"She Looked Asleep, but We Couldn't Wake Her"

TODAY we depart from our usual practice of highlighting stories that are readily available online somewhere to highlighting one that presently only resides inside a dead-tree publication, to wit:

"The Suspension of Mickey Hackerstein."

By Arthur Vidro.

First appearance: Mystery Most Traditional - Malice Domestic Number 17, 2023.

For sale (HERE).

Short story (14 pages).

   "I read a lot. Especially Christie, Queen, Sayers, Gardner, Grafton, Lovesey—"

   "Who are they?"

   "Never mind."

SHERLOCK HOLMES informed Watson that he had written a monograph about "the ashes of various tobaccos." The (very amateur) sleuth in today's story has almost certainly never read Holmes's treatise (who has?). Fortunately, as it turns out, she won't need any expert advice from the Sage of Baker Street to solve a killing that happens within just a few feet of where she works . . .

Main characters:

~ Mickey Hackerstein (the narrator), James Carr, Jedediah Gilroy, Teri Nelluc, Officer Calvey, Chuck Nelluc, Sergeant Salem, and the "beefy police sergeant."

References:

- Holmes's monograph:

  "The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes was an expert in the study of cigar ash and wrote a monograph, Upon the Distinction Between the Ashes of the Various Tobaccos, about it. This expertise was used in his cases such as A Study in Scarlet, The Boscombe Valley Mystery and The Hound of the Baskervilles." (Wikipedia HERE.) (Also see Chris Lansdown's essay HERE and The Victorian Web HERE.)

- "Mickey Mantle":

  "Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931–August 13, 1995), nicknamed 'the Mick' and 'the Commerce Comet,' was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York Yankees, primarily as a center fielder. Mantle is regarded by many as being one of the best players and sluggers of all time. He was an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player three times and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "some stringers":

  "In journalism, a stringer is a freelancer who contributes writing, photos, or videos to a photo agency, news agency, or other news organization on an ongoing basis but is paid individually for each piece of published or broadcast work rather than earning a fixed salary. Stringers include journalists, photographers, or videographers.

  "As freelancers, stringers do not receive a regular salary and the amount and type of work is typically at their discretion. However, stringers often have an ongoing relationship with one or more news organizations, to which they provide content on particular topics or locations when the opportunities arise." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "the paste-up artist":

  "Paste up is a method of creating or laying out publication pages that predates the use of the now-standard computerized page design desktop publishing programs. Completed, or camera-ready, pages are known as mechanicals or mechanical art. In the offset lithography process, the mechanicals would be photographed with a stat camera to create a same-size film negative for each printing plate required." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "like Joseph Wambaugh":

  "Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh, Jr. (January 22, 1937–February 28, 2025) was an American writer known for his fictional and nonfictional accounts of police work in the United States. Many of his novels are set in Los Angeles and its surroundings and feature Los Angeles police officers as protagonists. He won three Edgar Awards, and was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "my Chevy Citation":

  "The Chevrolet Citation is a range of compact cars that was produced by Chevrolet from the 1980 to 1985 model years. The first front-wheel drive Chevrolet, the Citation replaced the Chevrolet Nova as the automaker downsized its compact cars." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Virginia Slim cigarette":

  "Philip Morris introduced Virginia Slims on July 22, 1968 and marketed the brand as a female-oriented spinoff of the company's Benson & Hedges brand. The blends, flavorings, color scheme and overall marketing concepts closely followed the Benson & Hedges model." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "a Winston":

  "Winston was introduced in 1954 by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and quickly became one of the top-selling cigarette brands, using the slogan 'Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.' It became the number one cigarette sold in the world by 1966, a position it held until 1972 when Marlboro overtook the brand." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "to watch Picket Fences":

  "Picket Fences is an American family drama television series about the residents of the town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on CBS in the United States." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "playing Good Samaritan":

  "The term 'good Samaritan' is used as a common metaphor: 'The word now applies to any charitable person, especially one who, like the man in the parable, rescues or helps out a needy stranger'." (Wikipedia HERE.)

Artwork by Rembrandt van Rjin

- "instant Sanka":

  "Sanka is a brand of instant decaffeinated coffee, sold around the world, and was one of the earliest decaffeinated varieties. Sanka is distributed in the United States by Kraft Heinz." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "either second-degree murder or manslaughter":

  "Generally, second-degree murder is an unplanned homicide caused by actions you knew or should have known could lead to the victim’s death.

  "Getting into a sudden fight and battering a person to death could be an example of second-degree murder. You may not have planned to get into a fight. However, if you should have known your attacks could be deadly, it may be second-degree murder.

  "The difference between first and second-degree is the mental state or mens rea. Even if you didn’t have the intent to take a human life, extreme indifference to serious bodily harm is enough to hold you accountable for the death of another person." (LawInfo HERE.)

 "The definition of voluntary manslaughter under federal law is the unlawful killing of a human being upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion. Typically, this means that the defendant had no prior intent to kill.

  "Voluntary manslaughter is a lesser-included charge of murder. So, when a prosecutor brings a murder charge, the jury can find the defendant guilty of voluntary manslaughter without the prosecutor having to bring those charges." (LawInfo HERE.)

Resources:

- Arthur Vidro is, of course, the genial Editor-in-Chief of that superlative detective fiction magazine, (Give Me) That Old Time Detection, which we have occasionally run across (a comprehensive list starts HERE). He is also the author of "The Ransom of EQMM #1" (HERE).

  We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.

The bottom line:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OLD-TIME DETECTION, Summer 2020

(Give Me That) OLD-TIME DETECTION.

Summer 2020. Issue #54.

Editor: Arthur Vidro.

Old-Time Detection Special Interest Group of American Mensa, Ltd.

36 pages (including covers).

(Note: Most of this posting first appeared on Steve Lewis's Mystery*File weblog HERE.)

The latest issue of OLD-TIME DETECTION continues to maintain the high quality it has always enjoyed. Editor Arthur Vidro's choices of material are, as usual, excellent; the world of classic detective fiction, long neglected, gets a new lease on life with every number.

Indeed, nothing says "classic detective fiction" like commentary from Edward D. Hoch, an expert on the subject as well as a shining example of how to write it. Vidro reproduces two introductions by Hoch to mystery story collections.

Ed Hoch's fiction output is the envy of many writers, almost always matching quantity with quality. In his review of Crippen & Landru's latest themed collection of Hoch's stories, Hoch's Ladies, Michael Dirda says it well: "His fair-play stories emphasize a clean, uncluttered narrative line, just a handful of characters, and solutions that are logical and satisfying. Each one sparks joy."

Next we have a valuable history lesson by Dr. John Curran concerning the earliest periods of the genre, "'landmark' titles in the development of crime fiction between 1841 and the dawn, eighty years later, of the Golden Age," especially as reflected in the publications of the Collins Crime Club.

Following Dr. Curran is a collection of perceptive reviews by Charles Shibuk of some pretty obscure crime fiction titles; for instance, have you ever heard of Brian Flynn's The Orange Axe ("highly readable, steadily engrossing, well-plotted, and very deceptively clued") or James Ronald's Murder in the Family ("an absolute pleasure to read from first page to last")?

Cornell Woolrich was definitely not ignored by Hollywood, as Francis M. Nevins shows us in his continuing series of articles about cinema adaptations. The year 1947 was a rich one for films derived from Woolrich's works—Fall Guy, The Guilty, and Fear in the Night—but, as Nevins indicates, the quality of these movies is highly variable.

William Brittain is a detective fiction author who has been undeservedly "forgotten" of late, but a reprinting of one his stories ("The Second Sign in the Melon Patch", EQMM, January 1969) shows why he should be remembered: "She wondered if anyone in Brackton held anything but the highest opinion of her would-be murderer."

