Once more unto the breach of Ellery Queen’s 1964 Anthology, with a visit to the famous brownstone on West 35th Street, home of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.
Continue readingNovella
#1050: Teacher Knows Best in A Gun is a Nervous Thing, a.k.a. Ride with the Executioner (1955) by Charlotte Armstrong
Quite some time ago, I was made a very generous gift of a random selection of old Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines and anthologies and, aside from the odd story, they’ve sat largely unread on my shelves since. Well, no more. From today, they will (probably) make regular appearances on The Invisible Event where longer or notable entries are concerned.
Continue reading#904: “If you knew the man, you would realize that he is mad enough for anything.” – Cross Marks the Spot, a.k.a. The Frightened Girl (1933) by James Ronald [a.p.a. by Michael Crombie]
Actress Cicely Foster, calling at the home of movie mogul Jacob Singerman to discuss a role in a ‘talkie’, is innocent enough to be shocked by his advances and fights him off, striking him on the head in the struggle before fleeing. When reporter Julian Mendoza, “the bloodhound of Fleet Street”, tracks her down and tells her that Singerman was found dead shortly after her departure, it looks bleak…but for the small matter of the corpse having been found with a bullet between his eyes.
Continue reading#831: “As you know, an unusual crime has a deep interest for me…” – Bodies from the Library 4 [ss] (2021) ed. Tony Medawar
I can’t believe that there is a GAD enthusiast who doesn’t look forward to the annual Bodies from the Library collections so expertly curated by Tony Medawar. In bringing to public awareness some of the forgotten, neglected, or simply unknown stories that the great and the good of the form produced, these collections have become a source of great excitement, and a must-read for even the most ardent student of the Golden Age.
Continue readingIn GAD We Trust – Episode 24: Bodies from the Library 4 (2021) ed. Tony Medawar + The International Agatha Christie Festival 2021 + Even More! [w’ Tony Medawar]
Prepare yourself for what might just be the most jam-packed episode of In GAD We Trust to date — when you sit down with Tony Medawar, there’s always going to be a lot to talk about.
Continue reading#759: “They think they’ve got a locked room murder…” – The Patchwork Girl (1980) by Larry Niven
Before the classic detection bug bit me hard, I would have considered myself of a fan of latter-era Golden Age SF above anything else — put me in the triangle formed by Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Philip K Dick and I’m very happy indeed. And sometimes these dual fascinations collide, as in Asimov’s The Caves of Steel (1953) or, under the microscope today, The Patchwork Girl (1980) by Larry Niven.
Continue readingIn GAD We Trust – Episode 8: Uncovering Long-Forgotten Short Stories + Bodies from the Library 3 (2020) ed. Tony Medawar [w’ Tony Medawar]

Today was due to have been the sixth (sixth!) Bodies from the Library conference at the British Library but, for obvious reasons, it’s not. I can’t, alas, give you a whole day of GAD-based discussion, but I can at least fill an hour with someone from that line-up of exceptionally knowledgable people, Tony Medawar.
Continue reading
#689: The Green-Eyed Monster Spies a Golden Opportunity in The Case of the Crimson Kiss [n] (1948) by Erle Stanley Gardner

Serendipity is a wonderful thing.
Continue reading
#675: Adventures in Self-Publishing – Atmosphere (2018) by Robert Innes

As we approach the (current?) end of Rob Innes’ Blake Harte series of impossible crime stories, I have to confess that one of its major successes has been getting me, a man who will take a finely-crafted plot over minutely-observed character, engaged in the lives of his core cast.
Continue reading
#622: Adventures in Self-Publishing – The Phantom Ragdoll (2019) by DWaM





