Another ten cases for Idaville’s “Sherlock Holmes in sneakers”, Leroy ‘Encyclopedia’ Brown.
Continue reading#823: Minor Felonies – Encyclopedia Brown Carries On [ss] (1980) by Donald J. Sobol
Juvenile Mysteries
#820: Minor Felonies – The Goldfish Boy (2017) by Lisa Thompson
After a couple of attempts reading mysteries for older younger readers a few months ago, I think I’m happy that my niche is to be found in stories probably aimed at 12 year-olds — older than that, hormones get involved and there’s as much time spent swooning over someone as there is trying to solve all the, y’know, murders happening at their elite private school.
Continue reading#813: “French was close to the truth, hideously, damnably close…” – The 9.50 Up Express [ss] (2020) by Freeman Wills Crofts [ed. Tony Medawar]
I know what you’ve been thinking: “For such an apparently avowed fan of Freeman Wills Crofts, that Invisible Event guy hasn’t exactly jumped on the recent collection from Crippen & Landru…”. Well checkmate, my friend. Check. Mate.
Continue reading#805: Minor Felonies/Little Fiction – ‘The Adventure of the Single Footprint’ (1948) and ‘The Mystery of the Three Blind Mice’ (1963) by Robert Arthur
The final Tuesday of June brings us the final two stories from Mystery and More Mystery (1966) by Robert Arthur. And with one of them comes some excitement…
Continue reading#802: Minor Felonies/Little Fictions – ‘The Vanishing Passenger’ (1952) and ‘Hard Case’ (1940) by Robert Arthur
Herewith, my thoughts on the last two stories in Robert Arthur’s Mystery and More Mystery (1966) collection that I’ve not previously read. Not “the last two stories”, you understand, because there are two more in the book after these. But those actual last two stories, coming next week, I’ve encountered previously. Grammar’s a bastard, isn’t it?
Continue reading#801: History Repeats Itself in The Secret of the Crooked Cat (1970) by William Arden
There is an argument to be made that genre fiction and sitcoms share a huge amount of DNA: we want them to be the same sort of thing from episode-to-episode or book-to-book, and yet within the repetition of ingredients that define the form we also want something new.
Continue reading#799: Minor Felonies/Little Fictions – ‘The Glass Bridge’ (1957) and ‘Change of Address’ (1951) by Robert Arthur
Another week, another brace of stories from Mystery and More Mystery (1966) by Robert Arthur.
Continue reading#796: Minor Felonies/Little Fictions – ‘The Midnight Visitor’ (1939) and ‘The Blow from Heaven’, a.k.a. ‘The Devil Knife’ (1936) by Robert Arthur
This week, as we dive into two more stories by Robert Arthur from Mystery and More Mystery (1966), I meet the two earliest works of his I’ve yet encountered.
Continue reading#793: Minor Felonies/Little Fictions – ‘Mr. Manning’s Money Tree’ (1958) and ‘Larceny and Old Lace’ (1960) by Robert Arthur
It would be difficult to overstate the respect I have for the work done by Robert Arthur in the mystery genre. From creating The Three Investigators to turning out highly enjoyable fair-play mysteries for younger (and older) readers, the man displayed a brilliant creativity and a talent for diversity that makes every encounter with him a joy.
Continue reading#785: The Ear Knows Not When It Is Beguiled in The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow (1969) by William Arden
With the death of series creator Robert Arthur after the eleventh book in the series, The Mystery of the Talking Skull (1969), the Three Investigators were passed into the hands of Dennis Lynds, under the William Arden nom de plume he had used for the tenth book in the series, The Mystery of the Moaning Cave (1968).
Continue reading
The Invisible Event 