Charles Shibuk returns with concise reviews of (then) recently reprinted books by John Dickson Carr, Agatha Christie, Anthony Dekker, Ngaio Marsh, Ellery Queen, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Josephine Tey.

Dr. John Curran also returns. The world's leading expert on Agatha Christie tips us off as to developments in Christieworld: a new short story collection, the closure of the long-running play The Mousetrap as well as the cancellation of the in-person Agatha Christie Festival and uncertainty about the release date for Kenneth Branagh's version of Death on the Nile due to the beerbug, the publication of a new non-fiction book focusing on Hercule Poirot, and a radio play version of a previously unperformed non-criminous production by Dame Agatha dating from nearly a century ago.

This is followed by a collection of smart reviews by John L. Breen (The Glass Highway by Loren D. Estleman), Amnon Kabatchnik (The Man in the Shadows by Carroll John Daily), Les Blatt (The Chinese Parrot by Earl Derr Biggers), Ruth Ordivar (The World's Fair Murders by John Ashenhurst), Arthur Vidro (The Kettle Mill Mystery by Inez Oellrichs), and Thor Dirravu (The Ten Faces of Cornell Woolrich, a collection).

Next we have Martin Edwards's foreword to Joseph Goodrich's collection of essays entitled Unusual Suspects (2020), which, Edwards is delighted to relate, "benefits from a quirky unpredictability and from being a mine of intriguing nuggets of information."

Rounding out this issue are the readers' reactions and a puzzle page, the latter a snap only if you're thoroughly familiar with the life and career of Hercule Poirot.

Altogether this is a most satisfying issue of OLD-TIME DETECTION.

Contents:
(1) The Non-fiction World of Ed Hoch, reprints of introductions (1972 and 2003) supplied by Edward D. Hoch, one for a collection of Mr. Tarrant stories and another for a mystery anthology.
(2) Mega-Review: Hoch's Ladies (2019) by Edward D. Hoch, reviewed by Michael Dirda.
(3) New Non-fiction: Landmarks in Crime Fiction Development (2019) by Dr. John Curran.
(4) Looking Backward, reviews (1976) by Charles Shibuk.
(5) The Woolrich Films: Part Five in a Series (1988) by Francis M. Nevins.
(6) Fiction: "The Second Sign in the Melon Patch" (EQMM, January 1969) by William Brittain.
(7) The Paperback Revolution (1971) by Charles Shibuk.
(8) Christie Corner (2020) by Dr. John Curran.
(9) Various reviews.
(10) New Non-fiction: Unusual Suspects (2020) by Joseph Goodrich, with Martin Edwards's foreword.
(11) The Readers Write.
(12) Puzzle Page.

~ ~ ~

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 ($15.00 for Mensans). - One-year overseas: $40.00 (or 25 pounds sterling or 30 euros).
- Payment: Checks payable to Arthur Vidro, or cash from any nation, or U.S. postage stamps or PayPal. Mailing address:
   Arthur Vidro, editor
   Old-Time Detection
   2 Ellery Street
   Claremont, New Hampshire 03743
Web address:

   vidro@myfairpoint.net

Resource:

- You can find last June's review of OTD (HERE).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OLD-TIME DETECTION, Autumn 2019/Winter 2020

(Give Me That) OLD-TIME DETECTION.
Autumn 2019/Winter 2020. Issue #52.
Editor: Arthur Vidro.
Old-Time Detection Special Interest Group of American Mensa, Ltd.
36 pages (including covers).
Cover image: The 12.30 from Croydon.

With many Golden Age (GAD) writers nowadays seeing reprints for the first time after years of neglect, Arthur Vidro's Old-Time Detection (OTD) is more timely than ever, an invaluable resource for neophyte and experienced readers alike. The insights and information contained in any given issue of OTD make it a worthwhile reservoir from which Golden Age enthusiasts may drink with pleasure.

