“Some writers’ names may ring the dimmest of bells of none at all, and perhaps lovers of such tales as these can make new friends, and significant ones, by learning here was those authors wrote.” —FOREWARD By Patricia Highsmith

I’ve had H. R. F. Keating’s Crime and Mystery: The 100 Best Books (1987) for decades. Keating takes a chronological approach to his list of the 100 best books in the genre. While Keating includes plenty of well known titles (mostly deserving inclusion), there are plenty of unfamiliar titles (at least, to me) like Death of My Aunt (1929) by C. H. B. Kitchin and The Last Best Friend (1967) by George Sims. I’m glad The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1971) by George V. Higgins made the cut. It’s one of my favorite crime novels. The same with Nobody’s Perfect (1977) by Donald E. Westlake.

How many of these books have you read? Any favorites here? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

FOREWARD By Patricia Highsmith — 3

AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION By H. R.F. Keating — 8

TITLES	PAGE
Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1832) by Edgar Allan Poe	11
The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins	13
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870) by Charles Dickens	15
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) by Arthur Conan Doyle	17
Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman (1898) by E. W. Hornung	19
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) by Arthur Conan Doyle	21
Jacques Futrelle’s “The Thinking Machine”: The Enigmatic Problems of Prof. Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen, Ph.D., LL.D., F.R.S., M.D., M.D.S. (1907) by Jacques Futrelle	23
The Circular Staircase (1908) by Mary Roberts Rinehart	25
The Innocence of Father Brown (1911) by G.K. Chesterton	27
Uncle Abner: Master of Mysteries (1918) by Melville Davisson Post	29
The Mind of J. G. Reeder (1925) by Edgar Wallace	31
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) by Agatha Christie	33
Red Harvest (1929) by Dashiell Hammett	35
Death of My Aunt (1929) by C. H. B. Kitchin	37
The Documents in the Case (1930) by Dorothy L. Sayers	39
The Maltese Falcon (1930) by Dashiell Hammett	41
The Sands Of Windee (1931) by Arthur William Upfield	43
Before the Fact (1931) by Francis Iles	45
The Case of the Sulky Girl (1933) by Erle Stanley Gardner	47
Murder on the Orient Express (1934) by Agatha Christie	49
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) by James M. Cain	51
The Nine Tailors (1934) by Dorothy L. Sayers	53
The Three Coffins/The Hollow Man (1935) by John Dickson Carr	55
The League of Frightened Men (1935) by Rex Stout	57
The Lady Vanishes /The Wheel Spins (1936) by Ethel Lina White	59
The Beast Must Die (1938) by Nicholas Blake	61
The Bride Wore Black (1940) by Cornell Woolrich	63
Surfeit of Lampreys (1940) by Ngaio Marsh	65
Calamity Town (1942) by Ellery Queen	67
Tragedy at Law (1942) by Cyril Hare	69
The High Window (1942) by Raymond Chandler	71
Green for Danger (1944) by Christianna Brand	73
Appleby’s End (1945) by Michael Innes	75
Murder Among Friends (1946) by Elizabeth Ferrars	77
The Horizontal Man (1946) by Helen Eustis	79
The Moving Toyshop (1946) by Edmund Crispin	81
The Fabulous Clipjoint (1947) by Fredric Brown	83
The Franchise Affair (1948) by Josephine Tey	85
Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly (1948) by John Franklin Bardin	87
More Work for the Undertaker (1949) by Margery Allingham	89
My Friend Maigret (1949) by Georges Simenon	91
The Asphalt Jungle (1949) by W. R. Burnett	93
Smallbone Deceased (1950) by Michael Gilbert	95
Dirty Snow /The Stain on the Snow (1948) by Georges Simenon	97
The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey	99
Last Seen Wearing… (1952) by Hillary Waugh	101
The Tiger in the Smoke (1952) by Margery Allingham	103
Five Roundabouts to Heaven (1953) by John Bingham	105
The Long Goodbye (1953) by Raymond Chandler	107
Post Mortem (1953) by Guy Cullingford	109
The Cellar at No. 5 (1954) by Shelley Smith	111
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) by Patricia Highsmith	113
Beast in View (1955) by Margaret Millar	115
Gideon’s Week (1956) by J. J. Marric/John Creasey	117
Quiet Horror /Mystery Stories (1956) by Stanley Ellin	119
Maigret in Court (1961) by Georges Simenon	121
The New Sonia Wayward (1960) by Michael Innes	123
Gun Before Butter (1963) by Nicolas Freeling	125
The Expendable Man (1963) by Dorothy B. Hughes	127
Pop. 1280 (1964) by Jim Thompson	129
R.S.V.P. Murder (1965) by Mignon Good Eberhart	131
The Man Who Killed Himself (1967) by Julian Symons	133
Murder Against the Grain (1967) by Emma Lathen	135
Roseanna (1965) by Maj Sjöwall	137
The Last Best Friend (1967) by George Sims	139
The Glass-Sided Ants’ Nest (1968) by Peter Dickinson	141
Mr. Splitfoot (1968) by Helen McCloy	143
The Private Wound (1968) by Nicholas Blake	145
The Tremor of Forgery (1969) by Patricia Highsmith	147
Blind Man with a Pistol (1969) by Chester Himes	149
Young Man, I Think You’re Dying (1970) by Joan Fleming	151
Beyond This Point Are Monsters (1970) by Margaret Millar	153
Sadie When She Died (1972) by Ed McBain	155
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1971) by George V. Higgins	157
The Players and the Game (1972) by Julian Symons	159
Mirror Mirror on the Wall (1972) by Stanley Ellin	161
Dance Hall of the Dead (1973) by Tony Hillerman	163
The Poison Oracle (1974) by Peter Dickinson	165
Fletch (1974) by Gregory Mcdonald	167
The Black Tower (1975) by P. D. James	169
The long shadow (2005) by Celia Fremlin	171
The Naked Nuns (1975) by Colin Watson	173
The Blue Hammer (1976) by Ross Macdonald	175
Sleeping Murder (1976) by Agatha Christie	177
A Death in the Life (1976) by Dorothy Salisbury Davis	179
The Investigation/A Death in the Life  (1977) by Dorothy Uhnak	181
A Judgement in Stone (1977) by Ruth Rendell	183
Laidlaw (1977) by William McIlvanney	185
Nobody’s Perfect (1977) by Donald E. Westlake	187
A Pinch of Snuff (1978) by Reginald Hill	189
Skinflick (1979) by Joseph Hansen	191
Kill Claudio (1979) by P. M. Hubbard	193
The Green Ripper (1979) by John D. MacDonald	195
All on a Summer’s Day (1981) by John William Wainwright	197
Death in a Tenured Position (1981) by Amanda Cross	199
The Glitter Dome (1981) by Joseph Wambaugh	201
To Make a Killing (1982) by June Thomson	203
The False Inspector Dew (1982) by Peter Lovesey	205
The Artful Egg (1984) by James McClure	207
A Taste for Death (1986) by P. D. James	209

