Book Review: The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders Great Britain in the Nineteenth Century underwent massive transformation in technology and culture, particularly during the reign of Queen Victoria, who lent her name to an entire era. This book looks specifically at murders… Continue reading Book Review: The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime
Tag: Scotland Yard
Movie Review: Dressed to Kill (1946)
Movie Review: Dressed to Kill (1946) directed by Roy William Neill Three seemingly-identical music boxes have come up for auction. The first is purchased by music box collector Julian “Stinky” Emery (Edmund Breon), the second by toy shop owner Evelyn Clifford (Patricia Cameron) (though she doesn’t leave her name) and the third by Mr. Kilgour (Harry… Continue reading Movie Review: Dressed to Kill (1946)
Movie Review: The Castle of Fu Manchu
Movie Review: The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969) directed by Jesus Franco Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) has once again resurfaced. This time he has a plan to extort the nations of the world by freezing the oceans. He demonstrates proof of concept by creating an iceberg in the Caribbean and sinking a ship. Which works, but… Continue reading Movie Review: The Castle of Fu Manchu
Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16
Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16 edited by Stephen Jones Let’s go back to 2004 for what at least one editor considered excellent short horror fiction. As with the later volume I have reviewed, there’s a lot of ancillary material. It opens with an extended look at horror and horror-adjacent… Continue reading Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine June 1952
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine June 1952 edited by Ellery Queen This is the last issue of EQMM I have to hand, but someday I hope to get out to garage sales again…. “Homecoming” by Veronica Parker Johns was inspired, so the introduction says, by the Kefauver hearings and the author getting a much… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine June 1952
Book Review: The Further Adventures of Solar Pons
Book Review: The Further Adventures of Solar Pons by Basil Copper Wisconsin teenager August Derleth was a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. When he learned that there would apparently be no further Holmes stories forthcoming from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he wrote a letter to the great man asking if he could write the stories from… Continue reading Book Review: The Further Adventures of Solar Pons
Movie Review: Terror By Night
Movie Review: Terror by Night (1946) directed by Roy William Neill The Star of Rhodesia, a large diamond, has long been associated with blood and death, bringing woe to its owners and those around them ever since it was dug up. The current owner is Lady Margaret Carstairs (Mary Forbes), a formidable dowager. Her son Roland… Continue reading Movie Review: Terror By Night
Magazine Review: The Shadow #60: Prince of Evil | Messenger of Death | Room 1313
Magazine Review: The Shadow #60: Prince of Evil | Messenger of Death | Room 1313 edited by Anthony Tollin There were multiple authors who operated under the house name Maxwell Grant to write the pulp magazine Shadow stories. This volume of Shadow reprints features three of them and is an interesting study in compare and… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Shadow #60: Prince of Evil | Messenger of Death | Room 1313
Magazine Review: High Adventure #166: The Big Foot Murder Mystery
Magazine Review: High Adventure #166: The Big Foot Murder Mystery by Edgar Wallace This time the pulp reprint magazine only has one story, which originally appeared in Complete Detective Novel Magazine in October, 1929. It was one of twelve novels Edgar Wallace (Richard Horatio Edgar Freeman) had published that year! One publisher claimed that nearly… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #166: The Big Foot Murder Mystery
Movie Review: Chamber of Horrors
Chamber of Horrors (1940) directed by Norman Lee When Lord Charles Selford dies, he leaves his fortune to his young son John or in the case of John’s death, to his equally young niece June Lansdowne, who lives in Canada. He appoints his friend Silva as guardian for John. However, the Selford family jewels are locked… Continue reading Movie Review: Chamber of Horrors