Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024 edited by Janet Hutchings Despite the cover date, this issue of the venerable mystery story magazine hit newsstands in December 2023, so is the Christmas issue as well as the Sherlock Holmes tribute. I bought this issue and promptly had it buried under a to read pile,… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January/February 2024
Tag: wills
Movie Review: Scream of Fear (1961)
Movie Review: Scream of Fear (1961) directed by Seth Holt (British title: “Taste of Fear”) Ten years ago, the Applebys divorced, and Mrs. Appleby got custody of their daughter Penny Appleby (Susan Strasberg). They moved to Italy. Eight years ago, Penny had a riding accident and lost the use of her legs. Three years ago, her… Continue reading Movie Review: Scream of Fear (1961)
Movie Review: Assassin of Youth
Movie Review: Assassin of Youth (1938) directed by Elmer Clifton Cub reporter Art Brighton (Arthur Gardner) is given his first big assignment. An elderly woman was mowed down by a drug-crazed teenager who’d lost control of his car. As it happens, the woman was quite wealthy, and her fortune is slated to go to her granddaughter… Continue reading Movie Review: Assassin of Youth
Book Review: The Hills of Homicide
Book Review: The Hills of Homicide by Louis L’Amour Before he landed the contracts that were to make him America’s most beloved Western writer, Louis L’Amour tried his hand at various other genres of pulp fiction. But the pulp magazine market was drying up, so it was generally a good thing he found other work.… Continue reading Book Review: The Hills of Homicide
Movie Review: The Case of the Howling Dog
Movie Review: The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) directed by Alan Crosland Millionaire Arthur Cartwright (Gordon Westcott) is being put on edge by the howling of his equally rich neighbor Clinton Foley’s (Russell Hicks) dog Prince (Lightning). According to Cartwright, the dog’s been howling for the last forty-eight hours straight, an omen of death. Mr.… Continue reading Movie Review: The Case of the Howling Dog
Movie Review: Nightmare Castle
Movie Review: Nightmare Castle (1965) directed by Mario Caiano (original title “Amanti d’Oltretomba”) Jenny Arrowsmith (nee Hampton) (Barbara Steele) has always had fragile mental health, and has spent much of her life at the “clinic” of Dr. Dereck Joyce (Marino Mase). Recently, Dr. Stephen Arrowsmith (Paul Muller) arrived to inform her of the death of his… Continue reading Movie Review: Nightmare Castle
Movie Review: Dementia 13 (1963)
Movie Review: Dementia 13 (1963) directed by Francis Ford Coppola Lady Haloran (Ethne Dunne) has summoned her family to their castle in Ireland for the annual commemoration of her daughter Kathleen’s death. Eldest son John (Peter Read) has sent his regrets, and his wife Louise (Luana Anders), as he has been forced to travel elsewhere on… Continue reading Movie Review: Dementia 13 (1963)
Book Review: The Last Séance
Book Review: The Last Séance by Agatha Christie Agatha Christie is best remembered for her tales of mystery and detection, but she didn’t confine herself to that field. She also wrote stories with elements of the supernatural, and this new volume collects twenty of them in one place, rather than in scattered anthologies. The title… Continue reading Book Review: The Last Séance
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine June 1953
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine June 1953 edited by Ellery Queen Since this has floated to the top of my TBR pile, let’s look at another vintage issue of this classic mystery magazine. The cover depicting an aerialist falling to presumed death after being stuck with a dart has nothing to do with any… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine June 1953
Book Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Book Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie World War One rages in Europe, but for Captain Arthur Hastings, the fighting is over. Recovering from battle wounds, Hastings is at loose ends until invited to the country manor of his old acquaintance John Cavendish. Styles Court has changed a bit since Hastings’ childhood… Continue reading Book Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles