I’ve been a fan of Ed Hoch’s clever mystery stories for decades. Hoch had a story in every issues of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine from 1973 until his death in 2008. Along the way, Hoch showed how gifted he was by creating a number of mystery series. There’s Nick Velvet who only steals items that have no monetary value. There is Jeffery Rand’s code and cipher puzzles. I love Ben Snow and his historical Western mysteries. Captain Leopold’s police procedural mysteries bring me delight. And, of course, there is Dr. Sam Hawthorne who specializes in solving locked room cases.

But I’ve always loved the off-beat Simon Ark mysteries. Ark implies he’s a couple of thousand years old. When a man claims the Devil is trying to kill him, only Simon Ark can figure out what is really going on. When astronauts start to die under bizarre circumstances, it’s Simon Ark who solves the riddles. Crippen & Landru’s Funeral in the Fog collects sixteen Simon Ark stories. If you’re looking for some unusual and ingenious mysteries, this is the book for you! Are you an Ed Hoch fan? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by Gigi Pandian — 9

Day of the Wizard — 11

Funeral in the Fog — 37

The Avenger from Outer Space — 52

The Weaon Out of the Past — 70

The Sorceress of the Sea — 87

The House of a Hundred Birds — 105

Prisoner of Zerfall — 124

The S. S. S. — 141

The Way Up to Hades — 156

The Virgins of Valentine — 174

The Stalker of Souls –190

The Society of the Scar — 208

No Blood for a Vampire — 224

The Graveyard Ghoul — 240

Master of Miracles — 255

The Gravesend Trumpet — 275

Sources — 291

Diane and I finally sat down and watched In the Heights on HBO Max. We toyed with the idea of seeing In the Heights in one of our local AMC or Regal Theaters, but opted to stay home instead.

The play version of In the Heights won the Tony for Best Musical and the touring company arrived at Shea’s Theater in Buffalo in 2010. The movie version makes some changes but at its essence, the story is about making it in America. Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame wrote this joyous ode to Washington Heights and launched his career (Miranda has a few cameos as the Piragua Guy in this movie version of In the Heights).

Movie director Jon M. Chu, with a screenplay by Quiara Alegria Hudes, celebrates the Latino immigrant experience mostly in song and dance sequences. If you’re looking for a movie as a spectacle, In the Heights delivers Big Time. GRADE: B+

Bernadette Barton, a Professor of Sociology, provides plenty of data that pornography in the United States (and elsewhere) is pervasive. Barton traces the evolution of porno from black & white photographs, to color magazines like Playboy and Hustler, to porno theaters, to porno VHS tapes, to DVDs, to the explosion of pornography on the Internet, to people watching porno on their cell phones.

As Barton points out, pornography isn’t sexy, it’s sexist. The trend of men sending “dick pics” (aka, “penis selfies”) to women–like Anthony Weiner did as “Carlos Danger”–continues to increase. According to Barton’s research, watching hours and hours of porno tends to warp men’s expectations of relationships with women.

Our country has so many social problems, rampant pornography seems like a minor issue. Bernadette Barton’s research shows it isn’t. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction: Welcome to Rauch Culture, USA — 1

1. What Men See, What Men Want — 29
2. How Internet Pornography Ruins Sex — 55
3. “Be the Man That Treats Her Like a Lady, but Still Grabs Her Ass” — 81
4. Dick Pics — 108
5. Trump’s Raunch Culture Administration — 125
6. Transforming Rauch Culture — 149

Acknowlegements — 171

Notes — 175

References — 191

Index — 207

About the Author — 217

Diane started her quest for a deck in March 2021. The first contractors she contacted told her they were booked until October 2021. Another contractor promised to give her an estimate, but then disappeared. Anther contract gave Diane an estimate, then called the next day to say, “We can’t do your deck this year, because we just accepted a $98,000 job.” Our neighbor recommended his contractor, Eric, and he was able to find the materials (not an easy task in these days of shortages) and completed the entire job in two weeks!

Oh, and here’s some deer who arrived to check out Diane’s Deck!

Diane’s Book Club chose Fiona Barton’s The Child for their July book. Diane decided she would listen to The Child since our Library had the audiobook version. At lunch time, Diane would set up the SONY boombox and load a CD from the audiobook. The unabridged edition has 9 discs (11 hours).

I was drawn into the story of a construction crew who discovers the bones of a child at the building site. Reporter Kate Waters investigates and wonders if this is the body of a baby that was taken from a hospital over 20 years ago. When the police run DNA tests, they determine the baby is related to the mother who had her baby taken from the hospital shortly after its birth decades ago.

Kate Waters has more than just this investigation upsetting her Life. Her son has dropped out of University and intends to travel around Thailand. Kate’s paper is cutting staff and she needs a Big Story to keep her job. And, as Kate’s follows the clues back into the events in the 1980s, the unraveling of the puzzles start to point to a surprising solution.

