When lists of the Best Mysteries of Agatha Christie show up, Cards on the Table (1936) rarely makes the cut. But my fondness for Cards on the Table centers around Christie’s comic character Ariadne Oliver who plays a key role in the solving of Mr. Shaitana’s murder.

I rarely reread Agatha Christie mysteries–after all, once you know whodunit… But Cards on the Table is different because Christie plants more red herrings and plot diversions than she normally does. It’s a delight to watch how Christie distracts and misleads the reader!

Mr. Shaitana is a wealthy businessman and collector who loves to throw parties. The party in Cards on the Table is a bridge party with eight guests. When Mr. Shaitana hints to Hercule Poirot, who attends this party, that the four card players have secrets to hide, Poirot senses danger. And, sure enough, Mr. Shaitana ends up dead before the party is over.

Poirot and Mrs. Oliver investigate the suspects. Dr. Roberts, Mrs Lorrimer, Anne Meredith, and Major Despard all have something in their Past that could motivate them to murder Mr. Shaitana. While all four card players had motives to kill Mr. Shaitana, who had the best opportunity?

Up until the last chapters, Poirot is still unraveling the plot that faked me out when I first read Card on the Table in 1965. And Christie gives Mrs. Oliver the best line in the book (it’s the last sentence of CHAPTER 30). What’s your favorite Agatha Christie mystery? GRADE: A

Once again TIME-LIFE complies a music CD that mixes classic Love Songs from the 1970s with some lesser known hits. “Tears of a Clown” by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles has always been a favorite of mine. The Jackson Five get two songs on this CD, “Never Can Say Goodbye” and “I’ll Be There.” As you can see, Motown is well represented on #1 Love Songs of the ’70s.

Some of the songs here aren’t heard much on radio any more. Take Luthor Ingrams’ “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Right” and The Moments’ “Love On a Two-Way Street” for examples. I hadn’t heard those songs in years!

Big Names are here: Diana Ross, Al Green, Gladys Knight and The Pips (twice!), Barry White (twice!), Marvin Gaye, and The Spinners.

All in all, #1 Love Songs of the ’70s is one of the better CD compilations. Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

1	Diana Ross–	Ain’t No Mountain High Enough	3:55
2	Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes–	If You Don’t Know Me By Now	3:29
3	Al Green–	Let’s Stay Together	3:41
4	Brook Benton–	Rainy Night In Georgia	3:50
5	Gladys Knight And The Pips–	If I Were Your Woman	3:13
6	The Jackson 5–	Never Can Say Goodbye	2:58
7	Barry White–	Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe	3:47
8	Luther Ingram–	(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want To Be Right	3:28
9	Joe Simon–	Power Of Love	2:58
10	The Dramatics–	In The Rain	5:09
11	Smokey Robinson And The Miracles*–	The Tears Of A Clown	2:59
12	The Chi-Lites–	Oh Girl	3:31
13	The Jackson 5–	I’ll Be There	3:55
14	The Spinners*–	One Of A Kind (Love Affair)	3:21
15	Gladys Knight And The Pips–	Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)	4:24
16	King Floyd–	Groove Me	3:01
17	Marvin Gaye–	Let’s Get It On	4:03
18	Barry White–	You’re The First, The Last, My Everything	3:35
19	The Temptations–	Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)	3:48
20	The Supremes–	Stoned Love	3:45
21	The Moments–	Love On A Two-Way Street	3:44

David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer edited nine volumes (from 2001 to 2009) in the Year’s Best Fantasy series. I’ve decided to review all nine volumes in order starting today. I’ll review another volume in a month or so.

My favorite story in Year’s Best Fantasy was  “Golden Bell, Seven, and the Marquis of Zeng” by Richard Parks. A poor boy called Seven falls in love with a beautiful woman named Jia Jin who has been gifted by a vassel of Marquis Yi. The Marquis is dying and this gift–along with his harem–is destined to be buried with him. Seven wants to save Jia Jin and seeks out advice from the mysterious Golden Bell. What happens next sends Seven on an astonishing quest.

I also liked “The Hunger of the Leaves” by Joel Lane. Lane sets his story in Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique where danger lurks and all magic is dark.

