Fortune Favors the Dead (2020) is the first book in the Pentecost and Parker series. Imagine Nero Wolfe transformed into an elderly woman with multiple sclerosis and imagine Archie Goodwin morphed into a 20-something woman who ran away to the circus and is now the assistant to the best private investigator in New York City. Set in the 1940s, Pentecost and Parker are hired to solve the murder of Abigail Collins, a wealthy woman who inherited a multi-million dollar company after her husband, Alistair, committed suicide.

There are plenty of suspects in the Abigail Collins murder. Ariel Balustrade, a medium and spiritual advisor, conducted a séance the night of the murder in the Collins mansion. Olivia Waterhouse, a college professor who writes books like Speaking with the Dead: Spiritualists in the Twentieth Century was also present the night of the murder. Abigail Collins’s children, Rebecca and Randolph, had “issues” with their mother. Harrison Wallace, godfather to Rebecca and Randolph, and acting CEO of Collins Steelworks and Manufacturing, hires Pentecost and Parker to find the murderer.

Stephen Spotswood presents a locked room mystery that has tentacles that reach into the Past where hidden facts reveal a series of mysterious incidents. If you’re in the mood for a classical mystery with a Rex Stout flavor mixed with some gender bending, give Fortune Favors the Dead a try. I’m looking forward more of Pentecost and Parker. GRADE: A

Joni Mitchell Archives Volume 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980) is arranged across six CDs and spans Mitchell’s experimental jazz period that includes 1976’s Hejira, 1977’s Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter and 1979’s Mingus, as well as the 1980 live album Shadows And Light. For many Joni Mitchell fans who love Court & Spark, these songs won’t resonate the way Mitchell’s earlier work did.

I got a kick out of the first cut on Disc 1 which was recorded at the Niagara Falls Convention Center (now a casino!) located about 20 minutes from where I now live! Some of the live recordings don’t sound great. I’m guessing many listeners of Joni Mitchell Archives Volume 4 may wonder where Mitchell’s classics songs went to. The assemblers of this 6-CD set focused on the jazzy music which might not be to everyone’s taste. This set might be of interest to Joni Mitchell completists.

Are you a fan of the jazz period of Joni Mitchell’s career? GRADE: B

TRACK LIST:

Disc: 1

1	Jericho (Live at Convention Center, Niagara Falls, NY, 11/15/1975)
2	Introduction (Live at Harvard Square Theater, Cambridge, MA, 11/20/1975)
3	Edith and the Kingpin (Live at Harvard Square Theater, Cambridge, MA, 11/20/1975)
4	Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow (Live at Harvard Square Theater, Cambridge, MA, 11/20/1975)
5	Introduction (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 11/21/1975)
6	Harry’s House (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 11/21/1975)
7	A Case of You (Live in Bangor, ME, 11/27/1975)
8	Woman of Heart and Mind (Live at Gordon Lightfoot’s House, Quebec City, Canada, 11/30/1975)
9	Introduction (Live at The Forum, Montreal, QC, Canada, 12/4/1975)
10	Intro to Coyote (Live at The Forum, Montreal, QC, Canada, 12/4/1975)
11	Coyote (Live at The Forum, Montreal, QC, Canada, 12/4/1975)
12	Help Me (Live at Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI, 2/29/1976)
13	Love or Money (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
14	Free Man in Paris (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
15	For the Roses (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
16	Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
17	Big Yellow Taxi (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
18	Shades of Scarlett Conquering (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
19	For Free (Live at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, 2/20/1976)

Disc: 2

1	Intro to Coyote/Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
2	Coyote/Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
3	Just Like This Train (Live at Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI, 2/29/1976)
4	Shadows and Light (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
5	In France They Kiss on Main Street (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
6	Traveling (Hejira) [Live at Cameron Stadium, Duke University, Durham, NC, 2/7/1976]
7	Edith and the Kingpin (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
8	Talk to Me (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
9	Harry’s House/Centerpiece (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
10	Intro to Furry Sings the Blues (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
11	Furry Sings the Blues (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
12	Trouble Child (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
13	Rainy Night House (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
14	Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow (Live at Cameron Stadium, Duke University, Durham, NC, 2/7/1976)
15	Raised on Robbery (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
16	The Jungle Line (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)
17	Twisted (Live at Music Hall, Boston, MA, 2/19/1976)

Disc: 3

1	Furry Sings the Blues (Demo)
2	Traveling (Hejira) [Demo]
3	Dreamland (Demo)
4	Talk to Me (Demo)
5	Coyote/Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (Demo)
6	Black Crow (Demo)
7	Amelia (Demo)
8	Blue Motel Room (Demo)
9	A Strange Boy (Demo)
10	Black Crow (Live at Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX, 5/16/1976)
11	Intro to Song for Sharon (Live at Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX, 5/16/1976)
12	Song for Sharon (Live at Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX, 5/16/1976)
13	Refuge of the Roads (Early Mix with Horns)
14	Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (Early Rough Mix)

