Ah Sweet Mystery!

For me, part of the joy of reading classic detective fiction is stumbling across lines like this: “Go home and doll up in your soup and fish, Paul, and wipe that worried look off your map.”

Naturally we wear our “soup and fish” when we’re heading to a fine dining establishment. I know that whenever I don a tuxedo, it puts a smile on my map! But then, I’ve b...

In classic literature and drama, the concept of characters going about in costume was a commonplace plot device. The Greek gods disguised themselves as mortals to wander about causing trouble. Odysseus disguised himself as a beggar to check up on his wife’s fidelity. In nearly every Shakespearean comedy, somebody wanders around in disguise: often it is the play’s heroine, lik...

Due to some scheduling glitches, for the first time my Book Club will be discussing not one but two mystery novels at this month’s meeting. The first is The Dead Can Tell (1940) by Helen Reilly, and the new edition by Woodside Press beautifully reconstructs the old Dell Mapback cover on front and back, as well as the cast of characters an...

Let’s talk about the public domain. Because, frankly, I’m confused.

“Every year when the clock strikes midnight on January 1, while most people are singing Auld Lang Syne and partying with their loved ones, copyright lawyers and librarians celebrate a different occasion: the annual expansion of the public domain, AKA Public Domain Day. All copyrights expire on D...