Leo McKern as the titular character in the TV series Rumpole of the Bailey |
The Bunburyist
Featuring History of Mystery/Detective Fiction and Other Literary Ramblings of Elizabeth Foxwell
Monday, April 29, 2024
Rumpole and client self-determination.
Monday, April 22, 2024
An appreciation of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn Theme."
From left: composer Henry Mancini, Peter Gunn star Craig Stevens, and writer-director Blake Edwards |
Some "Peter Gunn Theme" versions:
• Henry Mancini and His Orchestra, Ed Sullivan Show, 1969
• Emerson, Lake and Palmer, 1978
• Lahti Symphony Orchestra (conductor: Nick Davies), 2011
• Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, 2016
Monday, April 15, 2024
Lou and Herbert Hoover, mystery fans.
- The friendship of the Hoovers with author Mary Roberts Rinehart.
- Mystery writers read by the Hoovers, pt 1. (Margery Allingham, Dashiell Hammett, Ellery Queen, Dorothy L. Sayers, S. S. Van Dine)
- Mystery writers read by the Hoovers, pt 2. (The Detection Club)
- Mystery writers read by the Hoovers, pt 3. (Margery Allingham, Dashiell Hammett)
- Mystery writers read by the Hoovers, pt. 4. (Lawrence Saunders, aka John Burton Davis and Clare Ogden Davis; Harry Stephen Keeler)
- Mystery writers read by the Hoovers, pt. 5. (Carolyn Wells)
- Mystery writers read by the Hoovers, pt. 6. (Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers)
- Mystery writers read by the Hoovers, pt. 7. (Freeman Wills Crofts, Robin Forsythe)
- Mystery writers read by the Hoovers, p. 8. (Harry Ashton-Wolfe)
(Photos: Herbert Hoover, Lou Henry Hoover: NYPL)
Monday, April 08, 2024
The other sides of Dorothy B. Hughes.
I've updated Hughes' Wikipedia page with information on the poems I have found, short stories, and other works. Perhaps most intriguing is her mystery serial, "The Turquoise Ring Murders," that was broadcast on a New Mexico radio station in October 1933.
Monday, April 01, 2024
Sisters in Crime grants for academic research.
Monday, March 25, 2024
2024 Dove awardee: Barry Forshaw.
Monday, March 18, 2024
CFP, Clues Teaching Forum: Crime Fiction in the Multilingual Classroom.
Crime fiction sheds a light on different cultures and societies, as well as challenges assumptions about gender, class, race, and ethnicity. By luring students into thinking that popular fiction is an easy read, an increasing number of language teachers have used crime fiction to teach both foreign languages and cultures. At the same time, crime fiction instructors have expanded their syllabi to include texts in translation that tackle important issues such as gender violence, environmental concerns, and racism. This Clues Teaching Forum invites short essays that address the following questions:
- How has multilingualism shaped a personal approach to the teaching of crime fiction?
- What are the challenges of teaching a text in the original language?
- What are the challenges in using a text in translation?
- How are the expectations of multilingual students accommodated?
- What mystery/detective/crime works have been successful in representing a society and a culture or in effectively teaching a second language?
- Has an instructor elected to no longer teach certain texts or to teach certain texts differently?
We are interested in case studies related to teaching:
- Texts in the original language in language classes
- Texts in translation
- Crime shows with subtitles
- Classes with multilingual students
- Multilingualism within texts
Contributions of 750 to 1,000 words are sought for vol. 43, no. 1 (2025). Accounts from all classroom spaces (high schools, postsecondary institutions, prisons, etc.) and instructors at all stages of their careers are welcome. Submissions are due September 1, 2024. For more information or to submit essays, please contact Barbara Pezzotti (Barbara.pezzotti [at] monash.edu)
Monday, March 11, 2024
How does your garden grow?
Monday, March 04, 2024
Judge Dee rules.
China Daily reports that Netflix is picking up the series (Netflix lists it as debuting on March 16).
Monday, February 26, 2024
The contributions of Wilkie Collins.
Wilkie Collins. NYPL. |
Monday, February 19, 2024
1950s thriller posters.
In the Ransom Center Magazine, Ash Kinney D'Harcourt looks at the design of some 1950s film posters, including for Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (with Cary Grant, 1959) and Ken Hughes's Case of the Red Monkey (aka Little Red Monkey, with Richard Conte, 1955).
Monday, February 12, 2024
The legend of Vidocq.
