Milwaukee Rep's Agatha Christie Festival.

 

Agatha Christie, Sept 1964. Dutch National Archives

Milwaukee Rep is hosting an Agatha Christie Festival through June, which includes the following:

• A display in the Rep's Sandra & William Haack Galleria that traces Christie's life and career. 
  
  
• A March 31 screening of Death on the Nile (1978).
  
  
• A free April 7 event, "The Enduring Mystery of Agatha Christie from Page to Stage," at Boswell Book Co. with Christopher Chan of Agatha Christie Ltd. and Laura Braza, director of the Rep production of And Then There Were None.
  
  
• Whodunit Wednesdays, a reading series in April and May at Milwaukee Public Libraries. 
  
  
• A Rep production of And Then There Were None (May 26–June 8, Ellen & Joe Checota Powerhouse Theater)

Score to Christie's Witness for the Prosecution (1982).

As John Bettencourt notes in Film Score Friday, Caldera has released John Cameron's score for Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution (dir. Alan Gibson, 1982). This TV production features Beau Bridges, Michael Gough, Wendy Hiller, Deborah Kerr, Donald Pleasence, Ralph Richardson, and Diana Rigg. For more information or to listen to some clips, go here. 

Film music by Dmitri Tompkin.

As Scott Bettencourt notes in Film Score Friday, Intrada has issued From New York to Hollywood: Music for Albertina Rausch and Classic Films, performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and featuring works by composer Dmitri Tompkin for movies such as Lost Horizon and It's a Wonderful Life. Also included is "Fisherman's Jive" from the film noir D.O.A. (1949).

Edmond O'Brien in D.O.A. (1949)

New mystery audiobooks from Librivox.

John Dickson Carr's It Walks by Night

New free audio mystery releases from Librivox.

• It Walks by Night. John Dickson Carr's debut novel. Wrote the 22 Aug 1930 [Christchurch, NZ] Star, "Mr. Carr carries us along breathlessly .... this original crime story is well constructed, eminently readable, and calculated to give satisfaction to those fond of a thrill"). 
  
  
• The Continental Op, The Maltese Falcon, and Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. The 25 Feb. 1950 Lewiston [ME] Evening Journal mentioned that the Continental Op was based on a Pinkerton detective who worked with Hammett.
  
  
• The Law of the Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace. Wrote the 3 Apr. 1926 Otago [NZ] Daily Times, "It is an illustration of Mr. Wallace's skill that he is able to cast over the story that air of verisimilitude which carries the reader along on a wave of excitement."

James Sallis, 1944–2026.

Nathan Ashman's James Sallis:
A Companion to the Mystery Fiction

Author James Sallis died on Jan 27 at age 81. Although he might be best known for Drive (adapted as a film with Ryan Gosling and Carrie Mulligan), he had a long and distinguished career, not only in mystery fiction but also in science fiction and as a critic. There are many admirers of his Lew Griffin series (e.g., The Long Legged Fly), and he wrote a well-respected biography of Chester Himes. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Bouchercon, the Hammett Award for literary excellence in crime writing, and the Grand Prix de Littérature policière.  

He wrote to me after James Sallis: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Nathan Ashman had won the Edgar Award for best biographical/critical work (I edited the book), expressing his appreciation for Nathan's hard work and mentioning that his email box had been filling up with congratulations after the Edgar win (It was the first Edgar win for a book in the series, although the Ian Rankin companion and the James Ellroy companion had been Edgar nominees). He also related a funny story: when he was reading the companion, he discovered to his horror that he had forgotten about three short stories discussed by Nathan, and he was in the midst of compiling a collection of his "complete" short stories. He sent an SOS to his editor, rooted around in his files, found the stories, and managed to include them in the volume. Said he, "So Nathan, and you, have to take the blame for those three."

James Sallis' biography of Chester Himes, 
called "smart, conscientious, often stylish" 
by Robert Polito in NYT

 

Poisons in Golden Age mysteries.

Over on the Science Museum Group blog, Chloë Abley discusses poisons in Golden Age mysteries, including their use in works by Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Maps in mystery fiction.

As The Map Room blog points out, an article by Axel Bax et al. (Cornell University) in Computational Humanities Research 2025 that takes a deep dive into the presence of maps in fiction indicates—probably to no surprise of mystery fans—that "small-scale maps often were in the detective/mystery genre." 

Map from Anna Katharine Green's Lost Man's Lane (1899)

Film Music Friday: Jerry Goldsmith.

A recent episode of Kansas Public Radio's Film Music Friday featured the TV work of Jerry Goldsmith who moved from clerk-typist to composer. Selections include his work for The Man from U.N.C.L.E, The Twilight Zone, and more. 