Disc: 4

1	Save Magic (Paprika Plains Embryonic Version)
2	Otis and Marlena (Early Rough Mix)
3	Sweet Sucker Dance (Vocals & Drums Version, Take 5)
4	A Chair in the Sky (Early Alternate Version, Take 6)
5	Sweet Sucker Dance (Early Alternate Version)
6	Introduction (Live at Bread & Roses Festival, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 9/2-3/1978)
7	The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines (Live at Bread & Roses Festival, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 9/2-3/
8	Intro to A Chair in the Sky (Live at Bread & Roses Festival, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 9/2-3/1978
9	A Chair in the Sky (Live at Bread & Roses Festival, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 9/2-3/1978)
10	Intro to Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Live at Bread & Roses Festival, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 9/2-3/19
11	Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Live at Bread & Roses Festival, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 9/2-3/1978)
12	Intro to The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey (Live at Bread & Roses Festival, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA
13	The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey (Live at Bread & Roses Festival, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 9/2-3/1
14	A Good Suit and a Good Haircut (Mingus Early Alternate Version)
15	God Must Be a Boogie Man (Mingus Early Alternate Version)
16	Solo For Old Fat Girl’s Soul (Mingus Early Alternate Version)
17	The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines (Mingus Early Alternate Version)

Disc: 5

1	Sue and the Holy River (Mingus Early Alternate Version)
2	The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey (Mingus Session Outtake)
3	Introduction (Live at May 6 Coalition Rally Against Nuclear Power, National Mall, Washington, DC, 5/
4	Big Yellow Taxi (Live at May 6 Coalition Rally Against Nuclear Power, National Mall, Washington, DC,
5	Jericho (Live at SIR Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA, 7/20/1979)
6	Help Me (Live at SIR Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA, 7/28/1979)
7	Big Yellow Taxi (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
8	Just Like This Train (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
9	In France They Kiss On Main Street (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
10	Coyote (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
11	Edith and the Kingpin (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
12	Free Man in Paris (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
13	Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
14	Jaco’s Solo/Third Stone From the Sun (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
15	The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)

Disc: 6

1	Amelia (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
2	Pat’s Solo (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
3	Hejira (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
4	Don’s Solo (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
5	Dreamland (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
6	Black Crow (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
7	Furry Sings the Blues (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
8	Intro to God Must Be a Boogie Man (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
9	God Must Be a Boogie Man (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
10	Raised on Robbery (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
11	Shadows and Light (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
12	The Last Time I Saw Richard (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
13	Why Do Fools Fall in Love (Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens, NY, 8/25/1979)
14	Woodstock (Live at Robin Hood Dell West, Philadelphia, PA, 8/28/1979)
15	Intro to A Chair in the Sky (Live at Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, 9/13/1979)
16	A Chair in the Sky (Live at Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, 9/13/1979)

I’m a fan of Charles Stross’s series about The Laundry–a super secret British government organization organized to fight occult threats. A Conventional Boy collects three stories of The Laundry. The title story deals with Derek, a young man The Laundry swept up decades ago who was playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends. While Derek’s friends were quickly released, he was sent to Camp Sunshine where he was kept for years. The Laundry is no different than any other bureaucracy: it makes mistakes. Yet, Derek pretended to follow the rules and regulations, but secretly planned to escape Camp Sunshine…to attend a gaming convention in a nearby town. But little did Derek or The Laundry know a cult has infiltrated the convention and plans to summon an evil being from another dimension. Plenty of destruction results!

“Overtime” involves one of Stross’s key characters, Bob Howard, who comes face-to-face with a Mr. Kringle from the Future. Bob must solve the threat from the Future or Christmas is at risk!

Bob Howard returns in “Down on the Farm” when he’s sent to inspect the Funny Farm where The Laundry places its most dangerous threats. Bob discovers the Funny Farm is run by a captured demon channeling a 1960s IBM computer! The demon wants its freedom…which might cost Bob and everyone else at the Funny Farm their lives!

Charles Stross can make occult threats humorous and deadly at the same time. Good trick! GRADE: B (for all three stories)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

A Conventional Boy — 1

Overtime — 135

Down on the Farm — 183

Afterword — 201

Acknowledgements — 215

About the Author –– 217

The Last Five Years is a song cycle by Jason Robert Brown about the five-year rise and demise of the marriage between Jamie Wellerstein (played by Steve Copps), a writer, and Cathy Hiatt (played by Kelly Copps), an actor. Steve and Kelly Copps are a married couple in Real Life.

