"The Kids Who Knew Too Much" (1980).

This episode for Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color is based on The Whisper in the Gloom by Nicholas Blake (aka poet Cecil Day-Lewis) and features a band of smart kids and Sharon Gless looking into a murder and discovering ties to a political conspiracy. It is bittersweet to see the gifted actress Dana Hill (Shoot the Moon, Cross Creek, etc.), who died much too young at age 32 from diabetes-related complications.

Symons's "The Mystique of the Detective Story" (1981).

In March 1981 author-critic (Mortal Consequences/Bloody Murder, etc.) and then-Detection Club president Julian Symons (1912–94) delivered a lecture on "The Mystique of the Detective Story" at the Vancouver Institute, contrasting modern works with those of the Golden Age. He gave a humorous precis of a typical English country-house mystery and emphasized "the power of reason" in Golden Age mysteries. Symons discussed the work of Patricia Highsmith, noting, "Ripley is the horrific modern counterpart of [E. W. Hornung's] Raffles." He also dealt with the mysteries of P.D. James and Ruth Rendell as well as his own books. "Whatever its merits may be, [the crime story] does begin and end as sensational literature," he stated. He mentioned his admiration for George V. Higgins, as well as Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, and critiqued John Creasey. Symons considered Nicholas Blake (aka Cecil Day-Lewis) as one writer who bridged Golden Age and modern mysteries.

Exhibition: The Cartoon in Wartime Propaganda.

The online exhibition "The Cartoon in Wartime Propaganda" at King's College London mentions Minute for Murder (1947) by Nicholas Blake (aka the Irish-born poet laureate Cecil Day-Lewis), who worked for Britain's Ministry of Information during World War II.

Auden's "Guilty Vicarage."

W. H. Auden, right, with
Christopher Isherwood. Feb. 1939.
Photo by Carl Van Vechten.
Library of Congress,
Prints and Photographs Div

The discussion of volume 4 (Prose) of The Complete Works of W. H. Auden on Off the Shelf (RTE, Ireland) touches on Auden's "The Guilty Vicarage," his famous essay on the mystery. Auden, it should be noted, was the model for sleuth Nigel Strangeways for Nicholas Blake (aka poet Cecil Day Lewis).

Blake's Nigel Strangeways returns.

Rue Morgue Press has reissued A Question of Proof (1935), the first novel featuring sleuth (and W. H. Auden alter ego) Nigel Strangeways, by Nicholas Blake (aka British poet laureate Cecil Day Lewis). The press will follow this novel with Blake's splendid Thou Shell of Death in early 2009.

W. H. Auden, professor.

"Fellow Irresponsibles, Follow Me" begins the lively look at W. H. Auden as a Swarthmore professor, which is featured on the college library Web site. Included are Auden's course reserve lists for the library and his penchant for writing in books, such as this comment on one of his own poems: "O God, what rubbish." While at Swarthmore, he wrote the play The Ascent of F6 with Christopher Isherwood and saw it performed there. I was particularly taken by his remark, "My seminar on Romanticism starts tomorrow. Quakers or no Quakers, I shall serve bread and cheese and beer at four o'clock." (Swarthmore, of course, was founded by Quakers.)

Auden, the model for sleuth Nigel Strangeways for Nicholas Blake (aka Cecil Day Lewis), was a big fan of detective stories. Be sure to read his classic essay "The Guilty Vicarage" on the genre.

About the photo: Auden, right, with Christopher Isherwood, Feb. 1939. Photo by Carl Van Vechten. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Happy birthday, Nicholas Blake.

Nicholas Blake, the creator of sleuth Nigel Strangeways, was born today in Ireland in 1904. Strangeways, who was inspired by W. H. Auden, appears in some 20 novels, including Thou Shell of Death (1936), The Beast Must Die (1938), Minute for Murder (1946), and A Penknife in My Heart (1958).

You might be more familiar with Blake under his real name: British poet laureate Cecil Day-Lewis, the father of Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis.

Quote for the Day.
"...murder is no excuse for flabby toast."
-- Nicholas Blake (aka Cecil Day Lewis), Thou Shell of Death (1936)