Dead Man Walking (2016) is the second book in Simon R. Green’s Ishmael Jones Mystery Series. Ishmael Jones is an agent for The Organization, a super-secret agency. Ishmael Jones and his girl friend, Penny Belcourt, are sent to a secret facility where a rogue agent is being held. The rogue agent, Frank Parker, claims to have classified knowledge and knows the names of traitors inside The Organization.
Dead Man Walking follows the template Green presented in the first Ishmael Jones mystery, The Dark Side of the Road (2015) (you can read my review here) with an isolated facility and multiple murders. Ishmael Jones and Penny follow the clues to unravel this cunning mystery. I’ve read over a dozen Simon R. Green books in various genres. If you’re looking for a brief, entertaining mystery…look no further. GRADE: B
Ronald Isley (of The Isley Brothers) sings a batch Bacharach/David songs on this 2003 CD. His velvet voice fits these types of songs well. Isley includes a couple of obscure Bacharach/David songs like “Here I Am” and “In Between the Heartaches.” Burt Bacharach died last week at age 94, but twenty years ago he could still produce, arrange, and conduct on Isley Meets Bacharach as well as play the piano on all the songs on this album. The sound on this CD is great!
The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection presents a cross-section of Bacharach/David songs sung by Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, the Carpenters, Elvis Costello, B. J. Thomas, Gene Pitney, Aretha Franklin, Nancy Wilson, The Drifters, The Shirelles, and many more artists. I listened to all of these songs growing up in the Sixties.
My favorite Bacharach/David song is “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” and my favorite version is on Disc 1 of this set sung by Tommy Hunt. Do you have a favorite Bacharach/David song? GRADE: A (for both CDs)
I occasionally accept challenges so when James Wallace Harris posted (you can read about it here) about D. E. Stevenson’s novel, Miss Buncle’s Book and invited commentators to read the book from 1936 I decided to give it a try.
Here are the words that hooked me for this project:
Why do we love some books more than others? Why are some books so enchanting? Why is it so hard to always find the perfect book to read? Especially when we’re old and jaded and have read thousands of books.
I just finished Miss Buncle’s Book by D. E. Stevenson and I want to explain why I loved it so much.
Miss Barbara Buncle lives in a quaint English town called Silverstream. Miss Buncle, in the middle of the Great Depression, finds her “dividends” are NOT now enough to cover her living expenses. She consults with her maid, Dorcas, on the possibility of raising chickens. Dorcas discourages her boss. So Miss Buncle decides to write a novel based on her life in Silverstream. She changes the town’s name to Copperfield and begins writing her book.
Needless to say, Miss Buncle’s book gets published and becomes a best seller with “John Smith” as the author on the book’s cover. The citizens of Silverstream are not amused by the accurate and honest portraits of themselves in the pages of Disturber of the Peace. Mrs. Featherstone Hogg organizes the community to sue the author of Disturber of the Peace even though no one knows who the author really is.
I found Miss Buncle’s Book clever and fun. I listened to Patricia Gallimore brilliant narration on the audiobook version and loved every minute of it. I also included The Comfort Book Club YouTube link above where Miss Buncle’s Book is discussed. If you’re in the mood for a classic English novel from the 1930s, this book will entertain you from start to finish! GRADE: A (for both the book and the audiobook)
I have no dog in this fight so if I were a betting man (which I am NOT) I would take the Kansas City Chiefs and the 1 1/2 points. Who do you think will win the Super Bowl this year?
Velma is an American adultanimatedmysteryhorrorcomedy television series based on the character Velma Dinkley from the Scooby-Doo franchise. Since Velma was my favorite character–the one with the brains to solve the mysteries–in Scooby-Doo I decided to check this new series out.
Created by Charlie Grandy for HBO Max, Velma stars executive producer Mindy Kaling as the voice of Velma, with Sam Richardson (Norville), Constance Wu (Daphne), and Glenn Howerton (Fred) in supporting roles. Grandy also serves as the showrunner of the series. The action involves Velma Dinkley and the other teenage members of Mystery Inc. before their official formation, making it the first television series in the franchise to not feature the Scooby-Doo character–which is okay by me.