Jason Robert Brown goes Merrily We Roll Along–the Stephen Sondheim musical told in reverse chronological order–one better. Cathy appears at the start of the musical as a broken-hearted wife whose marriage has ended. Jamie shows up as Cathy leaves the stage as a twenty-something writer looking for someone like Cathy five years in the Past. In alternating scenes, Cathy tells her story in reverse chronological order while Jamie tells his story in chronological order. The pair meet together for a duet in the middle of the musical and then the stories go their separate ways.

If you haven’t experienced a Jason Robert Brown musical, the songs are basically musical monologues sung by the characters to tell their stories and move the action along. In a post-musical session, Steve Coops told the audience he found Jason Robert Brown’s songs “dense.” I agree.

The Last Five Years with its twin trajectories–one going up with optimism and hope–the other going down with heart-break and disappointment–concludes with a bittersweet ending. GRADE: B+

MUSICAL NUMBERS:

• “Still Hurting” – Cathy
• “Shiksa Goddess” – Jamie
• “See I’m Smiling” – Cathy
• “Moving Too Fast” – Jamie
• “A Part of That” – Cathy
• “The Schmuel Song” – Jamie
• “A Summer in Ohio” – Cathy
• “The Next Ten Minutes” – Jamie & Cathy
• “A Miracle Would Happen/When You Come Home to Me” – Jamie/Cathy
• “Climbing Uphill/Audition Sequence” – Cathy
• “If I Didn’t Believe in You” – Jamie
• “I Can Do Better Than That” – Cathy
• “Nobody Needs to Know” – Jamie
• “Goodbye Until Tomorrow/I Could Never Rescue You” – Jamie & Cathy

Today Trump gets Inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. Then what? Many fear Trump will lash out at his “enemies” using the full force of the Department of Justice and the FBI to “investigate” the January 6th Committee members and the witnesses who testified about Trump’s actions to reverse a free and fair Election.

If I was Liz Cheney, I’d accept a Pardon from Biden. The same for Cassidy Hutchinson, who provided damning testimony about Trump and his White House goons. Knowing Trump, we should all expect Revenge and Retribution starting today. What are you going to do to get through the next four years?

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Acknowledgements — ix

Author’s Note — xiii

Prologue — xv

Part I: Grow

Early days — 3

Changes — 16

High school — 28

Part II: Become

The Washington start — 39

Legislative affairs — 50

Impeachment — 56

Winter 2020 — 66

Chief of staff — 78

Part III: Transform

Empowered — 101

A seat at the table — 120

On the trail — 127

Fall campaign — 143

The election — 170

December — 177

New Year — 191

January 6 — 202

Part IV: Enough

The end — 223

Life after the White House — 239

Served — 248

Pulled back in — 262

Depositions — 271

The woman in the mirror — 281

Second chance — 301

The whole truth — 308

Adrift — 330

Home — 340

Epilogue — 353

Bibliography — 357

Photo Credits — 361

The Vegas line on the Ravens vs. Bills game started out with the Bills being a 1-point favorite. Twenty-four hours later, the line shifted to the Ravens being 2-point favorites. Either way, this Playoff game is going to be a close game. The weather will be cold–temps in the teens at game-time–but no snow in the forecast…yet.

The Kansas City Chiefs are 8-point favorites over the Houston Texans. Who do you think will win these games?

Bob Dylan just turned 80 years old on May 24, 2021. He also sold the rights to his music for $300 million. Universal Music purchased Dylan’s entire songwriting catalog of more than 600 songs in what may be the biggest acquisition ever of a single act’s publishing rights. With all this going on it seemed like the right time to read a couple of Dylan biographies.

Clinton Heylin’s Behind the Shades Revisited was published in 2001 and takes Dylan up to the dawning of the new Century. Dozens of interviews with Dylan’s friends and enemies are woven into Heylin’s chronological narrative. Heylin quotes Dylan quite a bit, too, in this 700+ page biography.

Several aspects of Bob Dylan stand out in Heylin’s books. First, Dylan can’t read or write music. He never learned during his 60 year career. Dylan doesn’t like the recording process. He doesn’t come in prepared or with a plan. Everything is improvised. And, as you might expect, many of the band members who worked on the recording sessions with Dylan, hated this “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” style. Some refused to play a Dylan session again after going through the painful process once. And, for most of Dylan’s recording career, he never had a real producer. Those “producers” who tried to guide Dylan in the studio were mostly ignored.