~ From the Editor by Arthur Vidro:
  Vidro echoes the sentiments of many devotees of classic detective fiction: ". . . every time a publisher [such as Penzler Publishers] reprints a novel of an old-time author, or (as Crippen & Landru does) collects into a book for the first time the short stories of an old-time author, it is cause to rejoice."

~ Looking Backward by Charles Shibuk and A Sidebar by Arthur Vidro (2 pages):
  Shibuk disusses the comments supplied by Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor for 
A Book of Prefaces to Fifty Classics of Crime Fiction, 1900-1950: "The collaborators have endowed these highly literate prefaces with all the wisdom of their many years of reading experience. Their pithy remarks are always interesting, enlightening, and a good example 
of their critical expertise and mandarin tastes." Arthur Vidro helpfully appends a complete 
list of those "Fifty Classics."

~ Christie Corner by Dr. John Curran (2 pages):
  The world's foremost expert on Dame Agatha summarizes recent developments in Old Blighty, with comments of the newest collection of Christie stories, The Last Séance: Tales 
of the Supernatural, many of them coming from The Hound of Death (1933); TV adaptations 
of Christie's works, some more successful (i.e., being true to the originals) than others; and two festivals honoring She Who Had a Talent to Deceive.

~ Give Me That Old-Time Detection Film Music by Marvin Lachman (3 pages):
  Lachman highlights the musical scores of classic detective/mystery/crime movies from the 1930s, '40s, '50s, and a little beyond, many of which are very memorable, even haunting, such as the ones in The Letter and Double Indemnity (both by Max Steiner); Laura (David Raksin); The Big Sleep (Steiner again); Spellbound, The Naked City, and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (Miklos Rozsa in all three cases); Sunset Boulevard (Franz Waxman); and Murder on the Orient Express from 1974 (Richard Rodney Bennett).

~ Mega-Review: Mycroft and Sherlock (2018) by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Anna Waterhouse; reviewed by Michael Dirda (2 pages):
  A former basketball superstar (with an acknowledged writing partner) has another go at modifying the Sherlockian mythos in this sequel to Mycroft Holmes (2015). The story intro-duces a character many readers may have heard of, an "intense young man" who is "arro-
gant, stubborn, argumentative, and almost bloodthirsty in his taste for newspaper accounts of the latest crimes and atrocities." Dirda concedes that "it moves along briskly, and the reader's interest never flags," but it does have its flaws.
  Related: The Kirkus Review of Mycroft Holmes (HERE).

~ Spotlight on Freeman Wills Crofts by Charles Shibuk (4 pages):
  For mystery fans Crofts needs no introduction, being a pioneer of the police procedural subgenre starting with The Cask (1920, published the same year as Agatha Christie's first book), a novel which received high praise from Anthony Boucher: "Possibly the most completely competent first novel in the history of crime, it is the definitive novel of alibis, timetables — and all the absorbing hairsplitting of detection . . ." With some exceptions, Crofts's later works adhered pretty much to the same pattern, especially after he intro-
duced his most famous detective, Inspector French.

~ 35 Years Ago: Mystery Reviews by Jon L. Breen (3 pages):
  Deadly Reunion (1975; 1982 in the U.S.) by Jan Ekström:
  Unlike other Scandinavian writers who have achieved fame in the Anglophonic world, Ekström takes a less common approach to crime fiction, being "solidly in the tradition 
of the Golden Age of the 1920s and 1930s, with an enthusiasm for locked room and impossible crime situations that has marked him as the Swedish John Dickson Carr"
—high praise indeed.
  Related: Pretty Sinister Books review (HERE).

    Ice by Ed McBain:
    Starting in the mid-fifties, Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels chronicled the ups and downs of a "family" of police officers, focusing on the group's various adventures and misadven-
tures in crime solving, and Ice is no different: "Police procedurals come in two types: the single-case type and the modular type. In the latter, truer to life but harder for a writer to 
bring off successfully, several unconnected cases are involved. McBain has experimented with both types but usually concentrates on one investigation, as he does in Ice."
  Related: Wikipedia (HERE).

