Book Review: Behind the Crimson Blind

Book Review: Behind the Crimson Blind by Carter Dickson Sir Henry Merrivale, brilliant amateur detective, barrister, baronet and holder of a medical degree, has had many exciting adventures in Britain, Europe and America. He feels that he’s earned a bit of a holiday, so he’s incognito on a flight to Tangier. Except that the very… Continue reading Book Review: Behind the Crimson Blind

Book Review: Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women Volume 2 (1953-1957)

Cover by Frank Kelly Freas--not illustrating any of the stories in this volume.

Book Review: Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women Volume 2 (1953-1957) edited by Gideon Marcus As the introduction by Janice L. Newman points out, women have written science fiction all along. The percentage of them getting published at any given time in the magazines and books waxed and waned, but they were always there. In the… Continue reading Book Review: Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women Volume 2 (1953-1957)

Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact November 1965

Cover by Kelly Freas

Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact November 1965 edited by John W. Campbell It’s time for another random issue of the classic science fiction magazine. “Colloid and Crystalloid” by John W. Campbell starts the issue off with an editorial beginning with the notion that humanoid killer robots probably aren’t going to be a thing… Continue reading Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction Science Fact November 1965

Book Review: Wives to Burn

Book Review: Wives to Burn by Lawrence G. Blochman William Shakespeare Gabriel may have bitten off more than he can chew when he accepted an assignment to go to India and track down Fred Oaks. Bill’s past as a reporter may make him an excellent investigator for the Five Continents Detective Agency, but India’s a… Continue reading Book Review: Wives to Burn

Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3

Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3 by Robert Bloch Robert Bloch (1917-1994) was a prolific author of horror, science fiction and mystery works. (You may have seen, read or at least heard of Psycho.) This volume, originally “Selected Stories” and by no means complete, features 39 stories published between 1960 and… Continue reading Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails edited by Mary Francois Rockcastle It is time again to look at Hamline University’s annual literary magazine. This issue is from 2006. It’s dedicated to Frederick Busch, author of Girls, who had visited the university shortly before his death the previous year. The subtitle, borrowed from one… Continue reading Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails

Book Review: Looking for Humboldt & Searching for German Footprints in New Mexico and Beyond

Book Review: Looking for Humboldt & Searching for German Footprints in New Mexico and Beyond by Erika Schelby The author is a German immigrant to New Mexico. While studying the history of her new state, she learned that Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), the famous Prussian naturalist and explorer, had passed through what would become New… Continue reading Book Review: Looking for Humboldt & Searching for German Footprints in New Mexico and Beyond

Book Review: Nine Strange Stories

Book Review: Nine Strange Stories edited by Betty N. Owen When I was a lad, one of the fun annual events I looked forward to was the Scholastic Book Fair.  Scholastic Publishing would send boxes of books around the country to schools so that kids could get the thrill of picking out their own low-cost… Continue reading Book Review: Nine Strange Stories

Book Review: Felifax the Tiger Man

Book Review: Felifax the Tiger Man by Paul Feval fils Sir Eric Palmer, the world’s greatest detective, is about to retire on his daughter Grace’s eighteenth birthday.  He’s looking forward to taking up gardening in Cornwall and becoming a full time grandfather (Grace is beautiful and accomplished, surely a suitable young gentleman will snap her… Continue reading Book Review: Felifax the Tiger Man

Book Review: Hector and the Search for Happiness

Book Review: Hector and the Search for Happiness by François Lelord Once upon a time, there was a psychiatrist named Hector, who was very good at his job.  But he didn’t feel that he was as good as he needed to be, because he had patients who were unhappy, and he didn’t know how to… Continue reading Book Review: Hector and the Search for Happiness