Digital Sextant

I just finished watching our TiVO backlog of Harper’s Island: The DVD Edition, a “whodunit” involving plenty of bloody murder and a “mystery” to solve. While I did enjoy the show quite a bit, it felt more like watching a television version of I Know What You Did Last Summer than a whodunit. It had [… Read More]

When I was in college, I went to a high school production of Arsenic and Old Lace in which the boy playing Dr. Einstein did a very creditable Peter Lorre impression in the part. As we watched, I wondered if Lorre was in the film version of the play, or if the boy just thought [… Read More]

by Scott Phillips It took me a while to get into this book.  Bill Ogden, a rough and tumble homesteader and bar owner in a small Kansas town, leads us through the tumultuous era of early life on the prairie, splitting his decision making between a ruthless self-reliance and business aptitude and his desire for [… Read More]

I’ve seen some bad movies in my day.  The Dead Hate the Living.  The Human Tornado.  Burn, Hollywood, Burn. Johnny Sunshine: Maximum Violence made the list. It’s not that the film is amateurish — and oh boy is it.  I can appreciate low budget filmmaking for what it is.  But it still needs to do [… Read More]

by Lawrence Block; narrated by Richard Poe If this isn’t the last Keller book, I’ll be pretty disappointed.  The story involves Keller getting framed for a high-profile assassination, and he has to go on the run.  As usual, it’s pretty enjoyable.  A few thoughts: Sometimes Keller is a bit reckless, at least I’ve always thought [… Read More]

by Laurie R. King; narrated by Jenny Riley The third novel in a series (but the first we’ve read) about Mary Russell, Sherlock Holmes’ young wife.  An entertaining series that reminded me very much of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mysteries.  Russell has the same intrepid spirit and emancipated ways.  The mystery is moderately interesting, but [… Read More]

Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t generally seek out or prefer police procedurals, but a well-written one is always enjoyable. Blunt does a cracking job of shaping his characters, particularly the main detective, but also his supporting cast (including his villains). We don’t get insight into their minds [… Read More]

by Dana Stabenow I read this book for my mystery book club.  An enjoyable story that falls into the “unusual place” category.  In other words, it’s a detective story that takes place in an exotic place, somewhere the readers have not been–kind of like An Outsider in Amsterdam.  Stabenow spends a lot of time building [… Read More]

Warning: clip has some swearing in it so I guess NSFW I burned up a big chunk of my writing time yesterday watching this movie. I started it during lunch, planning to finish later, but I couldn’t turn it off. I liked the movie quite a bit, with a couple reservations (spoilers!): This is not [… Read More]