~ Fiction: "Murder in the Hills" by T. S. Stribling (The Saint Detective Magazine, February 1956), a Henry Poggioli short story (12 pages):
  Poggioli and his "Watson" walk straight into an old-fashioned Southern feud when they're persuaded to investigate a possible murder; mercurial Mercutio could bitterly wish Romeo 
"A plague a' both your houses," but Poggioli takes a different approach.

~ Book Reviews:
  That Day the Rabbi Left Town (1996) by Harry Kemelman; reviewed by Ruth Ordivar:
  Kemelman's last book about Rabbi Small seems more noteworthy for its depiction of the inner world of education than its central mystery.
  Related: Wikipedia (HERE).

  Murder Fantastical (1967) by Patricia Moyes; reviewed by Kathleen Riley:
  It's hard to go wrong with a writer who "gives you warm and fuzzy British in a skillfully written package — and an engaging series character to boot," namely Chief Inspector 
Henry Tibbett.
  Related: Wikipedia (HERE); Pretty Sinister Books review (HERE); Mystery Scene review (HERE).

  Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective (1934) by Agatha Christie; reviewed by Rita Hurvord:
  Unlike Christie's better-known professional heavesdropper Hercule Poirot, Parker Pyne, whose specialty is being a professional helper-outer, "does not proclaim himself a sleuth, because he isn't one. But he does some sleuthing nonetheless."
  Related: The Corpse Steps Out review (HERE).

~ The Non-Fiction World of Ed Hoch—Biography: John D. MacDonald by Edward D. Hoch:
  Hoch didn't just write detective fiction, he wrote about it and the authors who produce it, in this case John D. MacDonald, most remembered for his Travis McGee series.

~ Royal Archives: Dannay-Stribling Part Five by Arthur Vidro:
  Examining the correspondence between Fred Dannay, editor of EQMM, and other authors, in this case, T. S. Stribling, best known as the creator of the Poggioli series.

~ Random Thoughts on Writing the Paperback Revolution by Charles Shibuk:
  "In conclusion I think that about one-fourth of the review copies I receive are absolute junk, half of them are—shall we say—uninteresting, and the remainder are of some interest even if they don't qualify for review."

~ The Readers Write:
  "Issue #51 was top-notch, with illuminating contributions by the veteran mavens of detective literature . . ."

~ Puzzle Page:
  If you know your Poirot backwards and forwards, then this issue's puzzle will be a snap.

~ ~ ~

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 ($15.00 for Mensans).
- One-year overseas: $40.00 (or 25 pounds sterling or 30 euros).
- Payment: Checks payable to Arthur Vidro, or cash from any nation, or U.S. postage stamps or PayPal.
Mailing address:
   Arthur Vidro, editor
   Old-Time Detection
   2 Ellery Street
   Claremont, New Hampshire 03743
Web address:
   vidro@myfairpoint.net

====================

Resource:
- Our latest look at OTD was the Summer 2019 issue (HERE).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OLD-TIME DETECTION, Summer 2019

(Give Me That) OLD-TIME DETECTION.
Summer 2019. Issue #51.
Editor: Arthur Vidro.
Old-Time Detection Special Interest Group of American Mensa, Ltd.
36 pages (including covers).
Cover image: Whodunit? Houdini?

NOTE: The first part of this review is on Steve Lewis's Mystery*File weblog; go (THERE) first.

Here's a brief outline of Issue 51:
1. From the Editor: "Origin of a Column" (2019) by Arthur Vidro.
   Arthur announces the beginning of "a run of reprint pieces penned by Ed Hoch."
   Related: (HERE, the GAD Wiki).

