writing it: “Each of the first five pages of notes for this book is headed ‘Holiday Task,’ suggesting that it was written … Continue reading THE POIROT PROJECT #11: Hickory Dickory Dock| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Today we reach the halfway point in our 36-film list of 1955 films noirs that Sergio Angelini compiled for our Noirvember draft. (Find the list here.) Sergio, Nick Cardillo and I are currently watching and evaluating each of these in order to present our Top 13 list to you. Today’s threesome includes a top favorite, one that … Continue reading NOIRVEMBER ’55, PART 6| Ah Sweet Mystery!
If experience is any measure, the majority of Perry Mason mysteries begin one morning, afternoon, or evening in Mason’s law office with the arrival of an intriguing new client. Doesn’t sound very exciting, perhaps, but I get a thrill every time it happens. What bizarre situation is the ingenue secretary, eccentric old woman, blonde bombshell, … Continue reading THE NEIGHS HAVE IT: The Case of the Fan-Dancer’s Horse| Ah Sweet Mystery!
The real fun with my Book Club occurs when we toss aside the traditional “Read-of-the-Month” format and talk about books in general. When we read something together, we make quick work of our discu…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Fresh off our Columbo Distaff Draft, the Three Musketeers (we have got to come up with a better name for ourselves – maybe I’ll have a contest!!) didn’t have to think hard to arrive at our next top…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
You know the drill! The full list is here. We’re drafting the Top Thirteen 1955 Films Noirs in November. Today’s trio is a decidedly mixed bag: each has elements that work for me – and elements that don’t. I’ll rank the trio at the end, but I wonder if any of them will earn a high enough place on … Continue reading NOIRVEMBER ’55, PART 5| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Had Charlotte Armstrong decided that she would become the beloved author of sixty-six cozy mysteries starring her beloved amateur sleuth, retired history professor MacDougall Duff, I have a feeling we would not be talking about her now. Or perhaps Dean Street Press would be slowly republishing her long-forgotten canon. (Not to snark on Duff: I … Continue reading LAY OFF MAC DUFF: The Unsuspected by Charlotte Armstrong| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Let’s return to the mean streets for three more of the thirty-six films noirs made in 1955 that the Noirmeister Sergio Angelini sent to Nick Cardillo and me so that we can determine the Top Thirteen during our Noirvember Draft. (Here is the complete list.) Warning: not every trio of movies can be a banger, folks! Today, I feel … Continue reading NOIRVEMBER ’55, PART 4| Ah Sweet Mystery!
I think I’m growing tired of these covers of modern cozy mysteries, with their punny titles, cutesy illustrations, and snarky tag lines: The cover of The Dead Friend Project, Joanna Wallace’s secon…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Every month, my Book Club selects a different classic mystery to read. Even with all the terrific books out there, it isn’t as easy a task as you might think. For one thing, most of us are bloggers…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
As I write this, it’s the beginning of my second week of summer vacation. For laymen, (read: non-educators) it’s the gravy in the crazy tureen of my professional life. Residing as I do in the middl…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Few modern authors have such a firm and delightful grasp on the conventions and stylings of classic detective fiction that Anthony Horowitz has. This has proven especially true in his television wr…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
“It’s one thing reading about detectives, quite another trying to be one.” This brand new novel by Anthony Horowitz is making the rounds amongst the mystery blogging community. Already my buddies K…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Something a little different today . . . Citing financial reasons, CBS has cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The timing couldn’t be worse. Colbert has the #1 rated program on late …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
If you come here often, you may have picked up that I love talking about movies. Sadly, the most fraught discussions tend to center around the adaptations of my very favorite subject R…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Since this is a blog that deals in genre secrets, I’ve got a good one for you: not everybody collects Dell Map Back Mysteries because they’re great literature – it’s because they look sooo co…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
“Your travel life has the essence of a dream . . . you are yourself, but a different self.” (Agatha Christie) Full disclosure: I’ve tried writing this article five times, and it becomes increasingl…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
“‘Suppose,’ Mason said, ‘I should give you a dose of poison, and you should die. That would be murder, wouldn’t it?’“Della laughed. ‘Sometimes when I’ve made mistakes I think it would be a justifia…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
I sure hope some of you are watching along with me as I take a crash course in 1955 film noir in preparation for the second annual Noirvember Draft I’ll be having with my buddies Sergio and Nick. S…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
I’m back with my thoughts on three more films from the big 1955 film noir list that Sergio Angelini, Nick Cardillo and I are watching in order to create our Top 13 Best Film Noirs of 1955. (Remembe…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
In the continuing saga that is the translation and publication of Japanese honkaku mysteries into English, Pushkin Vertigo brings us another prolific but seldom read author. Taku Ashibe h…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