I don’t ordinarily read books like The Child, but this mystery kept me involved and…attentive. I was completely stunned by the ending! I bet you will be, too! GRADE: A

Back in the 1980s, TOR books set about to issue faux-ACE Doubles in a new series. ACE Doubles featured two books in one, with a  tête-bêche format. The TOR Doubles followed this format. The TOR series included 36 books. Divide and Rule/The Sword of Rhiannon is #17 in the series.

L. Sprague de Camp’s Divide and Rule (first published as a serial in the magazine Unknown from April to May, 1939) presents a world 300 years from now when the Earth is controlled by alien invaders called the hoppers. They look like giant kangaroos. The hoppers brought a blue plague to Earth which killed off half the human population. Now, the hoppers rule by banning science and keeping humans operating on a medieval culture level. Sir Howard of  Poughkeepsie gets involved in a scheme to overthrow the alien domination. GRADE: B

Leigh Brackett’s The Sword of Rhiannon was first published in the June 1949 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories as “Sea-Kings of Mars”. Its first book publication was in the early famous Ace Double D-36 with Conan the Conqueror by Robert E. Howard. Many critics consider The Sword of Rhiannon the best of Brackett’s Mars novels. The action centers around Matthew Carse, a 35-year-old former archaeologist-turned-thief in the Martian city of Jekkara. Carse gets involved in a series of adventures in the best Sword and Sorcery tradition. Outstanding! GRADE: A

TRACKLIST:

Loaded With Hits, released in 2000, was a fund-raising music CD where a portion of the profits went to support the T. J. Martell Foundation for for Leukemia, Cancer, and AIDS Research. I might quibble about how many of these songs are really “hits” but there’s certainly a variety of different musical styles on these two CDs. I’m a big fan of Sarah McLachan’s “Building a Mystery.” “Save Tonight” was a hit for Eagle-Eye Cherry. And we might see Lisa Loeb singing “I Do” in a future GEICO commercial. How many of these “hits” do you recognize? Any favorites? GRADE: B

1-1	Will Smith–	Just The Two Of Us	5:16
1-2	Mariah Carey–	My All	3:51
1-3	Christina Aguilera–	Love For All Seasons	3:50
1-4	Céline Dion–	Immortality	4:10
1-5	Backstreet Boys–	As Long As You Love Me (Soul Solution Remix)Remix – Soul SolutionRemix – Soul Solution	3:58
1-6	Robyn–	Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect)	4:02
1-7	Spice Girls–	Stop	3:24
1-8	*NSYNC–	I Want You Back	3:19
1-9	Five–	When The Lights Go Out	4:06
1-10	B*Witched–	C’est La Vie	2:52
1-11	Billy Crawford–	Urgently In LoveFeaturing – Nona HendryxFeaturing – Nona Hendryx	4:12
1-12	Nicole*–	Make It Hot	4:04
1-13	R. Kelly–	Home Alone	4:17
1-14	Keith Sweat–	Come And Get With Me	4:55
1-15	Brian McKnight–	Anytime	4:33
2-1	Sarah McLachlan–	Building A Mystery	4:07
2-2	Eagle-Eye Cherry–	Save Tonight	3:56
2-3	Kenny Wayne Shepherd–	Blue On Black	5:31
2-4	Lisa Loeb–	I Do	3:36
2-5	Natalie Imbruglia–	Torn	4:04
2-6	The Verve Pipe–	The Freshman	4:29
2-7	Dave Matthews Band–	Don’t Drink The Water	6:37
2-8	Blondie–	Maria	3:52
2-9	KRS-One–	Step Into A World (Rapture’s Delight)Vocals – Keva*Vocals – Keva*	4:50
2-10	Goodie Mob–	Beautiful Skin	5:21
2-11	Big Punisher–	I’m Not A Player	3:41
2-12	Creed (3)–	My Own Prison	4:59
2-13	Eve 6–	Inside Out	3:39
2-14	Tori Amos–	Jackie’s Strength	4:26

The original Rogues’ Gallery was published by Little, Brown in 1945. The Table of Contents below is from that edition. In the early 1960s, DELL Books published Ellery Queen’s Rogues’ Gallery 1 (I’ve never seen Rogues’ Gallery 2). I included the page numbers from the paperback edition below.

I’ve always liked Agatha Christie’s “Accident” with its snarky ending. Ben Hecht’s “The Fifteen Murderers” stunned me with its plot twist. It will also give you a different view of doctors.

