Sunday, July 18: The A.D.D. Detective
STAMPING out CRIME
by Leigh Lundin
Frankly Speaking
Steve’s Sherlock Holmes page is a good read in itself. I learned what cinderella stamps are and, following those links, I discovered the Ffestiniog Railway Letter Service continues to operate.
Although I worked in the UK, I was unaware of this Edwardian era FedEx. Armed with a shilling and a few pence (which then seemed to increase about the time you handed over your packet), you could mail a letter or package at any railway station and have it arrive at any other. (Paris implemented an even faster pneumatic tube service and New York City is famed for its mad bicycle couriers.)
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Steve Trussel and our Scandinavian colleagues, and thanks to Rosa for bringing them to our attention. Enjoy the three puzzles.
Great column! Interesting to see the writers and characters we love in different guise.
Hey, Josh – there’s even a collection dedicated to your heroine. Something new for you to collect.
PS Hover your cursor over the Sherlock Holmes’ stamp for an added joke within a joke within a puzzle.
Deborah also wrote a column on stamps and detectives some time ago, and even used one of the same illustrations. You can find her article here.
Have you been around any of the rest of my site? I wonder what you think of Maigret.
I looked at every single stamp page and many linked to it, but I didn’t see the Maigret page until you drew my attention to it.
A Broad Abroad:
*laughing*
Thanks! I guess you know you’ve made it as a mystery writer when you end up on postage stamps from all around the world. Never mind the fancy awards like Edgar and Shamus, when people from all continents actually LICK you on a daily basis . . . that’s when you know you’ve made it big! 😉
(gasp) Mr Todo – I’m shocked, I tell you, shocked! You will come unstuck with that comment, landing on your backside. The Ministry of Pure and Unsullied Thoughts is probably cancelling your CB membership as you read.
Jokes aside – you’re most welcome. Am sure you’re aware Agatha C wrote some rather lovely poetry. Considering her affinity for murder and mystery, her husband must have been comforted knowing she had a gentler side.
A Broad Abroad:
Why, whatever might you mean? I thought you are supposed to lick stamps. . . . 😉
Yes, her poetry–and also her romantic Mary Westmacott novels and her autobiography. Agatha Christie sure had her gentle side too.
I blush to say I misidentified Dr. Fell as G.K. himself. Amd I didn’t get Poirot—I thought it was the Monopoly guy, so help me! And Josh, Dame Agatha had her spooky side too, she did write some ghost stories!
I confess I didn’t think of Gideon Fell in the first one. In the second one, the two in green fooled me. Porfiry didn’t dawn on me at all– I was thinking more along the lines of Arkady what’s-his-name. Speak of overlooking the obvious!
Jeff: Yes, I believe there are some! One of my favorites among those is “The Dressmaker’s Doll,” a story about a doll that seems to have a life of its own. Interestingly, as I just found out, it was originally published in the June 1959 issue of EQMM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Sin_and_Other_Stories