Clinton Heylin’s new book, The Double Life of Bob Dylan (2021), presents newly released archive material about Dylan’s life from 1941 to 1966. Clearly, Heylin is in the process of writing more volumes based on this new information. Heylin spends a lot of time (and words) on Dylan’s relationships with women. In my opinion, Dylan treated many of these women cruelly. Dylan led Joan Baez on while pursuing Sara Lownds (who he eventually married). “As one journalist delving into Dylan’s prime life wrote in 1990, ‘There are a lot of different women he sees, from all different walks of life. But they all tend to have one thing in common. They’re invariably very weird or very intense.'” (p. 709)

Dylan also believed whatever happened on his musical tours didn’t matter to his marriage. So, of course, he had sex with dozens of women during his many tours. Heylin covers all of Dylan’s tours, but has supreme contempt for the DYLAN AND THE DEAD tours. Heylin is not a fan of The Grateful Dead and describes the music generated from these events as terrible. After listening to the concert CD of Dylan and The Dead I have to agree.

From the Sixties on, Dylan abused drugs and alcohol. That might explain the decline of his musical talents and the mediocre songs he wrote in the 1980s and 1990s. Winning a Nobel Prize has more to do with Dylan’s early work than his later work. If you want to know about Dylan’s life, these two fat volumes supply all the facts you’re looking for. Are you a Bob Dylan fan? Do you have a favorite Dylan song? GRADE: A (for both books)

Kate Phillips stars as the First-Ever Female Detective in Male-Dominated Victorian London in the re-titled Miss Scarlet. The first four seasons on PBS, the title was Miss Scarlet and The Duke. “The Duke” was Inspector Wellington (Stuart Martin) who had romantic inclinations towards Miss Scarlet. But, last season, Wellington took a position with the New York City Police Department and in the first episode of the current season, Wellington decides to stay in NYC.

Which opens the door for Wellington’s replacement, Detective Inspector Blake (Tom Durant-Pritchard). Diane and I like Kate Philips as the struggling Miss Scarlet. The mysteries are not baffling, but they are challenging. Victorian London never looked so good (or shabby) and there’s a bit of humor mixed into the investigations.

Miss Scarlet is not must-see TV, but it’s entertaining and clever. GRADE: B

Back in the early 1960s, I was an avid reader of DC comics. The Flash was my favorite, followed closely by Green Lantern. But, I was also fond of Adam Strange, a man from Earth who traveled to the planet of Rann by means of a “Zeta-beam.” Adam Strange falls in love with Alanna and spends much of the comic book series saving her and her planet from invasions of weird aliens.

I also enjoyed the stories by Gardner Fox and the scintillating artwork by legendary Carmine Infantino. Most of the Adam Strange stories had a mystery within them that Strange needed to solve in order to save the planet.

This is the second Archive Edition of Adam Strange and I found it just as enjoyable as the First Archive Edition. If you want to take a walk down Memory Lane, this is a good place to start! Did you have a favorite comic book series as a kid? GRADE: A

Last week, Cap’n Bob wrote an enthusiastic comment about Joan Osborne’s version of “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted,” the classic Jimmy Ruffin soul song. I looked for my copy of Osborne’s Breakfast in Bed (2007), couldn’t find it, so I ordered another copy (you have no idea how many times this happens!).

Breakfast in Bed features six original Joan Osborne songs and covers of soul songs from the 1970s and 1980s. The album concludes with two songs from  Standing in the Shadows of Motown: Martha and the Vandellas‘ “Heat Wave” and Jimmy Ruffin‘s “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?” plus a Bonus Track, Curtis Mayfield’s “Everybody Needs a Friend.”

Cap’n Bob is right about the marvelous version of “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” Joan Osborne sings. Almost as good is Osborne’s rendition of the Hall & Oates hit, “Sara Smile.” If you love this music as much as I do, you’ll enjoy Joan Osborne’s mellow interpretations of these wonderful tunes. Are you a Joan Osborne fan? GRADE: A

TRACK LIST:

1. “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination” (Gerry Goffin, Barry Goldberg)
2. “Ain’t No Sunshine” (Bill Withers)
3. “Midnight Train to Georgia” (Jim Weatherly)
4. “Baby Is a Butterfly” (Osborne)
5. “Breakfast in Bed” (Eddie Hinton, Donnie Fritts)
6. “Cream Dream” (Osborne)
7. “Natural High” (Charles McCormick)
8. “Heart of Stone” (Osborne)
9. “Sara Smile” (Daryl Hall, John Oates)
10. “Eliminate the Night” (Osborne)
11. “Break Up to Make Up” (Thom Bell, Linda Creed, Kenneth Gamble)
12. “I Know What’s Goin’ On” (Osborne)
13. “Alone with You” (Osborne)
14. “Kiss and Say Goodbye” (Winfred Lovett)
15. “Heat Wave” (Holland–Dozier–Holland)
16. “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” (William Weatherspoon, James Dean, Paul Riser)
17. “Everybody Needs a Friend” (Curtis Mayfield) (bonus track)