Sometimes the urge comes on me, and I desperately need to be among old volumes. The scent of fine aged paper, unopened boxes of new acquisitions, rows of superior bindings and dust jackets, ordinary reading copies that will be passed along to some other biblio, is essential to my mental health. The spot I rush … Read more
One of the most erudite, funny, brilliant writers in today’s world of empty sentiments and repetitive story lines, Reginald Hill, has passed away. For those who have not read his work under his real and pen names, you have missed something very special. I was one who almost missed the boat. I attempted to read … Read more
I’m in the midst of a dilemma. Something most books collectors get into sooner or later. Space. It’s not infinite. As much as I want to pretend I can house every book I have in my possession right now, and any that come in hereafter, physics tells me–it’s not possible. I don’t listen to physics … Read more
A man inside his car at a gas station is shot point blank by a motorcyclist wearing a opaque helmet who then speeds off. After some detective work, they realize the dead man was friends with a former beauty queen, wife of a wealthy prominent restaurant owner. A mother with 9 children–two adopted. And when … Read more
I’ve always heard this expression as: Dead as a door-nail. A rather odd expression to begin with. So I checked on its origins. Apparently no one is absolutely sure of whence the simile came. The best scholars can theorize it is a reference to the nails used on large wooden doors back in the middle … Read more
Whoa! There are far more awards for writers of crime fiction than I realized. I thought I knew them all, even a rather low key one called the Hammett Prize. Uh, no. Apparently not. Some mystery writers awards are within a more general literary group, just one section. I was unaware of these and perhaps, … Read more
I didn’t realize that biblios had such a broad range. While researching, I found rare manuscripts and letters, and even scraps of writing on paper were considered part of the genre. A few titles fit very neatly. Here’s one–The Vivero Letter, Bagley, Desmond, 1968– A letter dating from 1539 and the conquest of Mexico by Cortes … Read more
I’ve revamped, redone, reorganized and generally changed the way I’m going about listing and writing up the Best 100 Mysteries of All Time. Although these titles are still in the list–they no longer are numbered. I have put the entire list up, in alphabetical order, thereby keeping what book comes in at what number, undisclosed, … Read more
