This is in fact an entry from my old blog which I have decided to transfer here so that I have everything in one place. Read the rest of this entry »
While I do not note every new Suchet Poirot production, the adaptation of Three Act Tragedy (2010) demands attention and consideration. I think it may well be the best of the Suchet Poirots, which is a very large claim, and an excellent piece of television drama in its own right. Both direction (by Ashley Pearce) and script (by Nick Dear) are very fine and the acting of Suchet himself and Martin Shaw, superb. The following analysis will contain spoilers. Read the rest of this entry »
John Grisham – The Pelican Brief (1992)
Following the assassination of two Supreme Court Justices a New Orleans law student, Darby Shaw, works out that the reason behind the murders was that a ruthless businessman, Mattiece, wanted to ensure that if an appeal concerning some Louisiana swamp-land which he owns and which contains vast oil-reserves, should come before the Court he would get a favourable verdict (the assassinated judges being pro-environment). Read the rest of this entry »
The latest McKenzie Marple was They Do it With Mirrors. While there were some good elements and the usual strong cast and handsome production values, this particular adaptation failed in terms of its plot alterations and emotional impact. These two values are often closely linked in both the McEwan and McKenzie Marples, because one fairly consistent thread has been the replacement of money by love as a dominant motive and motif. The immediate problem with this is that to succeed the bar is set much higher in terms of the particular production conveying love in a both a convincing and emotionally satisfying way. Read the rest of this entry »
It has been something of a vintage year and I am able to supply two lists – the first of mysteries published in 2009 (or at least the editions I read were published in 2009) and a second of mysteries published in previous years. I should be clear that the latter list does not include re-reads which accounts for the complete absence of any Golden Age material. Read the rest of this entry »
Ngaio Marsh - Sisters In Jeopardy (1954)
Sisters in Jeopardy is a very odd entry in the Marsh canon. Alleyn, with Troy and young son Ricky in tow, set off to the South of France. Their purpose is, on Alleyn’s part to investigate an international drugs ring, whilst also having a family holiday; they also wish to make contact with a Mr Garbel who has written to Troy claiming to be her second cousin and happens to live in Rocqueville, which is near the house Alleyn has to penetrate. Read the rest of this entry »
In Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks John Curran has managed the paradoxical feat of producing a book which is on the one hand indispensible to the Christie aficionado, and on the other highly unsatisfactory. The book is the result of years of research into Christie’s so-called ’secret notebooks’. In effect these were a series of notebooks in which – among shopping lists, reminders, much trivia of her everyday life – Christie jotted down plot ideas, from rudimentary outlines and single sentence concepts to fully developed schemes. Read the rest of this entry »
Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest (TGWKTHN) (2009)
The third In Larsson’s Millenium trilogy, which has taken the mystery world by storm over the past two years, sees a rogue section within Sweden’s Intelligence Services (SAPO) determined to protect their secrets at any cost; to this end they need in particular to ensure that Lisbeth Salander, the trilogy’s protagonist, is once again certified as insane and immured in an asylum. Read the rest of this entry »
I just wanted to note that by one of those extraordinary coincidences emeralds – the subject of part of Jill Paton Walsh’s talk at St Hildas (see http://mysterymile.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/st-hildas-2009-1/ ) and set to form a part of her latest Wimsey continuation book - have turned up again as a central leitmotif in Thomas Ellroy’s masterpiece Blood’s A Rover (my review of which might be turning up on Reviewing the Evidence sometimes soon). Read the rest of this entry »
Session 2
Martin Edwards – Original Sinners
As anyone who has read Martin Edwards’ blog (http://www.doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com/ ) will know he is extremely well-read in the highways and byways of mystery fiction. This talk was therefore filled with allusions to writers both well-known and obscure (to me anyway). The problem in relation to the latter was that I was unable to make out the proper spellings or names referred to and the following account is therefore heavily abbreviated. The theme of the talk also only became clear when Martin explained it at the end but, in my view, it makes more sense to introduce it first. Read the rest of this entry »
