I finally got around to reading this Martin Edwards’ anthology from 2016. In his Introduction, Edwards makes the case that the Golden Age of Murder featured crime in the manor house rather than the alley’s of London. I’ve read over a dozen anthologies edited by Martin Edwards and Serpents in Eden continues his successful pattern of mixing well-known mystery writers with those not-so-well known. And, even when Edwards includes well-known writers like Arthur Conan Doyle and G. K. Chesterton, he chose a non-Sherlock Holmes story by Doyle and a non-Father Brown story by Chesterton.

My favorite story in Serpents in Eden is R. Austin Freeman’s “The Naturalist at Law,” a Dr. John Thorndyke mystery. A body is found with feet sticking out of the water. Who is the victim? Why was he murdered? Who had a motive to kill him? Thorndyke approached the case with logic and cleverness.

The most unusual story in Serpents in Eden is “Inquest” by Lenora Wodehouse. Yes, Lenora Wodehouse is the step-daughter of P. G. Wodehouse. The story was originally published under the pseudonym of “Loel Yeo.” This is the first time “Inquest” has been published under the author’s true name.

If you’re interested in classic Golden Age mystery stories, Serpents in Eden will deliver hours of entertainment for you. GRADE: B+

Table of Contents:

Introduction, vii,
The Black Doctor Arthur Conan Doyle, 1,
Murder By Proxy M. McDonnell Bodkin, 24,
The Fad of the Fisherman G.K. Chesterton, 50,
The Genuine Tabard E.C. Bentley, 73,
The Gylston Slander Herbert Jenkins, 93,
The Long Barrow H.C. Bailey, 119,
The Naturalist at Law R. Austin Freeman, 146
A Proper Mystery Margery Allingham, 181,
Direct Evidence Anthony Berkeley, 190,
Inquest Leonora Wodehouse, 213,
The Scarecrow Ethel Lina White, 234,
Clue in the Mustard Leo Bruce, 252,
Our Pageant Gladys Mitchell, 260,

If you’ve read all 75 novels and 28 short stories Georges Simenon wrote about Maigret (like Jeff Meyerson has) you’ll be surprised to see chubby, pipe-smoking, avuncular Jules Maigret transformed into a youngster in this new PBS series.

Benjamin Wainwright stars as Jules Maigret, who heads the elite police unit known as La Crim, responsible for investigating all serious crime in and around Paris. Stefanie Martini stars as Madame Louise Maigret. Blake Harrison, Reda Elazouar, Kerrie Hayes, Shaniqua Okwok, and Rob Kazinsky make up the “Les Maigrets,” Maigret’s loyal team of detectives, with Nathalie Armin as Prosecutor Mathilde Kernavel.

Maigret, Season One has six episodes and I’ve only watched the first one that dropped over the weekend. GRADE: Incomplete, but trending towards a B

If you’re looking for some good things to eat, you might want to check out Samin Nosrat’s wonderful new cookbook, Good Things. Good Things presents 125 recipes for dishes Samin Nosrat loves to cook, including ricotta custard pancakes–absolutely delicious!–roast chicken, Calabrian chili crisp, sky-high focaccia, and yummy yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

“Samin Nosrat is a professional cook, teacher, and bestselling author. Her career as a chef began at landmark farm-to-table restaurant Chez Panisse in California, where she started out as a busser and ended up working in the kitchen as a cook.”

I’m a fan of Samin’s 2017 cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.  Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat was named a Sunday Times Book of the Year and won the Fortnum & Mason Best Debut Food Book award. If you want to understand how the components of food work together to produce great tastes, this is the book for you!

In 2018, Samin Nosrat wrote and hosted the critically acclaimed original Netflix documentary based on Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. The four-part series, where each episode explores how the core components of fat, salt, acid and heat are utilized, found an enthusiastic audience (including me!) and revealed some of the traditional secrets of making great food. What are your favorite Good Things? GRADE: A

The Buffalo Bills and Highmark Stadium will have a new look tonight when the New England Patriots show up for an AFC Conference battle. The Bills will be wearing their new “PATS WEEK” white jerseys–another NFL marketing scheme to sell more merchandise–and the crowd has been encouraged wear white. So, even though it’s predicted to be 80 degrees tomorrow–unusual for Western NY in October–it will look like blizzard conditions on your TV screen.

