First Sign of Murder #17: Tied Up in Tinsel

"How far these impressions were to be attributed to hindsight and how far to immediate observation, Troy was unable to determine, but she reflected that after all it was a tricky business adapting oneself to a domestic staff entirely composed of murderers."

---Tied Up in Tinsel, Ngaio Marsh, 1972

Also: Death and the Dancing Footman (Rec. #37), Night at the Vulcan (Rec. #102), List #5, Colour Scheme (Rec. #190), Death of a Peer (First Sign of Murder #1)

Friday Flashback: Rec. #215: The Last of Sheila

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Stephen Sondheim (yes, the composer/lyricist) and Anthony Perkins (yes, from Psycho) co-wrote this 1973 mystery film. In The Last of Sheila, a successful movie producer invites several people aboard his yacht for a one-week cruise that is actually an epic "Sheila Greene Memorial Gossip Game." The unpredictable host's game involves disguises, puzzles, secrets, and nightly scavenger hunts. As anyone who has ever read a mystery novel knows, parlor games inevitably lead to murder, and this game is no exception.

Comparable to: It's a classic Christie set-up with a '70s Hitchcock vibe and a sharp, jabbing streak of cruelty. It's also kind of like Deathtrap.

Representative quote: "Just enough time to get dressed as a Catamite, if I knew what it was."

You might not like it if: The borderline-campy tone means that the genuinely unsettling parts take you by surprise. And you don't appreciate being taken by surprise.

How to get it: Watch it instantly on Amazon, or rent it, or buy it.

Connection to previous Wreckage: James Coburn plays the multimillionaire/movie producer/yacht owner/game master. Coburn's threatening drawl is also a key feature in the Audrey Hepburn/Cary Grant film Charade (Rec. #97). Also, when I refer to "a '70s Hitchcock vibe," I basically mean Family Plot (Rec. #120).

Two additional fun facts:

• The cast also includes Dyan Cannon, James Mason, Ian McShane, and Raquel Welch.
• The plot was inspired by the elaborate scavenger hunts Sondheim and Perkins used to arrange for their friends. (No one was ever murdered during these real-life scavenger hunts. As far as I know.)

[Originally posted 12/3/11.]

Gift Idea #7: P.G. Wodehouse as published by Overlook Press

Around this time last year, I presented Gift Ideas #1-5. You can find a list of them here. 

I think they're still pretty good ideas, but I'm giving you more this year, too. See Gift Idea #6 here.

What: P.G. Wodehouse is hilarious and the Overlook Press editions of his books are absolutely gorgeous.

Who to give it/them to: Book design snobs, Anglophiles, anyone whose eyes light up when they hear the word "Jeeves."

Gifting tip: Pair this with the much beloved television series Jeeves & Wooster.

How to get it/them: According to the Overlook Press website, as of right now you've got 85 titles to choose from.

Also: For example, you could get Cocktail Time (Rec. #24), or Jill the Reckless (Rec. #136), or Much Obliged, Jeeves (Rec. #153), or Uncle Dynamite (Rec. #204), or The Mating Season (Rec. #254).

First Sign of Murder #16: A Study in Scarlet

"My dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes:

There has been a bad business during the night at 3, Lauriston Gardens, off the Brixton Road. Our man on the beat saw a light there about two in the morning, and as the house was an empty one, suspected something was amiss."

--- A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle, 1887

Friday Flashback: Rec. #216 (abbrev.): The Cabal and Other Stories

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Ellen Gilchrist, short stories and one novella, town psychiatrist, cousins in exile in San Francisco, thirty-six gold Krugerrands, rugby player, cross-country pilgrimage, Dakota in Kansas City, letters in a safe deposit box, Miss Crystal cleans up, one for Darwin, the surcease of biscuits

Representative quote: "This is the story of a group of people who had a bizarre and unexpected thing happen to them. Their psychiatrist went crazy and started injecting himself with drugs."

Connections to previous Wreckage: I mentioned The Cabal and Other Stories during Personal Wreck Week (List #5). Other Gilchrist collections include Nora Jane: A Life in Stories (Rec. #25) and Light Can Be Both Wave and Particle (Rec. #159).

[Originally posted 12/7/11.]

First Sign of Murder #15: Death in Autumn

"Even so, if the body had gone over the weir there would be nothing for it but to wait three days until it came up and was spotted by some passer-by in one of the small towns through which the Arno wound its way towards Pisa.

Unless, of course, the whole thing was a sick joke. It happened now and then."

--- Death in Autumn, Magdalen Nabb, 1984

See also: List #6 (A Few Seasonally Inappropriate Options for the Northern Hemisphere) and Rec. #144 (Death of an Englishman).

