Our best wishes go out to Ed Gorman for a quick recovery. In the March issue of Mystery Scene magazine, Ed wrote an article on “My 10 Favorite John D. MacDonald Standalone Novels.” And here’s the list:
1. Dead Low Tide
2. Soft Touch
3. Deadly Welcome
4. Murder in the Wind
5. The Executioners
6. Slam the Big Door
7. The End of the Night
8. A Key to the Suite
9. A Flash of Green
10. The Drowner

This week, we’re up to Number Four: Murder in the Wind (aka, Hurricane). In this 1956 thriller, John D. MacDonald employs one of his patented plot devices–throw some troubled characters together and threaten them with an outside force. JDM comes up with a major hurricane that forces 13 (unlucky number!) people traveling in the storm to hunker down in an abandoned old house. The hurricane, a murder, and the tension among the strangers makes Murder in the Wind one of JDM’s most suspenseful novels.

I’ve suffered from allergies for decades. In the 1990s, I was so wracked by allergy symptoms I went to an allergist who tested me. Cats, molds, pollen, and grasses scored highest as allergens that triggered my watery eyes, runny nose, constant sneezing, and asthma. After 10 years of getting the allergy shots, I was finally partially desensitized so I wasn’t getting sick every Spring and Fall (my worst allergy seasons). But this Spring has been rough for allergy sufferers in Western New York. Pollen counts have been at record levels. A few weeks ago, I starting taking my Allegra and have escaped the torments many of my friends are dealing with. Claritin and Zyrtec do not work for me. Benadryl works for me, but puts me right to sleep. But Allegra relieves my allergy symptoms without drowsiness or other side-effects. If you have allergy problems, consider trying Allegra.

Part detective story, part family history, part quest to understand the enormity of the Holocaust, Daniel Mendelsohn’s brilliant The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million finds a unique way to show us the fate of one family. Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series, mentioned The Lost in a New York Times interview. I had a copy of The Lost, but somehow this book got lost in the various stacks of books around my house. After a lengthy search, I unearthed The Lost and plunged right in. At first, Mendelsohn’s method of investigation–detailed and precise–takes some getting used to. But once I figured out Mendelsohn’s approach, the pages flew by. Taking this micro approach to the Holocaust, showing what happened to just one family amid the millions, makes understanding clearer. I highly recommend The Lost and I want to thank Lee Child for his recommendation.

Scott & Bailey is a British crime series that has been called “Cagney & Lacey with Constables.” Set in Manchester, Suranne Jones and Sally Lindsay play police detectives who investigate crimes against women. Box sets of the series are available but they are formatted for the UK. Jeff Meyerson knows how to get DVD players to play UK DVD disks. But, if you don’t want to hassle with that, you can watch the Scott & Bailey episodes on the KPBS web site which offers a streaming service. If you’re in the mood for a gritty police drama with some very intriguing women characters, Scott & Bailey fits the bill. You can read the New York Times take on Scott & Bailey here.

I attended a book sale at our local history museum and found a set of Ellery Queen’s Masterpieces of Mystery Series. This was a series of hardcovers put out by Davis Publications in the 1970s. This set was in good shape: gorgeous red leatherette volumes with gilt decor and b/w photos of authors. The deal in the book sale was that you could buy a shopping bag for $5 and fill the bag with as many books as you could cram into it. It took me two shopping bags to get all of the Masterpieces of Mystery loaded. It was a steal at $10. I’ve seen sets of Masterpieces of Mystery going for $189 on eBay and $350 on ABE. This set is a browser’s delight!
Included in this set:
Superslueths-1976
The Superslueths Revisited-1979
The Grand Masters-1976
The Grand Masters up to Date-1979
The Forties-1978
The Fifties-1978
The Sixties-1978
More From The Sixties-1979
The Seventies-1979
Detective Directory part 1-1977
Detective Directory part 2-1978
The Golden Age part 1-1977
The Golden Age part 2-1977
Blue Ribbon Specials-1978
The Old Masters-1978
Amateurs & Professionals-1978
Cherished Classics-1978
Choice Cuts-1979
Stories Not To Be Missed-1978
The Prizewinners-1976

Baz Luhrmann’s version of The Great Gatsby will delight many viewers (mostly people who never read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book) and will infuriate other viewers who will not be down with a hip-hop version of this American classic. Yes, Jay-Z produced much of the soundtrack. Leonardo DiCaprio, Joel Edgerton, Tobey Maguire, and Carey Mulligan try to do justice to this sixth attempt to capture the greatness of the source material. But like the five previous Gatsby movies, this sixth version misses the target. If you want to see a movie of excess and decadence, this movie achieves that end. But, if you’re looking for the magic of Fitzgerald’s novel, it’s not here. GRADE: B-

Our best wishes go out to Ed Gorman for a quick recovery as he continues to convalesce at home. In the March issue of Mystery Scene magazine, Ed wrote an article on “My 10 Favorite John D. MacDonald Standalone Novels.” And here’s the list:
1. Dead Low Tide
2. Soft Touch
3. Deadly Welcome
4. Murder in the Wind
5. The Executioners
6. Slam the Big Door
7. The End of the Night
8. A Key to the Suite
9. A Flash of Green
10. The Drowner

This week we’re up to Number Five. The Executioners (1957)–better known as Cape Fear–is John D. MacDonald’s best known novel partly because of the two movies from 1962 and 1991 that were based on it. An attorney testifies against a rapist. The rapist is convicted and sent to prison. While in prison, the rapist plots revenge. When he gets out, the rapist stalks the attorney’s family. JDM really ratchets up the suspense in this novel. The attorney has to choose between his ideals and saving his children from a monster.

I’ve been an investor in the stock market for over 30 years. I’ve never owned tobacco companies…until now. The reason I bought tobacco stocks: marijuana. With pot legalized in Washington state and Colorado, and with “medical marijuana” sweeping the nation, the signs are clear that marijuana will be legalized in the next few years. But who is going to market and distribute and collect the taxes on marijuana? I’m betting it’s going to be the tobacco companies. So I bought stakes in Altria Group, Inc. (previously named Philip Morris Companies Inc.) (MO) which sells Marlboros, Lorillard (LO) which sells Newports, and R. J. Reynolds (RAI) which sells Camels, Kools, and Winstons. Sadly, I had to sell my stakes in Cisco Systems, Raytheon, Corning, Juniper Networks, and Oracle to pull this off. If I’m right, these stock prices will soar in the coming years.

I’m always on the lookout for healthy, good-tasting food (the two don’t always have to be mutually exclusive). I happened on Gardein Chipotle Black Bean Burgers when I cashed in a BJ’s Warehouse coupon. For a pittlely amount of money, I had a dozen yummy veggie burgers. I nuked a couple of these burgers with some mozzarella cheese on top and I finished it off with some Tostitos Extra Hot Salsa.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 burger (120g)

Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat 80
Calories 200

% Daily Values*
Total Fat 9g 14%
Saturated Fat 0.5g 2%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 590mg 25%
Total Carbohydrate 23g 8%
Dietary Fiber 5g 20%
Sugars 4g
Protein 8g

Vitamin A 8% Vitamin C 8%
Calcium 6% Iron 10%