Category Archives: mystery

Two-and-a-Half Murders in Black and White

Posted on March 30, 2025 by JE

I watched a couple of pretty good new-to-me movies that could loosely be described as noir: Panique (1946) and The Window (1949). Both of them are based on fiction I haven’t read, but now kind of want to. Reviews follow, … Continue reading →

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Ripped From the Headlines: UNNATURAL DEATH by Dorothy L. Sayers

Posted on March 22, 2025 by JE

Some writers I take to with irrational intensity. Others, who may be equally good or even great, I don’t. Sometimes I understand the process involved; sometimes I don’t. Sayers is one of the writers I took to as soon as … Continue reading →

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Lured Lucy

Posted on March 8, 2025 by JE

D and I watched Lured (1947). It was watchable, maybe even rewatchable. With a script by Leo Rosten (of Joys of Yiddish fame), I expected it to be wittier than it was. But, given that it’s about the hunt for … Continue reading →

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Mail Call

Posted on January 27, 2025 by JE

Looking forward to (re)reading the vintage paperbacks. The history book is more for figuring out how teaching will work in the future, now that everything old is new again. I already have a copy of Van Vogt’s The Book of … Continue reading →

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Clods Without Witnesses (Dorothy L. Sayers, CLOUDS OF WITNESS)

Posted on March 28, 2023 by JE

In summary: Clouds of Witness features Sayers and her aristocratic detective at or near their best—or most unbearable, depending on how it hits you. This is a literate (even pretentious) and witty mystery story which also shows Sayers’ burgeoning skill … Continue reading →

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Rocktrek Files

Posted on March 8, 2023 by JE

Some people say that Everything Is Star Trek. Some people say not. Some aren’t sure. But the evidence speaks for itself. In the upper left panel we see the Incredible Salt Vampire threatening Lt. Uhura in the guise of a … Continue reading →

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WHOSE BODY? by Dorothy L. Sayers

Posted on February 13, 2023 by JE

In summary: Whose Body? (Fisher Unwin, 1923) is worth reading if you like Golden Age detective novels and/or Dorothy Sayers. But novices to both might be well-advised to start with the second novel in the series, Clouds of Witness, a … Continue reading →

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State of the Onion

Posted on December 27, 2022 by JE

A kind of review, I guess. Executive summary: a fun satire of techbro billionaires and their self-built cults, set inside a movie about mystery stories and puzzles. It’s maybe half an hour too long, like practically every movie made nowadays. … Continue reading →

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