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The One-Hundred-and-First Choice — 201

INDEX — 213

I’m not quite convinced these are “Rock Classics” as the subtitle claims, but there’s some good music on this CD. The conceit of having every song include “Rock” in the title gets a little worn by the end of this CD. ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FANTASY: ROCK CLASSICS OF THE ’70s & ’80s from 2000 includes a few less common songs like Rod Stewart’s “Sweet Little Rock ‘N’ Roller” next to well-known songs like John Mellencamp’s “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.”

Do you recognize these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B

TRACK LIST:

1	Led Zeppelin–	Rock And Roll
2	Bad Company (3)–	Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy
3	Rod Stewart–	Sweet Little Rock ‘N Roller
4	John Mellencamp*–	R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.
5	The Doobie Brothers–	Rockin’ Down The Highway
6	Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers–	So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star
7	Wings (2)–	Rock Show
8	Traffic–	Rock And Roll Stew
9	Sammy Hagar–	There’s Only One Way To Rock
10	The Moody Blues–	I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band)
11	Bruce Springsteen–	I’m A Rocker
12	Rainbow–	Long Love Rock ‘N’ Roll
13	Bryan Adams–	Kids Wanna Rock
14	The Who–	Long Live Rock
15	Jethro Tull–	Too Old To Rock ‘N’ Roll: Too Young To Die

While I still search for my copy of Agatha Christie’s The Hound of Death–highly recommended by Jerry House!–I came across several copies of Christie’s Double Sin and Other Stories. Yes, I buy duplicate copies of books if I like the various covers.

There are many editions of Agatha Christie’s Double Sin and Other Stories but I decided to go with an image of one of William Teason’s covers. If you’d like to see more Teason covers and discover more about this wonderful artist, just click here.

