Remote Controlled Car Crash as a Murder Weapon

By | |
Comments Off on Remote Controlled Car Crash as a Murder Weapon

Like it or not, new cars are filled with computers which make them vulnerable to a remote controlled car crash. Cars are loaded with electronic control units which can be hacked. Wifi, blue tooth, and other access points can allow a car to be controlled remotely. As I pointed out in the December 30th (2016) Mystery Book Club meeting, two recent books include fictional accounts of murder in which the assassin crashes the victim’s car … Continue reading →

Transcendental Murder Trip Souvenirs

By | |
Comments Off on Transcendental Murder Trip Souvenirs

Small, 1¼ Inch Round Button Shop for a button at zazzle.com White 11 oz Classic White Mug Order custom mugs on zazzle. Click top link in each product to view product details. Note:  On the reverse of the mug, there is wording: Mystery Book Club Field Trip, August 3, 2016

Looking forward to hearing Gerry Boyle! Join me!

By | |
Comments Off on Looking forward to hearing Gerry Boyle! Join me!

Gerry Boyle, author of a dozen mystery books, is the guest speaker at an open meeting on Thursday evening, January 28, at 6:30 pm at the Manchester Public Library (MA!). Boyle will speak briefly about his own background as a journalist and how those experiences shaped his mystery novels.  His chief character is Jack McMorrow, a fictional  reporter who has settled in central Maine after several years in New York … Continue reading →

Fans Go to Agawam Diner for “Actual Food”

By | |
Comments Off on Fans Go to Agawam Diner for “Actual Food”

The instigation for this Mystery Book Club field trip on Friday August 28, 2015, comes from Robert Parker’s Back Story, chapter 13. So we might as well start with that; then the pictures: The theater was dark on Mondays, and I took Paul to dinner at the world’s greatest restaurant, which is, of course, The Agawam Diner in Rowley. The place was always crowded for breakfast and lunch, but on a Monday … Continue reading →

Finding Edgar Allan Poe in Boston

By | |
Comments Off on Finding Edgar Allan Poe in Boston

  I made two expeditions to Boston this summer, to explore things related to Edgar Allan Poe in Boston. The first was with members of the Mystery Book Club on June 24, 2015. After taking the Salem ferry to Long Wharf, eating at Jacob Wirth’s (near the fictional Spenser’s first office), we then walked two blocks to view Stefanie Rocknak’s sculpture, “Poe Returning to Boston,” unveiled on October 5th, 2014, by the … Continue reading →

Kick-Off to A Year to Remember Edgar Allan Poe

By | |
Comments Off on Kick-Off to A Year to Remember Edgar Allan Poe

Our Mystery Book Club kicked off our year to remember Edgar Allan Poe at its annual picnic on June 26, 2015. Among Poe’s many contributions to literature during his short life (1809-1949) were stories that may have kicked off the private detective genre and the dark tale or noir genre. At the picnic, Mike O’Connor shared a bottle of Amontillado with the members, and then offered a toast to Poe that included references … Continue reading →

Touring Boston Locations for Robert Parker and his Spenser Novels

By | |
Comments Off on Touring Boston Locations for Robert Parker and his Spenser Novels

It was Wednesday, September 17, 20014 and 8 members of the Manchester Public Library Mystery Book Club stepped up into the COA van to find Robert Parker’s famous character Spenser where he lived and worked – in Boston and Cambridge. I had been planning the field trip for more than six months, since February. In August, some of the Mystery Book Club members participated in what we called Spenser Tour #1. … Continue reading →

The 500 by Matthew Quirk

By | |
Comments Off on The 500 by Matthew Quirk

I read the The 500 in three sittings: Thursday evening, Friday afternoon, and Friday evening. Apart from going to the Mystery book club meeting and sleeping, it was continuous. So, yep, it was a page-turner. It is a book that is similar to The Firm (Grisham) and Paranoia (Finder) but instead of the lead character becoming enmeshed in a law firm or a high tech company, it is a lobbying … Continue reading →

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax – In So Many Ways

By | | ,
2 Comments
The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax Did Not Satisfy Us

What do you see in the famous illustration on the right: The vase or the two faces? It depends, right? So it was today as I reflected on The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, the book by Dorothy Gilman that our mystery book club read for February and that we met to discuss today. While I am a mystery book fan and a lover of thrillers and police procedurals, my wife is … Continue reading →

The Measure of a Mystery Book

By | |
1 Comment
How does a mystery book fan measure a mystery?

Just read a brief review in the front of a book I received as a gift yesterday. The book is The Darkening Field by William Ryan. The review excerpt is from the Times Literary Supplement (UK): Ryan writes with narrative drive and urgency, real sense of place, and a central character who is conflicted, moral, and above all, likeable. Any one of these things is a rarity; the combination is … Continue reading →