If you’re looking for a fantasy anthology with plenty of entertaining stories, give Year’s Best Fantasy a try. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• xiii • Introduction (Year’s Best Fantasy) • essay by Kathryn Cramer and David G. Hartwell
• 1 • Everything Changes • (2000) • short story by John Sullivan
• 12 • A Troll Story: Lessons in What Matters, No. 1 • (2000) • short story by Nicola Griffith
• 30 • The Face of Sekt • [The Magravandias Chronicles] • (2000) • novelette by Storm Constantine
• 54 • Chanterelle • (2000) • novelette by Brian Stableford
• 89 • Path of the Dragon • [A Song of Ice and Fire] • (2000) • novella by George R. R. Martin
• 143 • The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O • [Annie and Crow • 1] • (2000) • short story by Michael Swanwick
• 162 • Ebb Tide • (2000) • short story by Sarah Singleton
• 179 • The Hunger of the Leaves • (2000) • short story by Joel Lane
• 189 • Greedy Choke Puppy • (2000) • short story by Nalo Hopkinson
• 202 • The Golem • (2000) • short story by Naomi Kritzer
• 223 • The Devil Disinvests • (2000) • short story by Scott Bradfield
• 230 • A Serpent in Eden • (2000) • short story by Simon Brown and Alison Tokley
• 240 • Wrong Dreaming • (2000) • short story by Kain Massin
• 257 • Mom and Dad at the Home Front • (2000) • short story by Sherwood Smith
• 270 • The Fey • (2000) • short story by Renee Bennett
• 278 • Golden Bell, Seven, and the Marquis of Zeng • (2000) • novelette by Richard Parks
• 304 • Making a Noise in This World • [Newford] • (2000) • novelette by Charles de Lint
• 327 • Magic, Maples, and Maryanne • (2000) • short story by Robert Sheckley
• 342 • The Prophecies at Newfane Asylum • (2000) • short story by Don Webb
• 354 • The Window • (2000) • short story by Zoran Živković^?
• 369 • And Still She Sleeps • (2000) • novelette by Greg Costikyan
• 397 • The Walking Sticks • (2000) • short story by Gene Wolfe
• 410 • Debt of Bones • [Sword of Truth Universe] • (1998) • novella by Terry Goodkind

The Witcher on Netflix is on its third season. It has been renewed for two more seasons. A Witcher is a warrior who fights creatures like dragons, vampires, werewolves, etc. The Witcher is based on a series of novels by Andrzej Sapkowski (check out the list below) beginning with The Last Wish.

A friend of mine recommended I watch The Witcher but I decided to read the first book in the series first. The Last Wish introduces a wanderer who dispatches monsters for a fee. The Witcher has some magic powers, but he doesn’t use them enough.

While The Last Wish was an acceptable fantasy story, the four TV episodes I watched were more entertaining with their mild Game of Thrones vibe.

“The Witcher is a fantasy drama television series created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich for Netflix. It is based on the book series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Set on a fictional, medieval-inspired landmass known as the Continent, The Witcher explores the legend of Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg and Princess Ciri. It stars Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, and Freya Allan.”

The Witcher will fill up your Summer viewing time with some action and magic. GRADE: B (for both the book and the TV series)

THE WITCHER SERIES:

1. The Last Wish (Short Story Collection)

2. Sword of Destiny (Short Story Collection)

3. Blood of Elves (The Witcher Saga #1)

4. The Time of Contempt (The Witcher Saga #2)

5. Baptism of Fire (The Witcher Saga #3)

6. The Tower of Swallows (The Witcher Saga #4)

7. The Lady of the Lake (The Witcher Saga #5)

8. Season of Storms (Prequel)

Amy Larocca, an award winning journalist who worked for 20 years at New York magazine as a fashion editor and editor-at-large, believes that self-care has become an industry full of corruption.

“Wellness is currently a $5.6 trillion industry according to the Global Wellness Institute and it grown faster than the rest of the economy.” (p. 5)

The hundreds of eye creams, mushroom teas, and wearable monitors available to “increase our health” are mostly bogus, according to Larocca.

“Scientology, naturally has its own proprietary detoxing ritual know as Purif or the Hubbard method, and it involves heat therapy, ingestion of niacin, and the drinking of a whole lot of oil and other liquids. The promise of the Hubbard method, which can last up to five weeks, was that it would clear out any illegal drugs taken earlier in life, and also that it had the positive side effect of increasing IQ up to fifteen points.” (p. 195). False claims!

Cap’n Bob can fill us in on the Hubbard method. But the trend in self-care is to take more vitamins, eat more protein, get on GLP-1 drugs, and cover yourself with various creams to take your wrinkles away. Larocca provides evidence that many of these actions do little or nothing to increase wellness.