Rec. #269: 2D Goggles

What: Today, Google is celebrating Ada Lovelace's 197th birthday, and who are we to argue? After all, Ada Lovelace --- a genius mathematician and the daughter of Lord Byron --- absolutely rocks.

Graphic designer Sydney Padua appreciates this and has created a webcomic all about Ada Lovelace and fellow mathematician Charles Babbage. Fighting crime for Queen Victoria. Using a difference engine. As you do.

Comparable to: Very Kate Beaton sense of humor, but with a lotta lotta footnotes about how much Charles Babbage hated street musicians (fact!).

Opening lines: "Ada Lovelace was the only legitimate child of mad, bad, and dangerous to know poet and nutcase Lord Byron. Her mother Anabel fled the exploding planet her husband yet worried that Ada had inherited his wild blood."

Representative panel:

Bonus representative panel:

How to get it: The main page is here. Meet the cast here. See the Pocket Universe Guide here. Access the archived stories here. Start reading the current story ("User Experience") here.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Yes, as a matter of fact I did mention Kate Beaton. I also mentioned her in Rec. #95, List #2, List #3, List #8, Rec. #186, Gift Idea #2, List #14, and List #21.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #208 (abbrev.): Three Men in a Boat

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Novel by Jerome K. Jerome (yes), self-diagnosis of overwork, boating holiday, misadventures, River Thames, barometers, mustard, Waterloo Station, bribes, fishing, pubs, bagpipes, camping, plaster of paris trout, food hamper, inns, the contrariness of teakettles, J., Harris, George, to say nothing of Montmorency

Meet J. (the narrator): "It is not that I object to the work, mind you; I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours."

Meet Harris: "That's Harris all over - so ready to take the burden of everything himself, and put it on the backs of other people."

Meet George: "George suggested walking back to Henley and assaulting a policeman, and so getting a night's lodging in the station-house."

Meet Montmorency: "Fox terriers are born with about four times as much original sin in them as other dogs are."

Also: Previously mentioned during Personal Wreck Week (List #2).

And: Don't forget To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis (Rec. #100).



[Originally posted 11/9/11.]

Gift Idea #6: A New Leaf

Around this time last year, I presented Gift Ideas #1-5. You can find a list of them here. I think they're still pretty good ideas, but I'm giving you more this year, too.

What: At long last, the cult classic film A New Leaf is finally on DVD*. In Elaine May's story, a newly penniless member of the entitled elite marries a hapless heiress-slash-botanist as a last resort. He immediately starts plotting her demise, but is thwarted at every turn.

Movies like this are why the phrase "darkly comedic" was invented.

Who to give it to: Any friend whose favorite movie is Harold and Maude.

Gifting tip: Round out the present by including an oh-so-thematically-appropriate fern frond token, like a necklace or cufflinks.

Also: Read some representative quotes (and revisit a not-long-ago time when A New Leaf was still difficult to find) at Rec. #56.



*Granted, we've reached a time when some people have basically stopped using any non-streaming video media, but still.

First Sign of Murder #14: Case Histories

"Police helicopters flew low over outlying villages and countryside as far as the county borders, truck drivers were alerted to keep an eye out on the motorway, and the army was brought in to search the fens, but none of them --- from Amelia screaming herself sick in the back garden to the Territorial Army recruits on their hands and knees in the rain on Midsummer Common --- could find a single trace of Olivia, not a hair or a flake of skin, not a pink rabbit slipper nor a blue mouse."

--- Case Histories, Kate Atkinson, 2004

See more: Case Histories was Rec. #3.

See also:

One Good Turn (Rec. #69)

Human Croquet (Rec. #137)

When Will There Be Goods News? (Rec. #192)

7 Mysteries from Authors Who Are Still Alive (List #4)

Rec. #268: Meme

What: Susan Wheeler's exploded, layered elegy is riddled with cliches in the best possible way. The poems spiral the reader down past a variety of voices, from chiding/petulant to jaded/smirking, all within 100 pages that are filled with plenty of white space.

Meme is also a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award. If you want to jump into some contemporary poetry, this is a pretty good place to start.

Comparable to: The tone is similar to a very  s t r e t c h e d  o u t  snippet of Kira Henehan's novel Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles, which I loved the heck out of.

Opening lines:
"She was a real stickler.
Well, I couldn't get it for the life of me. All I remember is, Mademoiselle Skeen, vous êtes une tête du bois!"

Representative quote:
"It could have been the sea
It could have been the stars
It could have been
that girls not men
were the ones from Mars."

You might not like it if: Well, poetry. It's poetry all over the place.

