EENY MEENY MURDER NO by Rob Lopresti My wife has one shortcoming, which is reassuring, because perfection is so intimidating. Her flaw is this: she prefers science fiction to mysteries, Shocking, I know. When she reads a mystery it is usually because it is funny (Kinky Friedman, Donald Westlake) or because she thinks the setting […]

AUDIO-BRIEFING by Steve Steinbock Nope. It isn’t Friday. But it’s Agatha Christie Week. And that’s giving me an excuse to plug a few mystery short-story listening opportunities. If you happen to be in the English Riviera, you can take part in a variety of events (plays, films, gallery presentations, tours, lectures, etc.) as part of […]

Here is Chapter VI and the Conclusion to Pushkin’s famous novelette, “The Queen of Spades”. I’ve appended a brief afterword. —JLW THE QUEEN OF SPADES by Alexander Pushkin VI “Attendez!1” “How dare you say ‘attendez’ to me?” “Your excellency, I said ‘attendez, sir.’”2 Two fixed ideas can no more exist together in the moral world […]

MERRIE OLDE ENGLAND by Leigh Lundin Someone in the UK with nothing better to do (or possibly dreaming up an internet article) came up with a list of odd and interesting place names, a few that might be censored if tried on today.[1] Some simply sound fun: Funzie, Affpuddle, Barton in the Beans, Besses o’th’ […]

SLOW MEN AT WORK by John M. Floyd In my title, I intentionally left out the dash that belongs after SLOW. I am, you see, one of those slow men — especially when I’m reading. But more about that in a minute. A Little Backstory The idea for this column occurred to me when I […]

FAUX-KNOWLEDGY by Steve Steinbock I’m going be wordy this week. If you’re one of those readers who hate my columns about words and language, you may want to step out for a cup of coffee until tomorrow when John Floyd will be back slinging some of his high quality Mississippi Mud. My subject today is […]

MYSTERIOUS LIFE LESSONS by Deborah Elliott-Upton This week’s column was written in spurts. I was suffering from a heinous stomach virus that allowed me to sit at the keyboard only for a few minutes at a time. I’ve since made a full recovery, but some interesting ideas floated around my semi-consciousness during the times I […]