Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

This is a long Mystery novel from the Golden Age - but then so was her novel The Wall, and that one was pretty stellar. I like the cover on this latest edition, and generally consider the author an old reliable at this point.

Wow, after this book and The Case of the Seven Sneezes, I am going to need Crime fiction that lets any cats that show up actually survive the book. And Fredric Brown was a cat lover too…so, developments in ‘The Cat and the Riddle’ are extra surprising. I think I went through this a few years ago, where several Crime books in a row were rough on dogs. It’s not a trigger for me, but I don’t like it constant.

This is the third of three Fred Brown books I found in the basement of a Mystery bookstore that let me prowl around down there and set aside what I wanted to buy. I may pursue other books in the series at a rate of one a year (except ones I did get in paperback back in the 1980s). I also took home a bunch of Black Lizard books of old, The Scarf by Bloch, and some cool miscellany, like Goodis and Hammett gems.

Religious iconography doesn't sell a book to me, that is for sure...but, I'll bend and defer to this book's reputation and high ratings. Not actually sure what to expect.

Very happy with this…and we’re going to take that idiotic blurb off of The Hunting Party by Foley - the one that compares it to And Then There Were None - and we’re going to move it over to this Boucher book. At least Seven Sneezes is in the same ballpark, for crying out loud. But not so similar as to be a copy; just sort of reminding me - trapped on island, sins of the past, some kind of hidden hand…

A promising start - I love that this is a cold case situation, and that suspects plus detective will shortly be together on an island.

Three entertaining stories, so far - a bit dated, so there are some dubious details that don't fit so good in 2023...but I knew that was going to happen in 1920s to 40s hardboiled. The mystery plots have been swell!

The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars was a lot of fun, and this is from the same series. My copy is not in the best shape, but hopefully it will hold together until I finish reading it.

It’s a fabulous read, and I’m flying through it, should wrap it tonight. I am now very interested in seeing the Purge films - I didn’t known what was going on in them. Meanwhile, I mainly bought this book because I love Get Out, and a 1970s movie called Ganja & Hess is in my Top Ten Favourite Films, and I wanted the authors’ take on those films in particular. But I was ready for the overview they fit into, as well.

The tone of the book is playful. We are here to party and learn amazing stuff at the same time...

Absolutely pumped to get to this, now that I have fought down my ever-present urge to just go to more fiction. Ganja & Hess is one of my Top 10 favourite films, and I see it gets a bit of discussion in this book - and after that, some of the films discussed are ones I've seen, and many are films I have sadly not got to yet. But I think I'm ready for this book.

Enjoying it. No idea who died…

This will be my first look at what Lucy Foley has to offer. I’m very curious. This one got mentioned in Martin Edwards’ book The Life of Crime, where it’s kind of a big deal when he highlights something fairly recent and worth attention. And his quick description of the premise made me pick it up.

It’s a blast - I should finish it later today. We’re not doing time-jumps, and I don’t mind that; I always have to get used to time-jumps…embracing scope and the Big Picture, but losing characters, situations, etc. So, a bit different than Semiosis, and I that’s fine with me. It is fun reading this so soon after When Worlds Collide, and After Worlds Collide. Similarities, sophistication, in great SF 80 years apart!

Nice to be back in this universe - but that’s probably as far as I go tonight; I did do a whole graphic novel today, and a super amount of reading yesterday, including the entire Bloch book, so the harrowing trip to the Coral Plains will kick off tomorrow with coffee and a snack.

A lot of fun - I'll finish it tonight.