A release of music from The Man from 
U.N.C.L.E. that includes Jerry Goldsmith's work

New edition of The Maltese Falcon.

Blackstone Publishing has issued a new illustrated edition of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon (originally published in 1930).

Map of Dorothy L. Sayers' Britain.

New from Herb Lester Associates is Dorothy L. Sayers' Britain, a map of locations in the works of Sayers. The writer is Eric Sandberg (City University of Hong Kong), author of Dorothy L. Sayers: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction (which I edited; take 20% off the book this month with coupon code HOLIDAY25). 

Other maps:
• Ian Fleming's London 
• Maigret's Paris

A 1980s interview with pulp figure Howard Browne.

Noah Beery Jr. (background) and James Garner (foreground) 
in "Sleight of Hand," The Rockford Files (1975)

I came across a post on radio station KPFA of a 1980s interview with sci-fi and mystery pulp author-editor-screenwriter Howard Browne (1908–99) conducted by author Richard A. Lupoff.  A collection of Browne's mysteries with PI Paul Pine is available from Haffner Press. Browne's screen credits include Banacek, Capone (film, 1975), The Fugitive, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Longstreet, Mannix, Mission: Impossible, and 77 Sunset Strip. His novel Thin Air (1954) was adapted three times: as an episode of Climax, as the episode "Sleight of Hand" for The Rockford Files, and as an episode of Simon & Simon.

Film Music Fri: Warner Bros. scores; rejected film scores.

Eleanor Parker in Caged (1950)

Recent episodes of Kansas Public Radio's Film Music Friday feature Warner Brothers scores (including The Maltese Falcon [composer: Adolph Deutsch] and Caged [composer: Max Steiner]) and rejected film scores (including Gangs of New York and The Getaway). 

December 15 Zoom event on the work of Agatha Christie.

On December 15, Nicholas Birns and his mother, Margaret Boe Birns (both NYU), will talk about their new book, Agatha Christie Under the Magnifying Glass: Close Readings of 12 Novels, in a Zoom event. I acquired the book for McFarland and Co. and will make a few remarks. A special guest will be J.C. Bernthal, author of McFarland's Agatha Christie: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction (which I edited) and editor of The Ageless Agatha Christie: Essays on the Mysteries and the Legacy.

As Birns and Birns note in the preface, they set out 

to examine how particular characters, phrases, contexts, and plot lines contribute to the success of Agatha Christie’s authorial compositions. But we will also look at them as they tear against the seams and beg for the scrutiny that goes outside the text as traditionally conceived. Rather than concentrating exclusively on overall themes, tropes, and effects in her oeuvre (as in Tison Pugh’s 2023 Understanding Agatha Christie), our emphasis on the uncertainties of particularity leads us to also concentrate on individual works by Christie.

Works covered in the book are The ABC Murders, A Murder Is Announced, At Bertram's Hotel, Curtain, Death Comes as the End, The Hollow, The Murder at the Vicarage, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, N or M?, Third Girl, and Towards Zero.

UPDATE, Dec. 16, 2025: If you missed the event, access the recording.

Note that there's a holiday sale at McFarland until the end of December; take 20 percent off with coupon code HOLIDAY25. 

20 years of The Bunburyist.

The inquiring Elizabeth Foxwell. 

I missed the 20th anniversary of The Bunburyist (which occurred on November 5). I've been very busy as an editor at McFarland and Co., which—although I relish the opportunity to work on many fascinating projects dealing with subjects like women's history and mystery fiction—leaves me less time to devote to social media. I am very grateful for the many visitors who are interested in mystery history and continue to drop by. They might note that lately I've been including posts about mystery-related music (particularly film music), as I tend to find that composers often do not receive much attention for their important work.

The following are the top 10 posts on The Bunburyist based on views, and I should note that my page with links to mystery course syllabi is pretty popular as well. Do you have other favorites?
 

 The Top 10 Posts on The Bunburyist, 2005–25:

10. "Iniquity is catching":  Frank R. Stockton's The Stories of the Three Burglars (1889)

 9. "Security Risk" [TV episode, narrated by Jack Webb, 1963] 

 8. "Iconic Detectives" exhibition at Ohio State

 7. New release, Gerald Fried's crime drama music

 6. Hidden Fear (film, 1957)

 5. McFarland's true crime sale

 4. Upcoming tribute to Rod Serling

 3. "Committed" (TV episode with Alan Ladd, 1954)

 2. "The Grave Grass Quivers," by MacKinlay Kantor (1931)

 1. Dozen Best Detective Stories Ever Written

New Thursday Murder Club CD.

Film Score Friday reveals that there's a new CD from Intrada available of Thomas Newman's score for The Thursday Murder Club (dir. Chris Columbus, 2025; book by Richard Osman). For more information and to hear some sample tracks, go here.