My favorite story in Double Sin and Other Stories is The Theft of the Royal Ruby (also known as The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding). Not only is it one of my favorite All-Time Christmas mysteries, but it’s also one of my favorite Hercule Poirot short stories. A valuable ruby has been stolen and Poirot is hired to find it. The mystery is set in a traditional English mansion in a rural setting with a large number of suspects. Great fun!

I also enjoyed “The Double Clue” which was first published in the U.K. in 1923 and in the U.S. in 1925. Poirot tells Hastings that it was the double clue of the glove and the cigarette case which made him suspicious. Only one of the clues was genuine and the other was …

Double Sin and Other Stories provides classic, entertaining mystery stories. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Double Sin — 1
• Wasp’s Nest — 21
• The Theft of the Royal Ruby (also known as The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding) — 35
• The Dressmaker’s Doll — 93
• Greenshaw’s Folly — 119
• The Double Clue — 151
• The Last Seance –165
• Sanctuary — 185

While on our annual Easter trip to Ohio, Diane and I stopped in at Hartville Kitchen, a restaurant and bakery with plenty of homemade items. Diane always buys a few jars of Strawberry Jam. But, then Diane noticed a jar of Raspberry Jalapeño Jelly. Knowing I love spicy food, she bought a jar for me to try. It’s just pure heaven…with a little heat!

Which of these two delicious options would you choose?

Brian Moore (aka, Bernard Mara and Michael Bryan) is best known for writing the screen play for Alfred Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain. Several of Moore’s novels were adapted for the movies including Intent to Kill, The Luck of Ginger Coffey, Catholics, Black Robe, Cold Heaven, and The Statement. 

The Statement is Brian Moore’s 18th novel. The novel begins in southern France where Pierre Brossard is hiding out. Brossard, under the Vichy government during World War II, massacred fourteen Jews in the town of Dombey. Once the Allies retook France, Brossard went underground. For over 50 years, Brossard has been hiding from justice. Elements of the Government and the Catholic Church protect Brossard by moving him around France and allowing him to stay at monasteries and churches.

However, all that changes when Brossard learns he’s being hunted by a vigilante organization of Holocaust avengers. As Brossard tries to find a safe place to hide, he learns his allies are aging and lack the power to protect him. New forces in the Government and Church find no reason to shield a mass murderer from justice.

Moore captures the dangerous life of a man on the run for over 50 years. The chase is on and Brossard’s desperation and fear fuel this thriller. GRADE: B

Peter Berresford Ellis, a scholar of the ancient Celts and the Irish, writes as “Peter Tremayne” and specializes in complicated mystery novels. “Tremayne” is best known for his Fidelma of Cashel series featuring a 17th Century Irish sleuth who begins as a nun but after about 20 books decides to leave the religious life and pursue murderers as a powerful attorney whose brother just happens to be a King.

Atonement of Blood is the 24th book in the series and opens with an attempted assassination of the King, Fidelma’s brother, and Fidelma vows to investigate the crime while her brother is near death.

As in the dozen or so Fidelma mysteries I’ve read, the plot is tangled as Fidelma tries to discover the identity of the assassin. The search leads Fidelma into the politics of kingdoms–some unfriendly–that surround Cashel. Four years after Cashel won a local war, seeds of conspiracy and treachery lead Fidelma to probe into the deciding battle that resolved the conflict but left groups who planned vengeance. Fidelma interrogates both nobles and warriors to get to the bottom of what really happened.

For 30 years I’ve been enjoying Fidelma’s exploits as she discovers the truth and identifies murderers. Along the way, readers learn a lot about Irish history and the ways of Life in the 17th Century. Do you enjoy historical mysteries? GRADE: B+

Sister Fidelma series:

1. Absolution By Murder (1994)
2. Shroud for the Archbishop (1995)
3. Suffer Little Children (1995)
4. The Subtle Serpent (1996)
5. The Spider’s Web (1997)
6. Valley of the Shadow (1998)
7. The Monk Who Vanished (1999)
8. Act of Mercy (1999)
9. Our Lady of Darkness (2000)
10. Hemlock At Vespers (2000) (short stories)
11. Smoke in the Wind (2001)
12. The Haunted Abbot (2002)
13. Badger’s Moon (2003)
14. Whispers of the Dead (2004) (short stories)
15. The Leper’s Bell (2004)
16. Master of Souls (2005)
17. A Prayer for the Damned (2006)
18. Dancing with Demons (2007)
19. The Council of the Cursed (2008)
20. The Dove of Death (2009)
21. The Chalice of Blood (2010)
22. Behold a Pale Horse (2011)
23. The Seventh Trumpet (2012)
24. Atonement of Blood (2013)
25. The Devil’s Seal (2015)
26. The Second Death (2016)
27. Penance of the Damned (2016)
28. Night of the Lightbringer (2017)
29. Die Wahrheit ist der Lüge Tod (2018)
30. Bloodmoon (2018)
31. Blood in Eden (2019)
32. The Shapeshifter’s Lair (2020)
33. The House of Death (2021)
34. Death of a Heretic (2022)
35. The Revenge of the Stormbringer (2023)

Once again I can quibble with the “36 Classic Rock Hits” subtitle of this 3-CD collection. Maybe “Bang a Gong” by T. Rex might qualify as a “Classic Rock Hit” but I question whether “Long Train Running” by The Doobie Brothers fits the bill.

Of the three CDs in this set, I prefer Disc Three which includes Joe Cocker’s “The Letter,” “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” by Elton John, and “Ramblin’ Man” by the Allman Brothers.

You would think that a compilation set with a Motor Trend logo and titled Rockin’ Down the Highway might include “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane…but you would be wrong.

How many of these songs do you recognize? Any favorites here? GRADE: B

TRACK LIST:

Disc One:

“Hot Blooded” — Foreigner

“Bang a Gong (Get It On) — T. rex

“Smoke on the Water” — Deep Purple

“School’s Out” –Alice Cooper

“25 Or 6 to 4” — Chicago

“Truckin'” –Grateful Dead

“Stay With Me” — Faces

“Karn Evil 9/1ST Impression, Part 2” –Emerson, Lake and Palmer

“Roundabout” — Yes

“Long Train Running” — The Doobie Brothers

“Ride Captain Ride”– Blues Image

“Can’t Get Enough” — Bad Company

DISC TWO:

“I Want to be Sedated” — The Ramones

“Whip It” — Devo

“Love Shack” — The B-52s

“Back on the Chain Gang” — The Pretenders

“La Bamba” — Los Lobos

“What You Need” — Inxs

Medley: “Just a Gigolo”/”I Ain’t Got Nobody” — David Lee Roth

“My Best Friend’s Girl” –The Cars

“Keep Your Hands to Yourself” — Georgia Satellites

“That’ll Be the Day” –Linda Ronstadt

“Ride Like the Wind” –Christopher Cross

“Soul Man” — The Blues Brothers

DISC THREE:

“Radar Love” –Golden Earring

“Ramblin’ Man” –Allman Brothers

“All Right Now” — Free

“Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” — Elton John

“Rocky Mountain Way” — Joe Walsh

“I’m Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band” — The Moody Blues

“Taking Care of Business” — Bachman Turner Overdrive”

“In a Big Country” — Big Country

“Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)” — Robert Palmer

“Wild Thing” — The Troggs

“The Letter” –Joe Cocker

“Free Bird” — Lynyrd Skynyrd

Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (aka, The Mousetrap) includes some Miss Marple stories, some Hercule Poirot stores, and a Harley Quin story.

“Three Blind Mice” is the basis for the famous play, “The Mousetrap,” which opened in London in 1952 and became the longest running play in the English language.

But my favorite stories in Three Blind Mice and Other Stories are “Tape-measure Murder” and “The Third-Floor Flat” and “The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly.” In “Tape-measure Murder” Miss Marple solves the murder with a clever twist. Poirot investigates the murder of a woman in an apartment building and solves a tricky time-line problem to snare the killer. A wealth couple see Poirot after their young son is kidnapped. They receive letters before the kidnapping asking for 25,000 pounds. The couple refused to pay. The kidnapper sent another note giving the day and the time of the kidnapping. The couple contacted the police who staked out their estate at the appointed time. Nonetheless, the boy was kidnapped. Poirot uses his little gray cells to resolve the crime.

If you’re looking for some short stories with engaging crimes and puzzles, Three Blind Mice and Other Stories will answer your needs. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Three blind mice — 1
• Strange jest — 73
• Tape-measure murder — 87
• The case of the perfect maid — 103
• The case of the caretaker — 119
• The third-floor flat — 135
• The adventure of Johnnie Waverly — 157
• Four and twenty blackbirds — 173
• The love detectives –189