How to get it: Buy it or borrow it.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles was Rec. #195.

If you want more poetry, try Monologue of a Dog (Rec. #19), The Best of It (Rec. #50), or Ripple Effect (Rec. #118).

Friday Flashback: Rec #205: How to Steal a Million

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: How to Steal a Million is my very, very favorite Audrey Hepburn film. Before you get all outraged on behalf of Roman Holiday or Breakfast at Tiffany's, hear me out. In this caper, Hepburn gets a chance to show off her underrated comedic timing as a woman protecting her father, an art collector-cum-forger. "Society burglar" Peter O'Toole is her reluctant accomplice, and the two rub against each other delightfully, with much sparky dialogue (see below).

Comparable to: It's directed by William Wyler, who had previously worked with Hepburn on The Children's Hour and, yes, Roman Holiday. He also directed The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur, and Funny Girl. Dude got around.

Representative quote: "Okay. You're the boss. Just do as I tell you."

Bonus representative quote: "I want you to take a long look at the trees, the blue sky, and the river, all of which I personally loathe, which is why a juicy stretch in a French prison doesn't bother me at all."

Bonus representative dialogue: "There's the bathroom; take off your clothes." "Are we planning the same sort of crime?"

You might not like it if: Your eyes burn from the dazzle of Hepburn's ridiculous Givenchy wardrobe. Or you don't like witty, urbane heist comedies from the mid-'60s. Or you have an irrational dislike of boomerangs, which play a pivotal role here.

How to get it: Watch it instantly on Amazon or rent it or borrow it. But if you borrow my copy, be forewarned that the loan period for this one is very short.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Get more Audrey with Wait Until Dark (Rec. #26) and Charade (Rec. #97).


[Note: How to Steal a Million is currently also available to watch instantly on Netflix.]


[Originally posted 11/3/11.]

First Sign of Murder #13: Octagon House

"The continued headlines, of course, were not due to the post office, or even the mural. But like the Octagon House and the Pickle Lime Lady, they continued to provide an important and bizarre background. They were what the press meant when it referred to the Incredible Background of These Startling Incidents."

--- Octagon House, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, 1937

Friday Flashback: List #13: 5 British Miniseries to Watch Instantly on Netflix

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

Here in the U.S., it is Thanksgiving weekend. One thing I am very thankful for right now is the selection of BBC miniseries literary adaptations that are available to watch instantly on Netflix over the long weekend. If you have a few days off, there are worse ways to spend your time.

My top five picks within the BBC-miniseries-literary-adaptations-Netflix-instant-viewing parameters:

1. Bleak House (Dickens) (2005): A powerhouse cast strides purposefully through this surprisingly suspenseful story about the remorseless machine that is the Court of Chancery. Plus lots of people die!

2. The Buccaneers (Wharton) (1995): The soapiest option here concerns four American heiresses who travel to England to find husbands. The resulting marriages are mainly ill-fated. Plus lots of people die!

3. North & South (Gaskell) (2004): This is about the industrial North and the pastoral South in England. Nothing to do with the U.S. Civil War. (Lots and lots and lots of people die, but not in battle.) Now please excuse me, I come over a bit faint around Richard Armitage.

4. The Way We Live Now (Trollope) (2001): It's all about money and swindles and guys basically being pricks and some very shady financial dealings. The way we live now, indeed! (A fair number of people die, but, frankly, not as many as one might expect.)

5. Wives and Daughters (Gaskell) (1999): This is the most domestic, least political selection. Tortuous family dynamics lead to many, many secrets and much, much subterfuge. Oh, and lots of people die.


Connections to previous Wreckage: Elizabeth Gaskell's novel Mary Barton (Rec. #57) hasn't been adapted since the 1960s. It is time, BBC! Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend (Rec. #88) has a very good 1998 BBC adaptation, but it's not available instantly on Netflix right now.

I previously mentioned the adaptation of Wives and Daughters during Personal Wreck Week (List #3).

General warning: Be careful when choosing literary adaptations on Netflix! The DVD cover art on the site is not always for the right version. Proceed with caution.



[Originally posted 11/24/11.]

First Sign of Murder #12: Smilla's Sense of Snow

" . . . it's the sort of silence that is waiting for something to burst. From where I'm standing, two things happen.

First, Julianne falls to her knees and puts her face to the ground, and the other women leave her alone.

The second event is internal, inside of me, and what bursts through is an insight.

All along I must have had a comprehensive pact with Isaiah not to leave him in the lurch, never, not even now."

--- Smilla's Sense of Snow, Peter Høeg, 1992

See also: List #4: 7 Mysteries from Authors Who Are Still Alive, List #6: A Few Seasonally Inappropriate Options for the Northern Hemisphere, and Rec. #150.

