ClimbingSky

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Cozy Mystery Fiction

Book Reviews

  • SHORT STORY REVIEW: “Malice Domestic” by Philip MacDonald

    Writer Philip MacDonald was born in Britain but immigrated to California where he became a screenwriter for Hitchcock among others. I found his excellent short story “Malice Domestic” in Murder by the Book, another wonderful volume in the British Library Crime Classics Series. “Malice Domestic” in the story of Carl Borden, “a writer of some… Read more

  • BOOK REVIEW: Murder at the Manor, edited by Martin Edwards

    The classic English country house is a quintessential backdrop for British crime fiction, particularly short stories. From Agatha Christie to Margery Allingham, renowned authors crafted intricate mysteries for their detectives to solve within these sprawling estates. The enduring popularity of these tales stems from a combination of nostalgia for a bygone era and the irresistible… Read more

  • BOOK REVIEW: Castle Skull by John Dickson Carr

    John Dickson Carr was born in Greenville, South Carolina, but lived for a long time in England. Since his work features English and Continental locales and detectives he is generally classified as a British Golden Age Mystery writer. Certainly the British Library considers him as such since they include a number of his works in… Read more

  • The Year of the Short Story: A Check-In

    I am a little over two months into “The Year of the Short Story” and I thought I would check-in. As of the morning of Saturday, February 8th (when I am writing this post), I have read 101 different short stories. Yes, I am keeping a record. My goal has been to read two short… Read more

  • Coping With The Madness

    To cope with the Madness that is Trump, I am reviving a few well-worn strategies again these days. And gravitating to some new ones. First, as I did during is first term, I no longer listen to or watch the news in any form. I will only read the news in my morning StarTribune. The… Read more

  • Book Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

    Cozy Mystery a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is usually an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community  A few days ago, I reviewed here the first Christie book I had ever read, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. Upon finishing Ackroyd, I… Read more

  • Book Review: Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

    Cozy Mystery a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is usually an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community  Even though I am a big reader of mysteries, somehow I managed to get to the age of 64 without having read a single Agatha Christie novel.… Read more