The 4-0 Buffalo Bills are 7 1/2 point favorites over the 2-2 Patriots. I’m expecting a tough game. How will your favorite NFL team do today?

Play Dirty is based on “The novels of Richard Stark” who we all know was really Donald E. Westlake. But, you have to accept Mark Wahlberg as Parker–a professional thief–and Lakeith Stanfield as an African-American Alan Grofield.

The movie starts with a wild chase scene after a botched heist and then moves on to the major heist of this movie: the planned theft of millions of dollars of gold and jewelry recovered from a sunken Spanish Galleon. Plenty of shooting, explosions, and pyrotechnics. But Director Shane Black never captures the Parker vibe. GRADE: C

I bought Alastair Reynolds’ House of Suns when it was first published in 2008, but somehow lost track of it on my many bookshelves. Last week I discovered it and immediately sat down and read it. Alastair Reynolds specializes in space opera Science Fiction with Big Ideas and Big Themes.

Imagine 1000 clones who have managed to live millions of years. Then imagine an incredible atrocity is inflicted on them. Campion and Purslane–two of the surviving shatterlings of an ancient House–attempt to find out who committed this crime and why. During their pursuit, they encounter one of the mysterious Machine People, Hesperus, who has lost part of his memory.

Reynolds also mixes in The Vigilance, a group who attempts to organize all the information in the galaxy. House of Suns tells of civilizations that have risen and fallen over the millions of years the clones have travelled the galaxy. As Campion and Purslane find out, the galaxy is a dangerous place full of treachery and deception. If you’re in the mood for a compelling tale of incredible crime and punishment, The House of Suns, will take you on a journey you will never forget. GRADE: A

Just through serendipity I stumbled upon a four volume set of Dick Clark’s All Time Hits. The first two volumes include hits from the 1950s to the early 1960s. I haven’t heard some of these songs for decades!

I was a fan of Ritchie Valens–who died in a plane crash in 1959–but “Donna” seldom gets played on Western New York Oldies radio stations. I do like “Lollipop” by The Chordettes and Bobby Day’s “Rocking’ Robin.” When is the last time you head “The Stroll” by The Diamonds? I haven’t heard it in at least 40 years!

Volume 2 includes Freddy Cannon–“who always shoots his mouth off” according to one DJ–singing “Palisades Park.” And my favorite Dion song, “Teenager in Love.” I’ve always like Terry Stafford’s “Suspicion” which sounds a lot like Elvis.

Do you remember this hits that Dick Clark believes all “All Time” songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B (for both)

TRACK LIST:

1	The Platters–	Smoke Gets In Your Eyes	2:37
2	The Penguins–	Earth Angel	2:56
3	The Skyliners–	Since I Don’t Have You	2:35
4	Ritchie Valens–	Donna	2:21
5	The Crests–	16 Candles	2:50
6	The Teddy Bears–	To Know Him Is To Love Him	2:23
7	Dion & The Belmonts–	A Teenager In Love	2:33
8	Connie Francis–	Who’s Sorry Now	2:16
9	Paul Anka–	Diana	2:22
10	The Chordettes–	Lollipop	2:08
11	Everly Brothers–	Wake Up Little Susie	2:01
12	Carl Perkins–	Blue Suede Shoes	2:12
13	Freddy Cannon–	Tallahassee Lassie	2:31
14	Jerry Lee Lewis–	Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On	2:51
15	Huey “Piano” Smith & His Clowns–	Rockin’ Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu	2:16
16	Frankie Ford–	Sea Cruise	2:44
17	Bobby Day–	Rockin’ Robin	2:34
18	The Olympics–	Western Movies	2:21
19	The Diamonds–	The Stroll	2:26
20	Little Caesar & The Romans–	Those Oldies But Goodies	3:11
21	The Spaniels–	Goodnight Sweetheart	2:42

TRACK LIST:

1	Dion (3)–	Wanderer	2:40
2	Del Shannon–	Runaway	2:18
3	Freddy Cannon–	Palisades Park	1:50
4	Johnny Tillotson–	Poetry In Motion	2:31
5	Betty Everett–	Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)	2:10
6	Jimmy Clanton–	Venus In Blue Jeans	2:19
7	The Shirelles–	Soldier Boy	2:41
8	Everly Brothers–	(’til) I Kissed You	2:23
9	The Dixie Cups–	Chapel Of Love	2:45
10	Gene Chandler–	Duke Of Earl	2:18
11	Curtis Lee–	Pretty Little Angel Eyes	2:41
12	Bobby Lewis–	Tossin’ And Turnin’	2:17
13	The Shangri-Las–	Leader Of The Pack	2:48
14	Terry Stafford–	Suspicion	2:28
15	Petula Clark–	Downtown	3:03
16	The O’Kaysions–	Girl Watcher	2:31
17	Brenton Wood–	Gimme Little Sign	2:17
18	Bob & Earl–	Harlem Shuffle	2:51
19	The Duprees–	You Belong To Me	2:35
20	Gladys Knight And The Pips–	Every Beat Of My Heart	2:02
21	The Casinos–	Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye	3:03

Ryan Day, Head Coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, required all of his players to read Rick Fields’ Chop Wood Carry Water. When I read about this in the Wall Street Journal, I was curious about why a coach would require his team to read this particular book. Once I started reading Chop Wood Carry Water, it all made sense.

Chop Wood Carry Water presents many stories illustrating how you should deal with the problems we all encounter in Life. Glance at the Table of Contents below and you’ll see the topics Chop Wood Carry Water addresses with illustrative stories and aphorisms.

I was impressed with Rick Fields’ choice of stories to reveal the messages he was trying to communicate. The hundreds of aphorisms–from famous people to infamous people–fill the margins of this book with Good and Profound Advice. Well worth a look! GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Chop Wood Carry Water Introduction — xi
1. Beginnings — 1
2. Learning — 19
3. Intimate Relationships — 35
4. Sex — 59
5. Family — 79
6. Work — 105
7. Money — 127
8. Play — 143
9. Tuning the Body — 159
10. Healing — 181
11. Technology — 203
12. The Earth — 219
13. Social Action — 235
14. Inner Guidance — 249
15. Perils of the Path — 287
Afterword — 287

I’m not typically a zombie fan, but I got caught in the web of Marvel Zombies by accident and found I was surprisingly entertained. Marvel Zombies is an adult animated TV miniseries created by Bryan Andrews and Zeb Wells based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name.

Marvel Zombies is set in the alternate timeline introduced in the “What If… Zombies?!” (2021). Marvel Zombies basically follows a group of survivors as they fight superpowered zombies to survive and save the world. There are four episodes to this series and the promise of more if the ratings are right.

For those of you who enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you’ll surprised–as I was–by the number of Marvel characters who show up in Marvel Zombies. Check out the list below. GRADE: Incomplete, but trending towards a B