It was fun to reread John Dickson Carr’s “Mr. Markham, Antique Dealer” with the patented Carr trickery. My favorite story in this anthology was O. Henry’s “A Personal Magnet” with Henry’s cunning deceptions. I may have to go hunting for the original edition of Rogues’ Gallery. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Ruffian’s wife / Dashiell Hammett —

Accident / Agatha Christie — 9

Portrait of a murderer / Q. Patrick —

Murder by mail / Howard Spring —

Mr. Bowley’s Sunday evening / H.C. Bailey — 45

The fifteen murderers / Ben Hecht — 59

Mr. Markham, antique dealer / John Dickson Carr — 19

Murder! / Arnold Bennett —

The diamond links / Grant Allen —

A trap to catch a cracksman / E.W. Hornung — 81

Edith Swan-Neck / Maurice Leblanc —

The infallible Godahl / Frederick Irving Anderson —

The seventy-fourth diamond / Edgar Wallace —

The St. Jocasta tapestries / Roy Vickers —

A personal magnet / O. Henry — 100

The Quagg Peerless Sciatacata Co. / George Randolph Chester — 107

The Colonel gives a party / Everett Rhode Castle —

Sam and his Yankee allies / Eric Knight —

The men of the jimmy / Melville Davisson Post —

The people versus Kelleher / Thomas McMorrow — 168

The Salisbury assizes / H.B. Marriott Watson —

The brazen serpent / R. Austin Freeman — 130

The red herring / William Hope Hodgson —

The cablegram / T.S. Stribling — 149

Thubway tham, thvilian / Johnston McCulley — 192

Adventures of Andrew Land / Charles J. Finger —

The blind spot / Leslie Charteris —  207

Ellery Queen, swindler / Ellery Queen —

The showdown / “Pat Hand” —

The willow walk / Sinclair Lewis —

Town wanted / Fredric Brown –221

In 1969, right about the time Woodstock was happening, the Harlem Cultural Festival took place. Star acts from the world of Soul came to Harlem to perform in front of 300,000 residents in Marcus Garvey Park. Stevie Wonder, the Gospel Redeemers, B.B. King, The Fifth Dimension, Sly and the Family Stone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Chambers Brothers, Nina Simone, the Staple Singers, Mongo Santamaria, David Ruffin, Herbie Mann, The Isley Brothers, Ray Barretto, Max Roach, Mahalia Jackson, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, and Hugh Masekela filled the park with wonderful music.

Questlove and editor Joshua L. Pearson edited down the 40+ hours of videotape–that languished for 50 years–into the best documentary of 2021. How this extraordinary event could go unrecognized for decades is mind-boggling. Finally, it is available and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommended! GRADE: A

Michael Pollan thinks the War on Drugs is just about over. And, the Drugs won. Many states have de-crimalized marijuana, others have legalized it for “recreational” use. In This is Your Mind on Plants, Pollan writes about his experiences with opioids, caffeine, and mescaline (and other psychedelic drugs).

I first used opioids after my first total knee replacement surgery. I was prescribed hydrocodone and it did its magic in helping me manage the post-surgery pain and physical therapy during my Rehab. The addictive aspects of the drug were well known so I careful regulated my dosage and slowly tapered off. Some of the other patients in Rehab didn’t and got “hooked.”

Pollan shows how to grow your own supply of opium in your garden. Opium has a long history and it can be helpful in medicine…and it can be dangerous.

Jeff Meyerson, in his comment yesterday, wondered: “I don’t get how people drink that stuff all day every day.” As Pollan points out, caffeine is addictive (but not as addictive as opioids). When coffee drinkers stop drinking coffee, all the withdrawal symptoms kick in: headaches, fatigue, lethargy, nausea, body aches, difficulty concentrating, decreased motivation, and irritability. On the plus side, having a coffee addition improves focus, motivation, and productivity. Other health aspects like protecting against certain cancers, diabetes, and Parkinson’s factor in, too.

One of Deb’s favorite writers, Honore de Balzac, wrote about the effect drinking coffee had on his writing: “From that moment on, everything becomes agitated. Ideas quick-march into motion like battalions of a grand army to its legendary fighting ground, and the battle rages. Memories charge in, bright flags on high; the cavalry of metaphor deploys with a magnificent gallop, the artillery of logic rushes up with clattering wagons and carriages; on imagination’s orders, sharpshooters sight and fire; forms and shapes and characters read up; the paper is read with ink…” (p. 113)

While I use opioids and caffeine, I have never used psychedelic drugs like mescaline (or LSD or psilocybin). Pollan describes his “trip” on mescaline. I’m wary of mind-altering drugs like psychedelics. I like my mind just fine as it is.

If you’re interested in the history and future of opioids, caffeine and mescaline, I encourage to take a look at Pollan’s This Is Your Mind on Plants. There’s a lot to consider here. What do you think of opioids, caffeine, and psychedelics? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION — 1

OPIUM — 13

Prologue — 15

“Opium, Made Easy” — 21

Epilogue — 83

CAFFEINE — 89

MESCALINE — 161

1. The Door in the Wall –163
2. The Orphan Psychedelic — 166
3. In Which We Meet the Cacti — 174
4. The Birth of a New Religion — 187
5. Peeking Inside the Tepee — 199
6. An Interlude: On Mescaline — 214
7. Learning from San Pedro — 223
8. Drunk at the Wheel — 228
9. Plan C — 230

Acknowledgements — 249

Selected Bibliography — 253

Index — 259