Historical marker honoring Rod Serling unveiled.

Jesse Bethea on Columbus Underground reports on the unveiling of a new historical marker on the Antioch College campus that honors writer-producer Rod Serling, an Antioch graduate and instructor. At the ceremony, Ohio governor Mike DeWine showed a photograph of his grandfather Albert Little teaching Serling. 

New film music releases: Gerald Fried, Bernard Herrmann.

Film Score Friday brings news of the following new releases:

•  Gerald Fried's score for What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (dir. Lee H. Katzin and Bernard Girard, 1969; based on Ursula Curtiss' The Forbidden Garden)

• The Devil and Bernard Herrmann, which includes selections from his score for Obsession (dir. Brian De Palma, 1976) 

• Bernard Herrmann's score for Psycho (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960), performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra in 1975 and directed by the composer

Film Music Friday: More music from film noir.

Joseph Cotten, left, with Jack Moss in Eric Ambler's
Journey into Fear (1943)

A recent episode of Kansas Public Radio's Film Music Friday focused on music from film noir, including selections from Double Indemnity (composer Miklós Rózsa, 1944); Journey into Fear (composer Roy Webb, 1943); Laura (composer David Raksin, 1944); Please Murder Me (composer Albert Glasser, 1956); Sorry, Wrong Number (composer Franz Waxman, 1948); and more.

A history of early female judges.

Illustration of suffragist and lawyer Catharine Waugh
McCulloch, elected as a justice of the 
peace in Illinois in 1907 
(Long Valley [ID] Advocate, 16 May 1907)

As the Law and Literature blog notes, Elizabeth D. Katz, professor of law at the University of Florida, discusses the history of often forgotten early female judges in  "'May It Please Her Honor': The United States' First Women Judges, 1870–1930" in the Washington University Law Review. Some even obtained positions before passage of the 19th Amendment that granted US female citizens the right to vote.

Edward Gorey, mystery fan.

Sign for the Edward Gorey House.
Photo by Elizabeth Foxwell.

I recently visited the Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, MA, which was a fascinating place—full of collections compiled by the distinguished artist and author (winner of the Tony Award for set design and costume design for Dracula—the docent referred to the Gorey House as "the house that Dracula built"). His book collection included some 26,000 volumes and is now housed at San Diego State University (about 35 percent of it can be searched here).

Gorey (1925–2000) was a devoted mystery fan. A short browse through his library yields 41 works by Agatha Christie, 39 works by Wilkie Collins, 30 books by Guy Boothby, 24 books by Margaret Sutton [Rachel Beebe], 16 Nancy Drew books, 16 novels by Phoebe Atwood Taylor, 11 works by Jane Langton, 8 books by Patricia Wentworth, 7 books by Catherine Aird, and 6 books by Ross Macdonald [Kenneth Millar].

Some sample titles:

• Catherine Aird [Kinn Hamilton McIntosh], The Religious Body (1980 ed.); Henrietta Who? (1981 ed.); The Stately Home Murder (1980 ed.)
• Grant Allen, Miss Cayley's Adventures (1899)
• Agatha Christie, Death in the Air (1935); Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985); Mort Sur Nil [Death on the Nile] (1948; note that Gorey earned a degree in French literature from Harvard); Murder in Three Acts (1934) 
• Wilkie Collins, Armadale (1866); No Name (1978 ed.); The Dead Secret (1979 ed.)
• J.S. Fletcher, The Markenmore Mystery (1923); Ravensdene Court (1922)
• Michael Gilbert, The Black Seraphim (1985); End-Game (1983)
• Patrick Hamilton, Hangover Square (1941); Mr. Stimpson and Mr. Gorse (1953)
• Jane Langton, Divine Inspiration (1994 ed.); Emily Dickinson Is Dead (1985); Murder at the Gardner (1989)
• Ross Macdonald, The Doomsters (1958); The Blue Hammer (1976)
• A.E.W. Mason, They Wouldn't Be Chessmen (1985 ed.)
• Ed McBain [Evan Hunter], Lightning (1985)
• Phoebe Atwood Taylor, The Cape Cod Mystery (1965 ed., 1988 ed.); The Criminal C.O.D. (1972 ed.); Death Lights a Candle (1989 ed.), Diplomatic Corpse (1986 ed.); The Left Leg (1988 ed.)
• Patricia Wentworth, Grey Mask (1952 ed.); Poison in the Pen (1980 ed.); She Came Back (1981 ed.)
  
  
  

  

  Edward Gorey in his kitchen, Aug 1999. 
  Wikimedia Commons, 
  Photographer: Christopher Seufert