Tag Archives: Musings

L’incertitude haltérophile

Posted on February 23, 2018 by Nalkarj

Having cluttered everyone else’s blog with my opinions on Paul Halter (sorry, folks!), I thought it would be best if I assembled some of my general thoughts here—this post is coming right after my having finished two Halters, The Lord … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, John Dickson Carr, Paul Halter | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

The Verdict of You All…

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Nalkarj

This is a question I’ve mused over for a while, but it’s one of those times in which it may well be more difficult to formulate question rather than answer! (Socrates would be proud.) Simply put, it would be “who … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Musings, Questions | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Helen McCloy

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Nalkarj

At the risk of making a somewhat unceremonious return… 😉 I recently finished Helen McCloy’s The Slayer and the Slain and was inspired, I suppose (it’s really a marvellous book), to write the following. I posted it elsewhere, but I’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Ellery Queen, Helen McCloy, Musings | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Notes for the Curious

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Nalkarj

Crime and the occult! These were the only hobbies for a man of taste! I just had to start with that. This may seem a strange topic for a post, I know, but John Dickson Carr’s epigraphs and sources have … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, John Dickson Carr, Musings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Open Question

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Nalkarj

I do intend soon to post something that’s more than filler, folks, but until then… What books do you know that are comparable to Christie’s And Then There Were None (Ten Little Indians)? On the IMDb v2.0 boards, one poster … Continue reading →

Posted in Filler, Musings | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Is ‘Lord Edgware Dies’ Fair Play?

Posted on June 26, 2017 by Nalkarj

Originally posted on Golden Age of Detective Fiction Forum:
I’ve recently reread Christie’s “Lord Edgware Dies” (aka “Thirteen at Dinner”) and was again troubled by the question of whether one of the key moments of misdirection is fair. Hastings has…

Posted in Musings, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Desert [Not “Dessert”!] Island Books

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Nalkarj

Well, it seems that I haven’t posted anything here except my own fiction for a while–a sincere thank you to everyone who has looked at it and especially to those who have commented!–but I’ll try to remedy that with this … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Musings | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

“Murder,” She Spelled Out Real Plain

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Nalkarj

Of the large number of TV detective shows that longtime friends and collaborators William Link and Richard Levinson created, Ellery Queen (1975-1976) and Columbo (1968-1978; 1989-2003) seem (to me) to be the best. Columbo, of course, is the (far) longer running and the better known–and, … Continue reading →

Posted in Capsule Reviews, Musings, Reviews, TV | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Le roi est mort, vive le roi…

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Nalkarj

Here we go with some more Ellery Queen–nothing wrong with that, I suppose. Today’s book, Ellery Queen’s The King is Dead (1952), has gotten a largely negative reception from mystery fans, which is (a) too bad, for it’s a fine book, … Continue reading →

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Musings on Queen

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Nalkarj

Finishing Ellery Queen’s The Origin of Evil two days ago and having looked through Francis Nevins’s fascinating if hagiographic overview of the Queen (and Barnaby Ross) books, Royal Bloodline, started me thinking about Queen, recently one of my favorite detective-story writers, and the Queenian worldview. … Continue reading →

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