The senior superlatives in my high-school yearbook didn’t include Most Likely to Murder. Did yours? Probably not. But that’s the title of the fourth (and last?) novel in Carole Shmurak’s Susan Lombardi series. I reviewed the first in the series… Read More ›
Books
In which I read a graphic novel… and give it a surprising A+!
Graphic novels aren’t my thing. I never read them. Well, actually, that’s not quite true. On average I read one graphic novel every three… three what? three months? No. How about three years? No again. More like once every three… Read More ›
A pair of Horowitzes? (Is that the plural? How about Horowitzim?)
Actually, there’s only one Horowitz that we’re talking about here: Anthony. I’m using the plural metonymically, if that’s the right word, with the author standing in for his books. Thirteen months ago I reviewed A Line to Kill. Two months… Read More ›
Deadmistress
Yes, you’re right: the title is a portmanteau. It’s not a concatenation of “dead mistress” but a portmanteau of “dead” plus “headmistress.” Get it? This 2011 mystery by Carole Shmurak wasn’t so easy to find. CommCat couldn’t locate it for… Read More ›
Yes, it really is by J.K. Rowling, but…
It’s not part of the Harry Potter franchise. I’m talking about The Ink Black Heart, the sixth novel ostensibly written by Robert Galbraith, the well-known pseudonym that J.K. Rowling uses for her outstanding Cormoran Strike series. Unlike Harry Potter, the… Read More ›
Before I Go to Sleep (the book, not the movie)
It’s obvious that author S.J. Watson had seen the movie Memento before writing his first novel, Before I Go to Sleep. What isn’t obvious (at least to me) was that a mediocre movie of the same title was made from… Read More ›
That feeling when…you’re trying to enjoy Venice during a pandemic
I mean Venice, Italy, of course. Not Florida or California or Las Vegas or any other inauthentic place. Not that I visited Italy during the pandemic—at least not IRL—but I did manage a virtual visit by reading Give unto Others,… Read More ›
Fantastic ______s and Where to Find Them
This book reminds me of the caller who asked the Magliozzi brothers a question about his Volkswagen Quantum: he couldn’t get it repaired because he didn’t know any Quantum mechanics. What’s the connection? Well, first you need to know what… Read More ›
Did Hemingway write in short sentences? You probably think so. But you’re wrong! Science wins again.
You can believe actual data. We’ll call that Door #1. Or you can believe your general “impression.” We’ll call that Door #2. Or you can believe what other people tell you—the “common knowledge” that everyone “knows.” We’ll call that Door… Read More ›
A dozen new Miss Marple stories… but how is that possible?
Agatha Christie died in 1976. So how could she be publishing a collection of new Miss Marple stories in 2022? Did she leave them behind, only to be discovered four decades later and published posthumously? That’s certainly what a glance… Read More ›