On Sunday, I met with my buddies Sergio Angelini and Nick Cardillo for our latest game of list-drafting. After tackling Christie, Hitchcock, Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chan, we decided to broaden …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
The concept of “Noirvember” was created fifteen years ago by Marya E. Gates, a film critic, as a jazzy way to celebrate the beloved genre of film noir. Last year, the word was co-opted by Ah Sweet …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Since 2018, when James Scott Byrnside’s Goodnight Irene debuted in all its self-published glory, I’ve had an image of the author sitting in his bathtub in the luxury penthouse he owns atop one of L…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Okay, the “mea culpa” is mine. In February, I promised you a series of seven reviews, one a month, of all the Perry Mason titles related to marriage. And here I am, head bared, shamefaced, to tell …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
After blogging for ten years on classic crime – with a focus on Agatha Christie, mind you – I could still forgive myself for not having written closely about . . . The Secret of Chimneys …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Can you blame me if, at the halfway point in our yearlong exploration of the Perry Mason Menagerie, I have decided to return to the Hall of Cats? I happen to have a pair of feline monsters of my ow…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
In Anthony Horowitz’ acknowledgements at the end of Marble Hall Murders, we learn that his original intention was probably not to write a third novel about Susan Ryeland, the book editor with …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
I got into this blogging game for the conversations. Ironic, since the vast majority of readers tend to shy away from the comments section. So we scribes do what we can to get the conversation goin…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
When I was struck with the idea last year of reading and “ranking” the twelve Miss Marple novels, it was more of an excuse to revisit the lady and think long and hard about each of her books than i…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
“I like a good detective story . . . But, you know, they begin in the wrong place! They begin with the murder. But the murder is the end. The story begins long before that – years before sometimes …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
A new trailer has dropped for the upcoming third Knives Out movie, Wake Up, Dead Man. The lovely thing about it is that it is heavy on imagery and light on spoilers, and it trumpets …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Back in January, I promised you a year-long journey through a bountiful bestiary beset with blonde bombshells and redolent red-heads, all connected to the creatures of the air, land, and sea, all c…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
It’s easy to argue that The Big Four represents the artistic nadir of Agatha Christie’s career. It barely makes a mention in the biographies: Laura Thompson calls it “one of the worst pie…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
My Book Club has come up with a wonderful idea to spice up our monthly meetings. We’ve determined that it isn’t necessary to read a classic mystery each time (especially since we have a s…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Let’s say A wants to kill B. (It’s a perfectly acceptable conversation starter around here.) If we’re in a whodunnit, A and B are hanging around with C, D, E, F, and G, who also&nbs…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
If you want to read a mystery, the sky’s the limit! At least, that’s what I hope you’ve figured out from this humble blog and the thoughts of others or from a quick trip to your local bookstore.&nb…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Amidst the array of masterpieces that constitute the Christies of the 1930’s, Death in the Clouds (American title: Death in the Air) suffers by comparison. Hercule Poirot spent a large part of this…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
“‘Well,’ Mason said, ‘now that the parrot’s dead, we might as well . . .’ “‘But the parrot isn’t dead,’ Drake interrupted. ‘You have the parrot. I suppose that the parrot is a witness to something …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Back in June, 2016 I fell a little bit in love – with a book. I was able to read The Decagon House Murders (1987) due to the efforts of three men: author Yukito Ayatsuji, scholar and tran…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
“Seriously? What in the world do Sondheim and crime fiction have in common?” That question, gracing the back cover of Josh Pachter’s eighth “Inspired by . . . “ story anthology, Every Day a Li…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Is there any fictional character who has been showered with parodies, pastiches, homages and adaptations as much as Sherlock Holmes? Has anyone even tried to keep track of all the stories…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
After recently reviewing the first two episodes of Netflix’s The Residence and a few other series, I received a request and two suggestions. So here I am, delivering on my . . . well, I promised no…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, Agatha Christie’s twenty-eighth mystery and the nineteenth featuring Hercule Poirot, has the disadvantage of being surrounded by better titles. Its two predecessors are&nb…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Having the poet’s worst predictions come true is never fun, but over this past weekend, my best-laid plans for a Christie reunion “gang aft very very agley” indeed! When my pal Christophe…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
