From Tragic Mystery Writer to Deadly Senior Citizens
Discover more from MysteryPlease!
From Tragic Mystery Writer to Deadly Senior Citizens
Plus, Rex Stout is back (sort of)
October’s shaping up to be a big month for Edgar Allan Poe. Anyone in the Baltimore/D.C. region can head over to the International Edgar Allan Poe Festival and Awards event on October 7th and 8th. There’ll be tours, the Black Cat Ball, other cool events, and lots of vendors with unique items. I was lucky to go to one a few years back, before Covid hit, and had a lot of fun.
The next week, on October 12th, you can catch Mike Flannigan’s version of Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. So far, Flannigan’s Netflix projects have been excellent. I’m hoping this one will be too. (Sidenote: The Haunting of Hill house was amazing, but Midnight Mass continues to haunt me daily. Some viewers thought the series was too monologue-y. For me, watching it felt like being sucked into a great book. I suppose because of all the talky bits.)
I’ve got a great link roundup for you below. And, quick reminder, you can find more mystery related content at @moremysteryplease on Instagram.
IF MURDER, SHE WROTE MET LOVECRAFT AND HAD A BEAUTIFULLY COZY WEIRD BABY
This article from Meaghan Colleran at Bell of Lost Souls (BoLS) reminded me that the role-playing game Brindlewood Bay exists, I bought it a while back, and I really want to play it. Even if you aren’t a big RPG fan, the play book for Brindlewood Bay and its supplement book, Nephews in Peril, is entertaining reading. Not like reading a novel, sure, but if cozy, off-kilter mysteries are right up your alley, check it out.
BOOK BLIPS
At Fine Books & Collections, Nate Pederson interviews Charles Ardai, founder and editor of Hard Case Crime, about rediscovering the lost Rex Stout novel, Seed On The Wind, and his journey to get the book back in production. It’s being re-released by the imprint in November. I was also excited to read at the end of the interview that also on the horizon for Hard Case Crime is the release of Cornell Woolrich’s unfinished final novel (completed by the amazing Lawrence Block!).
Elizabeth Zelvin at Trace Evidence wants to know if you love mysteries for the crimes or the characters.
The next time you’re in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Atlas Obscura suggests stopping by the El Ateneo Grand Splendid, formerly theater and cinema, to shop for books.
On Slate, Dorie Chevlen lays out the benefits of getting rid of books to declutter your life.
CBS Weekend News reports on residents at an Ohio senior living center who banded together and wrote a mystery novel titled The Old and the Beautiful. Residents took turns writing the sections of the completed book. A sequel, The Old and the Beautiful Season Two, has also been released. From the book descriptions and the title, both books have a murdery soap opera vibe and I am loving it.
And we’re at the end of this newsletter. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with more links. Until then, here’s a list of three crime mystery films I’ve enjoyed recently that you might too:
The Outfit - Tense suspense and twisty plot. Kind of feels like watching a stage play. Great performances by everybody, but Zoey Deutch and Dylan O’Brien were my initial reason for watching.
See How They Run - A theater production of Christie’s The Mousetrap goes awry in mid-century London.
Invitation to a Murder - An And Then There Were None knockoff with Mischa Barton and murder in 1930s England.