Cast and characters

• Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel:
  A teenage mutant from Jersey City who wears a magical bangle that unlocks her ability to harness cosmic energy and create hard light constructs. Vellani said Kamala was central to the series, with the creators describing her role as “the Frodo of the story” in reference to the character Frodo Baggins from J. R. R. Tolkien‘s novel The Lord of the Rings (1954–55).^[3]
• Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams / Ironheart: A former MIT student and genius inventor from Chicago who created a suit of armor that rivals the one built by Tony Stark / Iron Man^[4]
• Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop: A young woman who trained to become a master archer after being saved by Clint Barton as a child^[4]
• Kerry Condon as F.R.I.D.A.Y.: An artificial intelligence (AI) created by Stark^[5]
• Kenna Ramsey as Okoye: A zombie and the former general of the Dora Milaje, Wakanda‘s all-female special forces^[6]
• Todd Williams as Eric Brooks / Blade Knight: A half-vampire “daywalker” who hunts vampires and has become the avatar of Khonshu, Moon Knight^[7][8]
• Kari Wahlgren as Melina Vostokoff: A seasoned spy and scientist trained in the Red Room as a Black Widow who is a mother figure to Yelena Belova^[5]
• Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova: A highly skilled spy and assassin who was trained in the Red Room as a Black Widow^[4]
• David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian: The Soviet super soldier counterpart to Captain America and a father figure to Belova^[4]
• Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi:
  A highly skilled martial artist who was trained at a young age to be an assassin by his father Xu Wenwu.^[4] In the series, Shang-Chi was bitten by a zombie on his right arm, and so he uses the mystical Ten Rings to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of his body.^[9]
• Awkwafina as Katy Chen:^[10] Shang-Chi’s best friend and former co-worker as a hotel valet^[4] who wields the Ten Rings alongside him^[11]
• Randall Park as Jimmy Woo: A former FBI agent^[4]
• Feodor Chin as Xu Wenwu: Shang-Chi’s father who is the leader of the Ten Rings organization and the original wielder of the mystical Ten Rings^[12]
• Wyatt Russell as John Walker: A former captain of the U.S. Army Rangers^[2]
• Rama Vallury as Helmut Zemo: A Sokovian baron and terrorist^[5]
• Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Red Queen / Queen of the Dead: A former Avenger turned zombie who can harness chaos magic, engage in telepathy and telekinesis, and alter reality^[4][10]
• Hudson Thames as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: A young man who received spider-like abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider^[13]
• Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man:
  A former petty criminal and superhero. The character’s still-living head was preserved in a jar after he lost his body in the same process that cured him of the infection, as depicted in the What If…? episode “What If… Zombies?!” (2021).^[2]
• Greg Furman as Thor: The Asgardian god of thunder and a founding Avenger, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name^[5]
• Adam Hugill as Rintrah: A minotaur-like being from R’Vaal who is a former student at Kamar-Taj^[5]
• Daniel Swain as London Master: A Master of the Mystic Arts^[5]
• Sheila Atim as Sara: A Master of the Mystic Arts^[5]
• Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie: The last survivor of an all-female group of Asgardian warriors^[2]
• F. Murray Abraham as Khonshu: The Egyptian god of the moon^[5]
• Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan: Kamala’s mother^[5]

“There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” –Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (2002)

Amar Bhide, Professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, takes a deep dive into probabilities and knowledge management in Uncertainty and Enterprise: Venturing Beyond the Known (2025).

Bhide stresses the importance of facts and reliable data in the process of making decisions. But Bhide also analyzes the work of Frank Knight, John Maynard Keynes, Hebert Simon, and many other researchers who wrote about uncertainty in making decisions.

The old saying, “Garbage in, Garbage Out,” applies to the process of decision making. False “facts” and “fake” news damage the process of making the right choice.

My favorite chapter in Uncertainty and Enterprise was “Daniel Ellsberg’s Ambiguity: A Simplifying Side Trip.” I only knew about Daniel Ellsberg’s Vietnam War role in the Pentagon Papers case. But Bhide examines Ellsberg’s 1961 article, “Risk, Ambiguity, and the Savage Axioms,” which support Bhide’s claims that not dealing with risk and ambiguity in decision making precisely encourages choices that contravene standard patterns and can lead to disasters…like the Vietnam War.

If you’re having trouble dealing with known unknowns and unknown unknowns, Amar Bhide’s book will bring you some needed enlightenment. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface — ix

Part I: Invitation to the Voyage

1. The Offering — 3

2. Uncertainty as Doubt — 10

3. Conjectures about Justification — 23

4. Applications to Enterprise — 33

Part II: Formidable Obstacles, Forgotten Beacons

5. Frank Knight: The Spark That Did Not Ignite — 43

6. Practically Omniscient Microeconomics — 52

7. Imperfect Market Theories: Realism without Fallibility — 60

8. John Maynard Keynes: Help to Distraction — 69

9. Herbert Simon: Faded Guiding Star — 90

10. Daniel Ellsberg’s Ambiguity: A Simplifying Side Trip — 110

11. Kahneman and Tversky: Gaining Acceptance, Dropping Uncertainty — 126

12. Richard Thaler & Co.: Building the New Behavioral Boomtowns — 148

Part III: The Specialization of Enterprise

13. Including Uncertainty: Recapitulation and Preview — 165

14. “Bootstrapping” Improvised Startups — 176

15. Calculating Capitalists: VCs and Angels Investors — 197

16. The Evolution of Dynamic Bureaucracies — 217

17. The Dominions of Giants — 232

Part IV: Imaginative Discourse

18. The Aims of Discourse — 259

19. The Devices of Discourse — 268

20. Stories As Side Dishes — 281

21. Spillovers from Popular Stories — 298

Part V: Coda

22. The Case for Widening — 315

Acknowledgments — 335
Notes — 337
References — 383
Index — 405