2. "Whodunit? We'll Never Tell but the Mystery Novel Is Alive and Well" (1983; 3 pages) by Jon L. Breen.
   "Lately the classical whodunit appears to be making something of a comeback. But it has never really been away. For many, it is the Main Street of the mystery field, and all the other types are merely offshoots."
   Related: (HERE, Amazon.com).

3. Author Spotlight: "Craig Rice" (1988; 5 pages) by J. Randolph Cox.
   "In many ways Craig Rice's method was to take the traditional stereotypes and clichés of the mystery field and reverse them or hold them up to ridicule."
   Related: (HERE, the GAD Wiki).

4. The Paperback Revolution (1970-71; 3 pages) by Charles Shibuk.
   Related: (Allingham: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (Ambler: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (Blake: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (Carr: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (Christie: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (Courtier: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (Garve: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (Gruber: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (Marsh: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (Palmer: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (EQ: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (Symons: HERE, the GAD Wiki); (Tey: HERE, the GAD Wiki); and (Whitfield: HERE, the GAD Wiki).

5. Remembering Lianne Carlin (2019) by Marvin Lachman.

6. Christie Corner (2019; 2 pages) by Dr. John Curran.
   Related: (Towards Zero: HERE, the GAD Wiki).

7. Nero Wolfe: "Zero Nero . . . Well, Almost" (2019; 2 pages) by George H. Madison.
   Related: (Stout: HERE, the GAD Wiki).

8. The Non-Fiction World of Ed Hoch: Number 1 (1990; 3 pages) by Edward D. Hoch, compiled by Dan Magnuson, Charles Shibuk, and Marvin Lachman.
   Related: (Index to Crime and Mystery Anthologies: HERE, Archive.org and HERE, Amazon.com).

9. Arsene Lupin: "Lupin on Stage, the Screen, and Television" (2008; 3 pages) by Amnon Kabatchnik.
   Related: (Leblanc: HERE, the GAD Wiki).

10. Fiction: "The Last Word" (EQMM, June 1968; 5 pages) by William Brittain using the "James Knox" alias.
    Related: (Brittain: HERE, Wikipedia).

11. Review (4 pages) of Whodunit? Houdini? Thirteen Tales of Magic, Murder, Mystery (1976), edited by Otto Penzler.
    Related: (Penzler: HERE, Wikipedia).

12. "Allure of Classic Whodunits" (2018; 2 pages) by Michael Dirda.
    Related: (Dirda: HERE, Wikipedia).

13. The Readers Write (2 pages).
    "[Issue] #50 is a winner."

14. The Puzzle Page.

~ ~ ~

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 ($15.00 for Mensans).
- One-year overseas: $40.00 (or 25 pounds sterling or 30 euros).
- Payment: Checks payable to Arthur Vidro, or cash from any nation, or U.S. postage stamps or PayPal.
Mailing address:
   Arthur Vidro, editor
   Old-Time Detection
   2 Ellery Street
   Claremont, New Hampshire 03743
Web address:
   vidro@myfairpoint.net

~ ~ ~

Resources:
- Also see a recent article on CrimeReads by Martin Edwards, "The Golden Age Detective Fiction Renaissance" (HERE).
- We featured Issue #50 of OTD (HERE).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OLD-TIME DETECTION, Spring 2019

(Give Me That) OLD-TIME DETECTION.
Spring 2019. Issue #50.
Editor: Arthur Vidro.
Old-Time Detection Special Interest Group of American Mensa, Ltd.
41 pages (including covers).
Cover image: Christianna Brand.

Note: The first part of this review can be found on Steve Lewis's Mystery*File weblog (HERE). Go there first.

~ ~ ~

This issue's contents:
  (Note: Some related off-site links have been included.)

  1. From the Editor: "In Memoriam: Barbara Dannay" by Arthur Vidro.

  2. "Introduction to Christianna Brand" by Francis M. Nevins (2010).
      Also see: The GAD Wiki (HERE) and Mystery*File (HERE).