Eugène-François Vidocq. NYPL |
Monday, February 05, 2024
Just published: James Sallis companion.
Monday, January 29, 2024
K.K. Beck's work on TV.
I've been slow to discover Hallmark's Jane Mysteries series based on K. K. Beck's novels with Jane da Silva, a sleuth who tackles difficult cases (A Hopeless Case, Amateur Night, Electric City, Cold Smoked). One TV movie has been produced to date:
• "Inheritance Lost" (based on Beck's A Hopeless Case)
There is a 1994 TV movie, Shadow of Obsession, with Veronica Hamel that was an adaptation of Beck's stalker novel Unwanted Attentions (a novel greatly admired by Elizabeth Peters).
Monday, January 22, 2024
The wide effects of art theft.
Monday, January 15, 2024
The sensational Wilkie Collins.
Monday, January 08, 2024
Mysteries entering the public domain.
Mysteries that have entered the public domain and are on the online Project Gutenberg:
A.E.W. Mason. NYPL |
• As a Thief in the Night by R. Austin Freeman (a Dr. Thorndyke mystery). "One of the most satisfactory detective stories we have read."—Walter R. Brooks, The Outlook
• Ashenden; or the British Agent by Somerset Maugham (based on Maugham's experiences in World War I). "An urbane series of stories dealing with the diplomatic side of Secret Service work"—Saturday Review
• Behind That Curtain by Earl Derr Biggers (a Charlie Chan mystery). "Excellent"—Gilbert Seldes, Saturday Review (pb edition here)
• The Footsteps at the Lock by Father (later Msgr.) Ronald Knox (a Miles Bredon mystery). "breezy characterization and satirical humour"—The Spectator (pb edition here)
• Murder in the Maze by J.J. Connington. "[T]he usual false clues are skillfully suggested, and the reading public may well be surprised and amused to the end."—The English Review (pb edition here)
• The Prisoner in the Opal by A.E.W. Mason (an Inspector Hanaud mystery). "another intriguing story of mystery and thrilling adventure"—Wanganui Chronicle (Wellington, Australia; pb edition here)
• The Velvet Hand: New Madame Storey Mysteries by Hulbert Footner. "thoughtfully and ingeniously constructed"—New York Times
Monday, January 01, 2024
Collins & Dickens: Exhibition and conference.
The Univ of Buckingham will host the conference "Collins and Dickens—Dickens and Collins" on June 20–21, 2014, to celebrate the bicentennial of Collins' birth and examine matters such as Dickens' role as mentor to Collins and Collins' influence on Dickens, Dickens-Collins projects (such as The Frozen Deep) and rivalries, and theatrical and film productions of their works. Proposals are due Jan 31, 2024.
Wilkie Collins (top), Charles Dickens. NYPL |
Monday, December 25, 2023
August Derleth's Christmas cards.
1939 studio portrait of August Derleth by Ephraim Burt Trimpey |
Monday, December 18, 2023
Exhibition: "The Victorian World in Flux."
More on the exhibition here.
Monday, December 11, 2023
New French translations of Chandler.
Monday, December 04, 2023
McFarland's December sale.
New from McFarland: God and the Great Detective |
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
McFarland bk sale (incl Companions to Mystery Fiction).
Monday, November 20, 2023
Exhibition: "The Victorian Book."
The Police News from the Lilly Library exhibition |
Running through December 15, 2023, at Indiana University Bloomington's Lilly Library is "The Victorian Book: From the Gutter to the Stars," which features an array of books (including mystery) with formats and designs new to the era.
Monday, November 13, 2023
English translation, "The Dog with Vanishing Spots."
Tufts University's Quillon Arkenstone discusses and translates "The Dog with Vanishing Spots," a 1939 story by Japanese author Miyano Murako (aka Tsuno Kō, 1917–90), in the Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Arkenstone highlights Murako's use of logical reasoning, a colonial setting, and a female sleuth.
Monday, November 06, 2023
Sherlock Holmes through an ethical lens.
Monday, October 30, 2023
An Agatha Christie cookbook.
Monday, October 23, 2023
Upcoming Poe exhibition.
Monday, October 16, 2023
Sale, McFarland's horror books.
Brian Patrick Duggan's Horror Dogs |
Joseph Maddrey's Adapting Stephen King, vol. 2 |
Monday, October 09, 2023
Perry Mason and Della Street: Colleagues or more?
Donald Woods as Perry Mason and Ann Dvorak as Della Street in The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1937) |