“GOOGLE invested $1 billion to launch a secretive company called Calico–short for California Life Company–which focuses on longevity research.” (p. 243) The goal of companies like Calico is to extend life…possibly forever. Sure, it sounds wacky, but when anyone shells out a billion dollars, something is happening we should be aware of.

Amy Larocca debunks many of the wellness trends now popular. She concludes that a life full of healthy food, daily exercise, and good sleep will do more for your wellness than fad creams, injections, activated charcoal toothpaste, and green juice enemas. How is your wellness? What are you doing to stay healthy? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Introduction — 3
• Part I: Cure.
• Medicine and its alternatives — 25
• Holistic, functional, profitable — 31
• Kooks — 47
• Chronic illness — 61
• Self-care — 67
• Part II: Glow.
• Body positive? — 82
• Sex positive — 89
• Clean beauty — 93
• Dressing to be well — 97
• Glow lifestyle — 105
• Part III: Spirit and soul.
• Soul — 116
• Exercise — 125
• Self-love — 133
• Cult — 139
• Outside of exercise — 144
• Part IV: Pure.
• Cleanse — 156
• Environment — 169
• All natural — 177
• Politics — 181
• Vaccines and the rabbit hole — 186
• Cleaning as rite — 194
• Part V: Beyond.
• Meditation/mindfulness — 203
• Tripping — 216
• What about men? — 221
• Biohacking — 226
• Immortality — 239
• Conclusion — 249
• ACKNOWLEGEMENTS — 259
• NOTES — 263
• INDEX — 277

Andrew Cartmel’s third volume in The Paperback Sleuth series once again puts the compulsive paperback collector, Cordelia Stanmer, into danger once more.

Erik Make Loud, a rich retired rock star and a World War II enthusiast, hires Cordelia to acquire a “fine” set of “Commando” paperbacks, popular in the 1960s.

Cordelia has leads to the first dozen volumes in the series, but the mythic final volume, Commando Gold, either doesn’t exist…or has been secretly suppressed.

As Cordelia investigates Commando Gold, one lead is murdered. And, of course, the knowledge Cordelia gleans from her sources puts her life at risk, too.

War stories in paperback can be valuable. But Cordelia eventually learns the secrets behind Commando Gold and why it is so scarce. And why her Life is on a Hit List. Who knew collecting paperbacks could be so perilous? GRADE: B+

James Gunn, who wrote and directed Superman Legacy 2025, shows this Superman movie will be Something Different from the opening scene where Superman is defeated and injured–we actually see Superman’s blood!

Superman–played by handsome, smart, and funny David Corenswet–faces a hate campaign by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) who wants to destroy Superman (and start a war).

While the casting is good in this movie–I really liked Nathan Fillion as a surly Green Lantern, Isabela Merced as a feisty Hawkgirl, and Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific–these superheroes are mostly wasted. Instead of superhero action, there’s a lot of blah, blah, blah.

Rachel Brosnahan (aka, Mrs. Maisel) as Lois Lane was an unusual casting choice, but there is definitely chemistry between Lois and Clark. But, once again Brosnahan’s talent is wasted as she mostly flies around in a vehicle that looks like a jelly bean.

The most divisive character in this movie is Kypto, the Superdog. Some of the SRO audience that watched the movie with Diane and me at our local AMC Theater loved the doggie…others booed him.

For those of you who saw James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, you’ll remember the humor and the silliness as well as the incredible action scenes. Superman Legacy 2025 follows the same playbook. GRADE: B

Between 1954 and 1984 Alan Geoffrey Yates published 215 “Carter Brown” novels. Although the 52 Al Wheeler books were the most popular series, I’m fond of the 28 books in the Danny Boyd series, too. Summer is a great time to play Catch-Up on long-running series so I decided to read a couple Carter Brown mysteries from the Sixties starting with The Ice-Cold Nude.

Billed as “New York City’s toughest private eye,” Danny Boyd is both tough and smart. Boyd also shares the same smugness that saturates Al Wheeler and is inordinately proud of his profile. In The Ice-Cold Nude Boyd is hired to investigate a theft of a diamond tiara during a Beauty Contest in California. As usual in a Carter Brown novel, the bodies mount up as Boyd gleans clues from the suspects in the heist. After a Near-Death Experience, Danny Boyd solves the case with panache. GRADE: B

I’m also fan of the 35 Rick Holman mysteries Yates wrote. Rick Holman specializes in solving “problems” of Hollywood stars and celebrities. Rick considers himself as an “industrial consultant.” Most of the time Holman’s clients are Hollywood bigshots: producers, actors, and directors. Sex and drugs are often involved, with blackmail, extortion and large sums of money added to the mix.