  3. Introduction to "Cyanide in the Sun" by Tony Medawar.

  4. Fiction: The unabridged version of "Cyanide in the Sun" (1958; 13 pages) by Christianna Brand.

  5. "Christie Corner" by Dr. John Curran covers new screen and stage treatments of The ABC Murders ("I am not going to waste words discussing this abomination . . ."), Agatha and the Art of Murder (". . . released on an unsuspecting viewing public . . ."), The Mirror Crack'd ("Miss Marple begins to question her place in the world until . . ."), and Towards Zero (". . . the play is, even nowadays, rarely performed . . ."), plus a few snippets.
     See also: The GAD Wiki (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

  6. "The Paperback Revolution" (1970) by Charles Shibuk.

  7. A 1978 interview (14 pages) with Christianna Brand with background by Allen J. Hubin.

  8. "New Non-Fiction": Margalit Fox's Conan Doyle for the Defense (2018) reviewed by    Michael Dirda.

  9. Trudi Harrov's mini-reviews of The A.B.C. Murders (1936), The Greek Coffin Mystery (1932), Halfway House (1936), and Rumpole Misbehaves (2007).
     Also see: The GAD Wiki (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and Book Reporter (HERE).

  10. "Letters from Christianna Brand" by Arthur Vidro.

  11. "The Readers Write," "This Issue's Puzzle," and the "Big News Department."

~ ~ ~

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 ($15.00 for Mensans).
- One-year overseas: $40.00 (or 25 pounds sterling or 30 euros).
- Payment: Checks payable to Arthur Vidro, or cash from any nation, or U.S. postage stamps or PayPal.
Mailing address:
   Arthur Vidro, editor
   Old-Time Detection
   2 Ellery Street
   Claremont, New Hampshire 03743
Web address:
   vidro@myfairpoint.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why Should a Girl Deliberately Marry a Bluebeard?"

"The Girl Who Married a Monster."
By Anthony Boucher (William Anthony Parker White, 1911-68).
First appearance: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, February 1954.

Reprinted in EQMM (U.K.), February 1954 and EQMM (Australia), April 1954.
Collected in Exeunt Murderers: The Best Mystery Stories of Anthony Boucher (1983; HERE and HERE).
Short story (15 pages).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).
(Parental caution: Mild profanity.)

     "I thought it'd be fun to see what a real, live, unconvicted professional Bluebeard was like."

The old saying, "Marry in haste, repent at leisure," never seemed more appropriate than when a ruthless killer, shooting for the perfect crime, says "I do" to a guaranteed hundred thousand dollars, a sure thing if ever there was one—but, wouldn't you know it, somebody else just as ruthless also has plans for that hundred grand . . .

Major characters:
~ Doreen Arlen:
  "I'm sorry. I don't need your wholesome Utah sympathy, thank you kindly. Doreen can look out for herself."
~ Marie Arlen:
  "Did I . . . did I fix the slats right, Mac?"
~ Luther Peabody:
  "It's true that many years ago Lieutenant Noble, presumably in order to advance his own police career, chose to hound me as a murderer because of the accidental death of my first wife."
~ Lieutenant Donald MacDonald:
  "Files? I think I have another source that's even better."
~ Nick Noble:
  "His eyes sort of glaze over and something goes tick inside . . . and then the facts make a pattern."

Resources:
- At his The Invisible Event website JJ has a related article, "The Nick Noble Stories of Anthony Boucher (1942-54)" (HERE), in which we find our protagonist characterized as . . .

   ". . . a genius detective in the Nero Wolfe mold, an ex-cop with a mind like a trap who is able to puzzle out the links in the most confounding of cases brought to him. And the cases must be brought to him as, since being kicked out of the Force following some political maneuvering by a savvy higher-up, he is to be found in a cheap Mexican bar slowly drinking himself to death with water glasses full of cheap sherry.
   "Noble is possibly the most heartbreaking central character I’ve yet encoun-tered . . . and Boucher gives you someone who is cracked beyond repair and yet still has enough about him for some light to shine through while skipping nimbly over the tropes into which a lesser author would be unavoidably wrenched."

