The pleasure of re-reading a book
I reread Agatha Christie’s Sleeping Murder this week. I had the same sense of compulsion to reach the end, and wondered how you all feel when rereading an old favorite.
Read moreA Blog for Readers and Writers of Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction
I reread Agatha Christie’s Sleeping Murder this week. I had the same sense of compulsion to reach the end, and wondered how you all feel when rereading an old favorite.
Read moreLa Plus Ça Change I just got back from a trip a couple of hours ago. My travels involved three[…]
Read moreI was honored to receive an advance copy of Death at Greenway annotated by the author Lori Rader-Day, which I won in a charity auction. I made myself read it slowly, savoring the experience of having the insight of the author as I read her fabulous story about Agatha Christie’s holiday home. Lori generously answered a few of my questions to share with Miss Demeanor’s readers.
Read moreRecently I spent twelve days in the hospital. One thing I discovered is that there is actually a limit to the number of Law & Orders you can watch. But, when I turned off the TV, I discovered myself awash in some of the most profound and moving stories I’d ever heard.
Read moreSetting can be a character in its own right. It can also be a metaphor. Setting creates a mood, grounds a story in reality, informs the characters, and often determines plot. Think of the wilds of Cornwall in Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, or the bleak, treacherous moors in Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles or the Dustbowl of the 1930s in Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. These stories couldn’t have happened anywhere else, and the job of the author is to transport their readers to another time and place.
Read moreWho doesn’t need a heartwarming murder mystery with a cast of loveable quirky characters? Richard Osman, who I’m told is[…]
Read moreIn no particular order, here are some of the books I’ve read this past year that allowed me to walk the streets of Edinburgh, wander the fields of Ireland, live in a cabin in Michigan’s Upper Penninsula, and in one in coastal North Carolina, and in one on the Czech-Polish border. Yeah… I spent a lot of time in cabins in the woods.
Read moreDame Agatha died nearly 50 years ago, and her life has been documented in biographies, her works read, re-read and analyzed. This year, though, there are two works of fiction that give another sort of insight into Agatha’s world. What a treat for fans!
Read moreO Frabjous Day! That’s what I exclaimed the day I went online again. The logistics of a cross-country relocation and[…]
Read moreI reconsidered titling this blog post, “When Bad Things Happen to Good Writers,” when I heard the conceit and self-indulgence[…]
Read more