Friday Flashback: Rec. #213 (abbrev.): The Partly Cloudy Patriot

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Sarah Vowell, essays, Thanksgiving, presidential libraries, walking tours in Paris, teen cinéaste, Al Gore at Concord High, Pop-a-Shot, maps of California, voting, road trip to inauguration, nerds vs. jocks, Buffy, Rosa Parks analogies, Sports Night shout-out, "Tom Cruise Makes Me Nervous," guidebooks, twins, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, citizenship as argument not sing-along, asthmatic hopes

Representative quote: "I guess Gettysburg is a pilgrimage. And, like all pilgrims, I'm a mess. You don't cross state lines to attend the 137th anniversary of anything unless something's missing in your life."

Also: Take the Cannoli (Rec. #32)



[Originally posted 11/22/11.]

First Sign of Murder #11: Love Lies Bleeding

"'Very well,' he said, and stumbled over the words. 'This--this is a most tragic business, Mrs. Love. I don't know what to say . . . my utmost sympathy . . . I'll get in touch with a doctor and with the police . . . Yes. . . Yes, of course . . . Good-bye.'

He rang off, controlling himself with difficulty, and turned to Galbraith.

'It's Love,' he said. 'Shot.'

Galbraith looked bewildered; his professional competence seemed incapable of coping with anything like this. 'Shot?' he echoed foolishly. 'You don't mean killed?'

'Yes. Killed.'

'Suicide?'

'I don't know. His wife was too upset to say very much. But in any case ---'

The telephone rang again. The headmaster took it up; listened, incredulous and appalled.

'All right,' he said at last. 'Stay there and don't touch anything. I'll make the necessary arrangements.' He replaced the receiver. 'That was Wells, speaking from Hubbard's Building. He's just found Somers in the common room . . .'

He put out one hand to brace himself against the back of a chair. His face for a moment was livid.

'Somers is dead, too,' he said. 'Shot through the eye.'"

---Love Lies Bleeding, Edmund Crispin, 1948

Friday* Flashback: Rec. #206: Get Away from Me

*Cleverly disguised as "Saturday."

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Singer Nellie McKay's 2004 debut album is a double-disc set because when you're a precocious genius you can do things like that. Also, it takes that much space to allow for McKay's full scope of self-penned chamber pop, jazz, reggae, cabaret, hip-hop, and torch songs.

Comparable to: Every drooling review of Get Away from Me got a lot of mileage out of gleefully comparing McKay to such disparate musicians as Rufus Wainwright, Ethel Merman, Van Dyke Parks, Ani DiFranco, Randy Newman, Missy Elliot, Bob Dylan, Peggy Lee, Eminem, Julie London, Flight of the Conchords, and Doris Day.

Representative lyrics:

When it says goodbye
You don't hear it sigh

Does that it mean
That it's gone far far away
Is this your day to
Buy a paper
Draw a mustache
Make the mayor a giraffe
Try and tempt fate
Get pneumonia
Recuperate with soy bologna

You might not like it if: If you don't like it, don't tell me. I don't want to know.



[Originally posted 11/6/11.]

First Sign of Murder #10: The Falcon at the Portal

"Reason told me he would not crash to the bottom, since the length of the rope had been carefully measured. Reason did not prevent me from letting out an involuntary cry. Emerson let out a flood of bad language and jumped for the spinning handle of the windlass. By sheer brute strength he managed to stop the rope unwinding; but by that time most of it was already in the shaft, and Ramses was at the bottom.

A light appeared below. It was the beam of the candle Ramses carried in his pocket, and it illumined the chair frame and a huddled, featureless shape beside it.

There could be no doubt that the shape was that of a human body, or the remains of one."

---The Falcon at the Portal, Elizabeth Peters, 1999

Friday Flashback: Rec. #180 (abbrev.): Ghostwritten

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some earlier posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: David Mitchell's first novel, interconnected, episodic, East Asia, doomsday cult, jazz, money laundering, diabetes, tea shack, ghost, Russia, art heist, Mongolian hit man, UK, drummer/ghostwriter, world destabilization, men in suits, chance and destiny, casino, quantum cognition, on the run, goat, USA, late night radio, the Zookeeper, possible nuclear annihilation

Representative quote: "Perhaps in a few years some widower pig farmer might be persuaded to take me in as a mistress and nurse for his old age. If I was lucky. I resolved then and there not to be lucky."

Also: Black Swan Green (Rec. #72) and Cloud Atlas (Rec. #140)



[Originally posted 9/17/11.]