Crossposted to Dreamwidth as usual.

What I've Finished Reading

Aunt Dimity's Death develops into a very mild mystery with the help of a ghost - Dimity's spirit carefully preserves plausible deniability by communicating through written messages that only specific people can hear. She also subtly alters reality to make Lori a good cook for the ( Read more... )

What I've Finished Reading

The Return of the Continental Op is five short stories by Dashiell Hammett , told by and about a nameless operative for the Continental Detective Agency. I really like Hammett’s first person here: short punchy similes, sardonically understated re-statements, “I lied” as dialogue tag. The Op is at his best when he’s ( Read more... )

What I've Finished Reading

Love Lies Bleeding turned out to be pretty good! Fen remarks at one point that he's calmed down a lot in the past ten years, which is accurate. More accurately: it's just much better constructed than The Moving Toyshop, so we don't end up stuck in a lot of cul-de-sacs with Fen doing half-formed stand-up routines, there's ( Read more... )

What I've Just Finished Reading

I haven't seen it in many years, but The Maltese Falcon was one of my favorite movies from childhood; I loved the mythical golden bird that may not even exist anymore under its protective enamel, and Sydney Greenstreet's never-ending list of things he doesn't trust in a man, and the great line, "I couldn't be fonder ( Read more... )

What I Bought While Staying With my Family

Love Lies Bleeding by Edmund Crispin, a tiny, super-pulpy-looking book called The Angry Amazons by Carter Brown, and a beautiful 1966 hardcover edition of Ngaio Marsh's Death at the Dolphin under its even more beautifully ridiculous American title, Killer Dolphin -- only it's this muted beige and grey ( Read more... )