- It would seem that today's story was the 9th and final Nick Noble adventure, all but one of which ("Death of a Patriarch") initially appeared in EQMM; see FictionMags's series listing 
for this character (HERE).
- In case you're wondering, the author tells us that MacDonald "had self-confidence, a 
marked lack of desire to warn the murderer by ringing a bell, and a lock-gun," meaning 
one of these . . .

. . . and we also get allusions to two real-life crimes: the "English 'blazing car' murderer back around the time of Peabody's debut," said killer being Alfred Arthur Rouse, although in an unusual twist his victim's identity is still unknown (see Wikipedia HERE); and to "Raymond Fernandez, New York's 1949 Lonely Hearts killer" (HERE).
- The legendary Bluebeard (HERE) lent his name to a category of murderer that doesn't seem to be as common as he used to be.
- Another of Boucher's stories, this one with a fantasy slant, is examined (HERE); he made the cover of Arthur Vidro's Old-Time Detection (HERE); one of his all-out science fictional tales is featured (HERE); and Boucher's involvement in radio is touched upon (HERE).

The bottom line:

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OLD-TIME DETECTION, Autumn 2018

(Give Me That) OLD-TIME DETECTION.
Autumn 2018. Issue #49.
Editor: Arthur Vidro.
Old-Time Detection Special Interest Group of American Mensa, Ltd.
36 pages (including covers).
Cover image: Jack Ritchie

For the first part of this OLD-TIME DETECTION review, please pop over to Steve Lewis's Mystery*File (HERE) first and then return here for related links to additional information.

(1) A review (2018) by Michael Dirda of the omnibus edition of Howard Browne's PI works, Halo for Hire: The Complete Paul Pine Mysteries (2018). Related: (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).
  "Browne's four Paul Pine novels . . . are quite consciously written in the wise-cracking, tough guy mode of Chandler's fiction and 1940s Humphrey Bogart films."

(2) "Looking Backward" by Charles Shibuk (1974, 1976, 1978):
   (a) Last Year's Blood (1947) by H. C. Branson. Related: (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).
   (b) The Longbridge Murders (1945) by Moray Dalton. Related: (HERE).
   (c) Too Good to Be True (1948) by J. F. Hutton. Related: (HERE).
(3) "Author Spotlight: Jack Ritchie" by Francis M. Nevins (2010). Related: (HERE).

(4) "One of My Favorites: Jack Ritchie" by Arthur Vidro.
(5) "Author Spotlight: Edgar Wallace" by J. Randolph Cox. Related: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).
(6) "The Fingernail," a teleplay by Charles Shibuk based on the 1941 short story by Cornell Woolrich.
(7) "The Woolrich Films," Part IV by Francis M. Nevins (from his 1988 book). Related (BEWARE of SPOILERS): (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

(8) "Christie Corner" by Dr. John Curran. Related: (HERE) and (HERE).

(9) Three Books:
    (a) Arthur Vidro's review of Jack Ritchie's The Adventures of Henry Turnbuckle (1987). Related (HERE) and (HERE).

    (b) Trudi Harrov's review of "Ellery Queen, Jr.'s" The Brown Fox Mystery (1948). Related: (HERE).

    (c) Amnon Kabatchnik's review (1974) of S. John Preskett's parodic Murders at Turbot Towers (1937).
(10) "My First Great Detectives" (1980) by Jon L. Breen. Related: (HERE).

(11) "The Paperback Revolution" (1970) by Charles Shibuk.

(12) "The Readers Write":
     "What's wrong with modern mysteries? How about the obvious fact that they contain every aberration known to man . . . and some of the writing is by devout enemies of the English language."
(13) The Puzzle.

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Mailing address:
   Arthur Vidro, editor
   Old-Time Detection
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Web address:
   vidro@myfairpoint.net
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