In The Blonde on the Rocks, starlet Della August hires Rick Holman to discover why she’s been blacklisted in Hollywood. She hasn’t worked in six months and frequently receives whispered threats on her phone. Show business detective Rick Holman follows a trail of murder and extortion to discover who is behind the plot to ruin Della August. Are you a Carter Brown fan? GRADE; B+

Publication Order of Danny Boyd Books:

The Ever-Loving Blues / Death of a Doll	(1956)
Eve, It’s Extortion / The Victim / Walk Softly, Witch	(1956)
Tempt a Tigress	(1958)
Suddenly By Violence	(1959)
Terror Comes Creeping	(1959)
The Dream Is Deadly	(1960)
Graves, I Dig! / Cutie Wins a Corpse	(1960)
The Wayward Wahine / The Wayward	(1960)
The Myopic Mermaid / A Siren Sounds Off	(1960)
The Sad-Eyed Seductress / The Seductress	(1961)
The Savage Salome	(1961)	Revised edition of Murder is My Mistress
Angel!	(1962)
The Ice-Cold Nude	(1962)
Lover Don’t Come Back!	(1962)
Nymph to the Slaughter	(1963)
The Passionate Pagan	(1963)
Silken Nightmare	(1963)
Catch Me a Phoenix	(1965)
The Sometime Wife	(1965)
The Black Lace Hangover	(1966)
House of Sorcery	(1967)
The Mini-Murders	(1968)
Murder Is the Message	(1969)
Only the Very Rich	(1969)
The Coffin Bird	(1970)
The Sex Clinic	(1971)
Manhattan Cowboy	(1973)
So Move the Body	(1973)
The Early Boyd	(1975)
The Pipes Are Calling	(1976)
Savage Sisters	(1976)
The Strawberry Blonde Jungle	(1979)
Rip-Off	(1979)
Kiss Michelle Goodbye	(1981)
The Real Boyd	(1984)

Publication Order of Rick Holman Books:

The Ever-Loving Blues / Death of a Doll	(1956)
The Swingers	(1961)
Zelda	(1961)
A Murderer Among Us	(1962)
Murder in the Key Club / Murder in the Harem Club	(1962)
Blonde on the Rocks	(1963)
The Jade-Eyed Jungle / The Jade-Eyed Jinx	(1963)
The White Bikini / The Ballad of Loving Jenny	(1963)
Wind-Up Doll	(1964)
The Never-Was Girl	(1964)
Murder Is a Package Deal	(1964)
Who Killed Dr. Sex?	(1964)
The Girl from Outer Space	(1965)
Nude with a View	(1965)
Blonde on a Broomstick	(1966)
No Tears from the Widow	(1966)
Play Now… Kill Later	(1966)
Deadly Kitten	(1967)
Long Time No Leola	(1967)
Die Anytime, After Tuesday	(1969)
The Flagellator	(1969)
Streaked-Blond Slave	(1969)
The Hang-Up Kid	(1970)
A Good Year for Dwarfs?	(1970)
Where Did Charity Go?	(1970)
The Coven	(1971)
The Invisible Flamini	(1971)
Pornbroker	(1972)
The Master	(1973)
Phreak Out	(1973)
Negative in Blue	(1974)
The Star-Crossed Lover	(1974)
Ride the Roller Coaster	(1975)
Remember Maybelle?	(1976)
See It Again, Sam	(1979)
The Phantom Lady	(1980)
Wicked Widow	(1981)

The Classic Rhythm + Blues Collection is another set of Time-Life CDs. I’m listening to the 1964-1967 volume because those were the years that I was inseparable from my transistor radio. And these were the songs I was listening to hour after hour.

Most of the songs on these CDs were Motown hits. The Four Tops, Jimmy Ruffin, The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations were all wonderful Motown acts who produced hit record after hit record for a decade.

Sprinkled in with with the Motown songs are some R&B classics like Percy Sledge’s “When A Man Loves a Woman” and Lou Rawls’ “Love is a Hurtin’ Thing.”

