OLD-TIME DETECTION, Autumn 2014

(GIVE ME THAT) OLD-TIME DETECTION.
Autumn 2014. Issue #37.
Old-Time Detection Special Interest Group of American Mensa, Ltd.
36 pages (including covers). $6.00

If you think you've missed something in the detective fiction field because you've only just discovered it or maybe you're just too young, Arthur Vidro's fine publication stands a good chance of catching you up. This latest issue of OLD-TIME DETECTION contains a wealth of items worth retrieving from obscurity, including a Hildegarde Withers short story that hasn't seen print for sixty-three years.

CONTENTS:

QUOTES:

"While [Stanley] Ellin may not, unfortunately, be a household name, he is one of the two greatest short story writers of the second half of the 20th century, and I don't know who the other one is."

FROM THE EDITOR:

. . . newly written mystery plays—excluding musicals—increasingly are scarce.  . . .  But we have a ray of hope.  . . .

PAPERBACK REVOLUTION:
- 47 years ago, Charles Shibuk took a close look at available paperbacks.

. . . Unfortunately there have been many gaps in the [paperback] reprint field. . . .

CHRISTIE CORNER:
- Updates in the world of Dame Agatha Christie.

. . . Donning the mantle of a much-loved and respected writer like Agatha Christie is, in the final analysis, a poisoned chalice.  . . .

MINI-REVIEWS:
- Critiques of books by H. Rider Haggard, Anne Austin, Jon L. Breen, Van Wyck Mason, and a collection edited by Otto Penzler. Reviews of: Mr. Meeson's Will - Murder at Bridge - Touch of the Past - Dardanelles Derelict - The Dutch Shoe Mystery - Mark Twain's Medieval Romance.

STANLEY ELLIN'S START:
- Mystery writer Stanley Ellin got his first break in 1946, thanks to Ellery Queen. Ellin explains how Queen and his namesake magazine allowed Ellin to become a professional writer.

. . . So, as to that question of whether I would have made a career for myself in writing if there had not been a Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee, I can only say that the foregoing evidence indicates that it was, at the very least, touch and go.  . . .

"LOST" FICTION:
- Hildegarde Withers solves "Where Angels Fear to Tread," by Stuart Palmer.

. . . Then a bullet ricocheted screaming down the hallway . . .

AT THE CINEMA:
- William Everson tells about two very short films, Don't Talk and Behind the Headlines.

. . . it's well-knit, well-constructed and doesn't waste time putting in either laughs or action just for their own sake.  . . .

35-PLUS YEARS AGO:
- Reviews by Jon L. Breen of books published in 1973 and 1981.

. . . he can write the Ian Fleming-type thriller and make you believe it.  . . .

LOOKING BACKWARD:
- Reviews by Charles Shibuk that originally appeared a generation ago. Books covered: Murder in Triplicate - A Most Immoral Murder - The Longbow Murder - Shadow of a Tiger.

THE READERS WRITE:
- Letters from our readers.

. . . This larger than usual magazine was very welcome.  . . .

PUZZLE:
- Solve the puzzle, win a prize.

Subscription information:
- Published three times a year: spring, summer, and autumn.
- Sample copy: $6.00 in U.S.; $10.00 anywhere else.
- One-year U.S.: $18.00 ($12.50 for Mensans).
- One-year overseas: $40.00 (or 20 pounds sterling or 25 euros).
- Payment: Checks or cash or U.S. postage stamps.
- Mailing address:
Arthur Vidro, editor
Old-Time Detection
2 Ellery Street
Claremont, New Hampshire 03743
- Web address:
oldtimedetection@netzero.net

Resources:
- ONTOS previously covered Issue #36 HERE.

Category: Detective fiction