Velma premiered on January 12, 2023, to mixed reviews from critics, who praised the vocal performances, but were divided about the “humor” and criticized its meta storytelling, characterization, and departures from the Scooby-Doo franchise. Velma earned a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes by the critics and a 9% from the audience.
I’ve only watched four of the 10 episodes so I hesitate to make any definitive statements about the quality (or lack thereof) of this show. I like the snarky characters, but the vibe tends to be negative. Were you a Scooby-Doo fan? Did you have a favorite character? GRADE: incomplete
One of the benefits of sorting through boxes in order to reduce one’s book collection happens to be the surprise of finding something you packed away nearly 40 years ago…in mint condition! That’s what happened to me last week. I found some Rolling Stone magazines and this digest issue of Espionage.
Espionage was published from 1984 to 1987. As you might expect, Espionage specialized in spy fiction. This issue features a clever story, “An All American Hero,” by Joe R. Lansdale (not known for spy stories) and a wild story by Ron Goulart, “The Monster of the Maze.” Another writer better known for his Science Fiction stories, Charles L. Harness (The Paradox Men), delivers a suspenseful tale in “Crossings.”
Interest in spy novels tends to ebb and flow over the years. Espionage appealed to lovers of spy fiction, but after three years the thrill was gone. Did you read digest magazines back in the day? GRADE: B
I pretty much listened to music every chance I got in the early 1960s. Walking to school and walking home from school I carried my transistor radio and listened to WKBW, the Buffalo rock & roll station. I remember all of these songs vividly and although many were sung by older performers like Andy Williams, Eddie Arnold, and Al Martino, these songs haven’t lost their meaning for me.
Back in the Sixties, I was falling in love with someone every other day. Maybe it was teenage hormones, maybe it was just being around attractive girls at school. Maybe it was the power of Emma Peel to reach out through our TV set to grab my heart. Whatever the reason, I loved these love songs back then. And with Valentine’s Day around the corner, this seemed like a good time to share this music I grew up listening to. Do you remember these songs? Any favorites? GRADE: A
Occasionally, TOR Books publishes a short novel in the Science Fiction or Fantasy genres. Occasionally, Kate Elliott, veteran writer of massive Fantasy novels and series, writes a stand-alone novel. With this first book I’ve read with a 2023 copyright, The Keeper’s Six, these two eventualities intersect.
Esther is the leader of a team–a Hex–who travels between Universes to learn and to trade. But, this being a Kate Elliott book, there are dragons. The dragons in The Keeper’s Six are intelligent and scheming. One of the dragons kidnaps Esther’s son, Daniel (the Hex’s Keeper), and Esther will do anything to rescue him.
Elliott has Esther’s Hex traveling between Realms and facing the menacing Beyond. One of Kate Elliot’s strengths is her ability to create worlds rich with atmospheric challenges and threats.
I read The Keeper’s Six in one sitting. Sometimes short novels are the ideal format for Science Fiction and Fantasy stories. This is one of them. GRADE: A-
Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne of Russian Doll) is a cocktail waitress and former card hustler working at the Frost Casino in Nevada, but following the murder of her best friend Charlie uses her power to tell when someone is lying to solve the murder. But, that solution comes with a cost.
Rian Johnson, of Knives Out and Glass Onion fame, said in an interview he grew up watching Columbo and Murder She Wrote. That affection for TV mysteries shows up in Poker Face as director Rian Johnson’s lead character, Charlie, finds herself involved in 10 hour long murder mystery episodes. The clever idea of a woman who is a human lie detector is the key to this series.
Rain Johnson uses Charlie’s extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying with clever plotting. Charlie hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop on her journey she encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but investigate and solve. I love Natasha Lyonne’s approach to this role!
If you’re a fan of those classic TV mystery series from the past, you’ll enjoy this 21st Century version. GRADE: B+