(This year, my Perry Mason reviews have been appearing on the 17th of each month, but as I’m leaving tomorrow for a week-long road trip and Christie reunion – more about that upon my return – …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
This month, my Book Club decided to read 1929’s Murder by the Clock, the second mystery novel by Rufus King and the first of eleven books featuring a most unusual policeman, Lieutenant Va…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
AN ADAPTED CONVERGENCE: The BBC’s Towards Zero (NOTE: This is a SPOILER-FREE review of the recent BBC adaptation. I have also refrained from any major spoilers of the book, so make yourselves at ho…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
I have to tell you that, health-wise, for me February has been a bust. There was no glamor to it: this wasn’t COVID or the flu or la grippe. This bug was out to prove that you can feel just as…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
One of the perks of being a fan of Erle Stanley Gardner’s defense attorney-hero Perry Mason is that nearly all of the books have been adapted for television. Among the 271 episodes of&nbs…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Three-Act Tragedy is the first of nine Poirot novels to appear back-to-back in the latter half of the 1930’s. (Between 1931 -38, there were twelve in total.) It was an extraordinary decade for…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
“’I’ve got a cat for a client,’ Mason said grimly. “’Can a cat contest a will?’ Mason’s face showed the determination of a born fighter. ‘Damned if I know,’ he said.” Our next stop in the Mason Men…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Last week, I explained how circumstances led me to revisit Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, the series that starred Joan Hickson and which aired on the BBC from 1986 to 1992. I shared my th…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
While the Fox Charlie Chan films are fresh in everyone’s minds – okay, maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part! – I thought I would take one step beyond the Top Thirteen list that Sergio, Nick, an…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
You can’t help but wonder if Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan, created in 1925 by popular author Earl Derr Biggers, would have left as lasting and, well, complicated an impression on our cul…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
A week or so ago, I was texting back and forth with my friends (and fellow Christie fanatics) Jeff and Chris. It was just after the dinner hour, and Jeff informed us that he was settling down to wa…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Last week, I decided to reorganize my mystery book collection, numbering around a thousand volumes. Originally, as you might expect, everything was in alphabetical order – with certain exceptions. …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
One of this writer’s joys in exploring the world of classic detective fiction over the past ten years has been the discovery of some marvelous authors whose long-forgotten status has nothing to do …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
“I am only stranger, passing through, and it has been well said, the traveling dragon cannot crush the local snake . . . Do not believe, however, that I consider myself dragon. I lack, I fear, the …| Ah Sweet Mystery!
The order in which I read the sixty-six mystery novels of Agatha Christie was a total crapshoot, based largely on what cover or blurb struck my teenaged fancy. I couldn’t recite my reading chronolo…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
“’Every time you come here, you lie to me. You’re one of those baby-faced little liars that always gets by by deceit. Just because you’re beautiful, you’ve managed to get by with it. You’ve d…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
Back in April of last year, I received an e-mail from a reader made some lovely comments about the blog – before pointing out a gap in my Golden Age coverage: “Many/most of my favorites are h…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
If, like me, you’re a fan of Perry Mason, the brilliant defense attorney/sleuth created by Erle Stanley Gardner, you are in luck! Gardner was one of the most prolific mystery authors of all time, a…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
When it comes to the high seas, I prefer my voyages to be vicarious. I have been known to get seasick on a slow ferry. My antipathy toward those flashy floating malls they call “luxury liners” is b…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
It’s New Year’s Eve, the final day of a most, er, dramatic year, and this is my 79th and final post of 2024. It’s also the time when some of my fellow bloggers review their accomplishmen…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
“As soon as I heard you were coming over, I said to myself: Something will arise. As in former days, we will hunt together, we two. But if so, it must be no common affair. It must be something – so…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
As soon as we received our invitations to take part in the 2024 edition of Reprint of the Year over at Kate’s blog, Cross-Examining Crime, I knew that one of my books had to be Ellery Queen’s Cat o…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
On Hayley, on Neeru, On Moira and Janet! On Aidan, on Stevie, Fly over the planet! On Bev and Mallika: It’s gonna be great To celebrate reprints – We do it for Kate!!! And that’s my miraculo…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
That’s right, folks, my birthday is coming! Okay, the actual date is a week from today. A passel of famous artistic folk consider themselves lucky to share the day with me, including Ludwig v…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
