Hope you all have a restful and loving Holiday Season and a great New Year.
As I won’t be blogging again any time soon, this is something of a farewell. Perhaps only temporary but probably not. Thank you all so very much, it’s been a great pleasure getting to know you.
Most especially (in alphabetical order): Bev (and her amazing challenges), Brad, Chris, Colin (respondent extraordinaire), Curtis (who literally got me into a book), Elgin, Jim (keep up the good work, sunshine), Jeff (father of the amazing Kenji), John F (who it turns out is not sinister at all), John/Paul (top bloke all round whatever the moniker), Jose Ignacio (bilingual blogger and Simenon fan of repute), Just Jack, George, Karen (and her ramblings), Les, Margot (first responder among all bloggers), Martin (who is making new GAD fans of us all), Matt, Michael, Mike, Moira (who got me looking at clothes in fiction for the first time), Neeru, Noah, Patrick (who should be a cardinal soon), Piero, Prashant, Rich, Richard, The Ripster (who I hope makes a good recovery), Santosh, TomCat (lover of all locked things), TracyK (who has never reviewed a book positively that I also didn’t like), and the redoubtable and lovely Yvette. And a special nod to Steve and Mrs P, who inspired me to take the plunge, all those years ago.
And as always, special thanks to Todd and Patti for making Tuesdays and Fridays always a bit more special.
Just reading that long list of names makes me realise what a privilege this has been, especially with the recent news about Bill Crider’s ill health and the loss of such gents as Ed Gorman and Randy Johnson along the way.
It’s been grand. And in the words of the great Patrick McGoohan, be seeing you!
Tipping My Fedora 
I’m so sorry to hear you’ll be going off the grid, Sergio. I hope it won’t be for long, but I also understand how life can be. Thank you for the kind words, and for your excellent blog, which always teaches me so much. I hope you’ll be back soon.
Thanks very much for all the support over the years Margot.
I will miss you so much, Sergio. And thanks for the kind words. I have said it before, but it bears repeating, that you have introduced so many books, authors, and movies to me, and made my reading and viewing life much richer.
Thanks Tracy, same here. All the best, Sergio.
We will miss you very much Sergio, I can only hope whatever has changed is positive and something good in your life. I still have plenty of books films and TV programmes that you recommended (either bought already or on the list…) so you will not be forgotten. Thanks for all the good times.
Thanks Moira, really appreciate it.
I will miss you as well. I have enjoyed and admired your work.
Very kind, thank you 😀
I’m a neurotic Jewish man, so I can never help but worry! I hope you’re off to grand adventures, Sergio! I picture you with your niece, whose exquisite taste in classic mysteries is already abundantly clear, gabbing away about books you both love. And who knows? One of these days, I might find myself roaming the streets of London and spy a dapper bespectacled gent in a fedora, and I’ll stop and say hello! May 2018 and all the coming years bring you joy! 🙂
Thanks Brad, I’ll keep an eye out for you. I am off to see said niece (and her awesome twin) in a week and am soo looking foward to it. And then …
Even though I knew this was coming for a while now, it still pains me to see you closing down. I’d love to think it may just be a temporary thing but quite understand if it’s not.
Coming here for chat, info, and most importantly friendship over the years has been nothing but pleasure. So long, my friend, stay well always.
Thanks chum, thanks for being such a good friend. See you round kiddo.
I’m not good at this sort of thing, ol’ buddy, but you’ll be much missed on this particular monitor. I hope you’re making the break for the best of reasons, and that 2018 will prove to be the best of years for you . . . at least until 2019 comes along. And do keep in touch via email if you feel like it.
Thanks chum – certainly plan to stay in touch. All the best mate.
Addio, amico ! Grazie per il tuo blog eccellente. Ci mancherai molto. Rimani in contatto commentando nei blog di altre persone.
Grazie Santosh 😀
Thanks for all the support over the years. Hopefully I’ll still see you over on the comments section of my blog. In the early days of the blog, Your blog was an inspiration to me to keep going, so for that, and for all the posts throughout the years, many many thanks. All the best for the future.
Thank you mate. All the best and have a great new year.
Happy New Year to you Sergio! I do hope you’ll be out of touch only temporarily. I’ll be missing you. Take care and all the best
Have a great 2018 Jose Ignacio in challenging times. 😀
You too Sergio.
Thanks
Hopefully more in the region of an Au Revoir than a full Goodbye, but you know what’s best for you – we at least got the ‘start to finish’ of the Rathbone-Bruce Holmes series, which was always excellent reading and very pithily written. Thanks also for taking the time to comment on my occasional pieces, for which I’m very grateful, not least because knowing people I respect would read it made me try to maintain some semblance of quality control!