Back in the day, I knew the words to all of these songs–after all, I heard them a hundred times! Just listening to this music takes me back to my teenage years which seemed much more hopeful than the Present. Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: A

TRACK LIST:

1-1	Four Tops–	I Can’t Help Myself Written-By – Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Lamont Dozier
1-2	Percy Sledge–	When A Man Loves A Woman Written-By – Andrew Wright (4), Calvin Lewis
1-3	Jimmy Ruffin–	What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted Written-By – James Dean (3), Paul Riser, William Weatherspoon
1-4	The Supremes–	You Can’t Hurry Love Written-By – Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Lamont Dozier
1-5	The Miracles–	The Tracks Of My Tears Written-By – Marvin Tarplin, William “Smokey” Robinson*, Warren Moore
1-6	Fontella Bass–	Rescue Me Written-By – Carl William Smith*, Raynard Miner
1-7	The Impressions–	People Get Ready Written-By – Curtis Mayfield
1-8	The Supremes–	Where Did Our Love Go Written-By – Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Lamont Dozier
1-9	Martha Reeves & The Vandellas–	Dancing In The Street Written-By – Ivy Jo Hunter, Marvin Gaye, William Stevenson
1-10	The Temptations–	My Girl Written-By – Ronald White, William “Smokey” Robinson*
1-11	James Brown–	Papa’s Got A Grand New Bag Written-By – James Brown
1-12	Otis Redding–	I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) Written-By – Jerry Butler, Otis Redding
1-13	The Supremes–	Back In My Arms Again Written-By – Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Lamont Dozier
1-14	The Temptations–	Beauty Is Only Skin Deep Written-By – Edward Holland, Jr., Norman Whitfield
1-15	The Ramsey Lewis Trio–	The “In” Crowd Written-By – Billy Page
2-1	Eddie Floyd–	Knock On Wood Written-By – Eddie Floyd, Stephen Cropper*
2-2	Mary Wells–	My Guy Written-By – William “Smokey” Robinson*
2-3	Lou Rawls–	Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing Written-By – Ben Raleigh, Dave Linden*
2-4	Four Tops–	Reach Out, I’ll Be There Written-By – Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Lamont Dozier
2-5	Marvin Gaye–	I’ll Be Doggone Written-By – Marvin Tarplin, William “Smokey” Robinson*, Warren Moore
2-6	Stevie Wonder–	Uptight (Everything’s Alright) Written-By – Henry Cosby, Stevie Wonder, Sylvia Moy
2-7	Wilson Pickett–	634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.) Written-By – Eddie Floyd, Stephen Cropper*
2-8	Junior Walker & The All Stars–	Shotgun Written-By – Autry DeWalt
2-9	James Brown–	I Got You (I Feel Good) Written-By – James Brown
2-10	Joe Tex–	Hold What You’ve Got Written-By – Joe Tex
2-11	Sam & Dave–	Hold On! I’m Comin’ Written-By – David Porter, Isaac Hayes
2-12	The Temptations–	Ain’t Too Proud To Beg Written-By – Edward Holland, Jr., Norman Whitfield
2-13	Little Milton–	We’re Gonna Make It Written-By – Billy Davis (2), Carl William Smith*, Gene Barge, Raynard Miner
2-14	The Isley Brothers–	This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) Written-By – Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Lamont Dozier
2-15	Wilson Pickett–	In The Midnight Hour Written-By – Stephen Cropper*, Wilson Pickett

I enjoyed Gou Tanabe’s graphic adaptations of Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness (you can read my review here) and THE CALL OF CTHULHU (you can read my review here) so I ordered Tanabe’s H. P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth (2023).

“The Shadow Over Innsmouth” is one of Lovecraft’s most iconic stories. It has all the dread and horror you could ask for in Cthulhu Mythos story. A narrator tells of a town in Massachusetts that embodies the word “creepy.” As the story unfolds, more and more details about the weird residents and the threat Innsmouth presents becomes apparent.

“The investigation ultimately concluded with the arrest and detention of many of the town’s residents in concentration camps as well as a submarine torpedoing nearby Devil Reef, which the press falsely reported as Prohibition liquor raids.” (Wikipedia) Lovecraft slowly ratchets up the suspense (and chilling aspects) as the secrets of Innsmouth are revealed.

Once again, Gou Tanabe’s wonderful artwork illuminates Lovecraft’s tale. GRADE: A