Sunday, September 7, 2025

Conjuring magic is easy ... all you have to do is read a book:


Experience magic.

Read.

Recommended reading - Fifty Best Mysteries (2004):


Fifty Best Mysteries

Edited by Eleanor Sullivan.

Published by Da Capo Press.
Published 2004.
Paperback.

ISBN-10: 078671347X
ISBN-13: 978-0786713479

Description:

Fifty Best Mysteries is a Who’s Who of mystery from the pages of the leading magazine in the field. Showcasing the best short fiction published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine over a range of fifty years, this book is a treasure trove for mystery lovers everywhere. As editor Eleanor Sullivan writes, “I took the task by decades and decided to go after solid and entertaining stories by regular and significant contributors, stories that reflected the time in which they were written and the best work being produced in that decade.” To this end, Sullivan has collected an astounding array of talent, from early works by John Dickson Carr, Margery Allingham, Anthony Boucher, and Ngaio Marsh in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, to later selections by Patricia Highsmith, Robert Bloch, Ruth Rendell, Donald E. Westlake, and Simon Brett that appeared over the next two decades.

Contents: The clue of the red wig / John Dickson Carr — Lost star / C. Daly King — The Bloomsbury wonder / Thomas Burke — Dressing-up / W. R. Burnett — Malice domestic / Philip MacDonald — I can find my way out / Ngaio Marsh — The fourth degree / Hugh Pentecost — Midnight adventure / Michael Arlen — A study in white / Nicholas Blake — The phantom guest / Frederick Irving Anderson — As simple as ABC / Ellery Queen — Money to burn / Margery Allingham — The gentlest of brothers / David Alexander — One-way street / Anthony Armstrong — Murder at the dog show / Mignon G. Eberhart — Always trust a cop / Octavus Roy Cohen — The withered heart / Jean Potts — The girl who married a monster / Anthony Boucher — Between eight and eight / C. S. Forester — Knowing what I know now / Barry Perowne — Change of climate / Ursula Curtiss — Life in our time / Robert Bloch — The special gift / Celia Fremlin — A neat and tidy job / George Harmon Coxe — Run—if you can / Charlotte Armstrong — Line of communication / Andrew Garve — Danger at Deerfawn / Dorothy B. Hughes — The man who understood women / A. H. Z. Carr — Revolver / Avram Davidson — The eternal chase / Anthony Gilbert — Reasons unknown / Stanley Ellin — Three ways to rob a bank / Harold R. Daniels — The perfect servant / Helen Nielsen — The marked man / David Ely — Flowers that bloom in the spring / Julian Symons — A nice place to stay / Nedra Tyre — Paul Broderick’s man / Thomas Walsh — When nothing matters / Florence V. Mayberry — This is death / Donald E. Westlake — Woodrow Wilson’s necktie / Patricia Highsmith — The jackal and the tiger / Michael Gilbert — The fix / Robert Twohy — One moment of madness / Edward D. Hoch — Loopy / Ruth Rendell — The plateau / Clark Howard — The butchers / Peter Lovesey — Burning bridges / James Powell — A good turn / Robert Barnard — Clap hands, there goes Charlie / George Baxt — Big boy, little boy / Simon Brett.

Andy Ihnatko, on writing:


Writing is hard.
That's why so few people stick to it and actually finish things.
And why you have a right to be immensely proud when you finish something.

- Andy Ihnatko.

Saturday, September 6, 2025

On this day in movie history - The Burnt Orange Heresy (2019):


The Burnt Orange Heresy

directed by Giuseppe Capotondi,
written by Scott B. Smith,
based on the novel by Charles Willeford,
was released at the Venice Film Festival in Italy on September 6, 2019.
Music by Craig Armstrong.


Cast:

Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Mick Jagger, Donald Sutherland, Rosalind Halstead, Alessandro Fabrizi, Obada Adnan, Lewis Dodley, Flaminia Fegarotti, Rasneet Kaur, David Lancaster, Katie McGovern, Fabio Melchionna, Alexia Murray, Pat Starke.

On this day in music history - Tranquil Times, by Darlene Koldenhoven (2013):


Tranquil Times

Album by Darlene Koldenhoven,
released September 6, 2013.

Track list:

Lucid See; Eternal Love; Greensleeves; Hypogeum; Surrender; Drifting With Bach; A Walk in Paradise; Atmosphere.

On this day in movie history - The Prophecy: Forsaken (2005):


The Prophecy: Forsaken

directed and written by Joel Soisson,
based on a story by John Sullivan,
was released in the United States on September 6, 2005.
Music by Joseph LoDuca.

Cast:

Kari Wuhrer, Daria Ciobanu, John Light, Jason Scott Lee, Tony Todd, Boris Petroff, Georgia Nica, Nicu Constantin, Vasilescu Valentin, Adrian Pavlovschi, George Grigore, Adriana Butoi, Smaranda Popescu, Mihai Verbi Chi, Dan Sandulescu, Alin Cristea, Cristian Iacob, Constantin Barbulescu, Jason London, Dicu Aurel.

On this day in music history - Una Mattina, by Ludovico Einaudi (2004):


Una Mattina

Album by Ludovico Einaudi,
released September 6, 2004.

Track list:

Una Mattina; Ora; Resta Con Me; Leo; A Fuoco; Dolce Droga; Dietro Casa; Come Un Fiore; Dna; Nuvole Nere; Questa Volta; Nuvole Bianche; Ancora.