OLD-TIME DETECTION, Summer 2015

(GIVE ME THAT) OLD-TIME DETECTION.
Summer 2015. Issue #39.
Editor: Arthur Vidro.
Old-Time Detection Special Interest Group of American Mensa, Ltd.
40 pages (including covers). $6.00

Here's yet another winner from Arthur Vidro, nicely blending the old with the new as he and his fellow contributors combine to cover over a century of crime, detective, and spy fiction. (Note: Off-site links to additional information are indicated with the word HERE.)

Contents:

~ AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: CYRIL HARE (Charles Shibuk): They say write about what you know, and Cyril Hare (HERE)—a lawyer and judge—did just that.

". . . an unfaltering skill in plot and an urbane humour."

~ MINI-REVIEWS (Douglas Greene, Kathleen Riley, and Amnon Kabatchnik): The Blind Barber (1934), The Insidious Doctor Fu-Manchu (1913), and TV adaptations of Clouds of Witness (1926, HERE) and The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928, HERE) all receive careful attention.

"I was pleasantly surprised . . ."

~ MEGA-REVIEW (Michael Dirda): A practically forgotten crime fiction author from the '50s returns in this review of The Derek Smith Omnibus (2014, HERE).

~ AT THE CINEMA (William K. Everson and Arthur Vidro): Everson reviews Dangerous Corner, a 1934 film adaptation of a J. B. Priestley play (HERE), while Arthur analyzes 
the play itself (HERE).

~ LOOKING BACKWARD (Charles Shibuk): Reviews of The Melamere Mystery (1930) and Death Wears a Purple Shirt (1934).

~ NON-FICTION CORNER (Les Blatt and Martin Edwards): We should never forget our heritage, which is why Les says Martin Edwards's The Golden Age of Murder (2015, HERE) 
is worth your attention.

~ FICTION ("Death Deals Diamonds" by T. S. Stribling [HERE], Famous Detective Stories, November 1952): There's a jewellers' convention in town; could that have something to do with the threat of a disease outbreak, the death of a local fille de joie, and rumors of a smuggling ring? Dr. Poggioli thinks so and sets out to prove it: "Will you never learn that this world is a single intricate web-work, and that one abnormality leads into another."

~ ROYAL ARCHIVES (Arthur Vidro): In correspondence from sixty years ago T. S. Stribling and Frederic Dannay discuss plots and paychecks.

~ THIRTY-PLUS YEARS AGO (Jon L. Breen): Keen observations about crime fiction and nonfiction from a smart bibliophile.

~ THE PAPERBACK REVOLUTION (Charles Shibuk): "It's always a pleasure to return to the glories of the classical detective novel of the great Golden Age of the early '30s and re-eval-uate the work of one of its foremost practitioners . . ."

~ CHRISTIE CORNER (Dr. John Curran): Upcoming events and books celebrating Agatha's 125th birthday; A Is for Arsenic, "a survey of poisons used extensively in Christie's work," sounds intriguing.

~ THE READERS WRITE

~ PUZZLES

Resource:
- We talked about the Spring 2015 issue of OTD HERE.

~ ~ ~

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

Category: Quality amateur publications (so few there be)