Always really enjoyed your returns to the fray – keep it coming Mike 😀
Good of you, Sergio, to get this into 2017 so that 2018 doesn’t start off on a bad note — much appreciated. You’ll be missed. Thanks for all your wonderfully diverse work over the years; you were one of the Big Five who convinced me to take a jump on this blogging fandango, and I’ve hugely appreciated your support of my own ramblings. And, hey, perhaps all the time you’re freeing up will give you a chance to attend Bodies from the Library…?
Thanks chum – have a really good new year (and keep up the good work). Ciao
You’ll really be missed around these parts, Sergio. You were a part of the first wave of (Golden Age) mystery blogs that mushroomed, practically out of nowhere, in early 2011. So thank you for everything and, hopefully, this good bye will turn out to be only a break. We’ll be here if you ever decide to come back.
All the best for 2018!
P.S. I’ll try to return to Ed McBain next year. 🙂
Thank you TC – it has been such a pleasure to be part of that group and which now seems stronger, smarter and better read than ever. You should take a how on that score! See you round 😀
Sergio, I’m sorry to have to say goodbye, I can only hope like others on here, that it is just “ au revoir “ and that whatever is taking you away is something good and positive. I want to say a huge “ thank you” for your insightful and in-depth work on Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series, which is what brought me to your site in the first place. At last there was someone I could share my love of these stories with. Thank you again, and whatever life has in store, I hope it’s good. Happy New Year to you and yours. Come back soon
Thanks very much Simon, really aporeciate the good wishea. Have a great year 😀
This is very painful, Sergio. Thanks for all the posts and constant encouragement. Wishing you the very best in all the years to come.
Thanks Neeru – change is good though. Have a great new year.
It’s been an honor to have read your splendid writing, Sergio. I sincerely hope the break from all of this is temporary, but the best to you in whatever your choose to do, my friend. Thanks for this.
Thanks very much for being so steadfast Michael. All the best for 2018.
I just can’t accept this. Too sad.
See you round Patti – thanks so much for bringing us all together. Ciao
You’ll be missed Sergio – I’ve enjoyed following your blog very much. Good luck in whatever real life brings you!
i hope to be able to lurk a bit and see what you guys get up to – have a great year 🙂
Sergio – I will miss you. Only wish I could recruit that big spherical thing from The Village to push you back to your blog. Best wishes & Happy New Year.
Now leave Rover out of it Elgin, she’s a menace!!! All the best 😀
Thanks again for everything boss. As I said before you were one of my inspirations to try this whole blogging thing out and what a great thing it is. Will enjoy coming back here for continued inspiration as time goes on.
Keep up the good work chum 😀
Thanks pall
All the best
And best wishes for the new.
Likewise 😀
Sergio, just when I was looking forward to a better and brighter 2018, you land an absolute shocker. Though I’d an inkling that you might go off the blog grid, I didn’t expect it to really happen and like everyone else, I hope this is temporary. But whatever it is you do next, Sergio, I wish you a most wonderful New Year and every success, both personally and professionally. Thank you for your immense support both through your highly informed and incisive reviews, and your visits to my blog. Cheers, friend!
Thanks Prashant, it’s been a great ride. Thanks for all the support these years – have a great year.
“The pictures are big! It’s the screens that got small.” That’s a line from a play I wrote ages ago” — inspired by Gloria’s Swason’s snipe about the smallness of movies in Sunset Boulevard, of course. I never say good-bye and so let me borrow from some lyrics with a minor alteration:
“Yes, everything’s as if we never said goodbye
[You] taught the world new ways to dream.”
Thanks for all the new discoveries, the jokes, and quips over the years, my friend.
Grazie ed arivederci presto
Grazie tante 🙂
Sergio, NO!! Out of t he blue like this??! Say it isn’t so, my very dear friend. But if it must be, then you must have a good reason. So take good care and God speed. Hopefully I’ll still see you around Facebook?? You can’t begin to imagine how much I looked forward to your witty and informative blog posts every week, even when you were talking about books I’d never in a million years read – I still enjoyed your opinions. I’m going to tear up. Arrivederci from the ‘redoubtable’ Yvette.
Dear Yvette, thanks so much for all the great support and rapport over the years, it’s been such a treat. I won’t be all that visible on blogs in general I’m afraid but remain in FB and hope to visit every now and then. All the best pardner 🙂
Sergio, sorry for the belated reply! I’m sad to see you hanging up the fedora, but can completely understand. Life can get pretty hectic and the effort involved in keeping a blog like yours going takes a toll, as I know all too well from my own brief experience. Thanks again for all the feedback, encouragement and comments on my own site over the years, and of course thanks for all the great reviews! Wishing you all the best in whatever you get up to in future, mate!
Thanks Jeff – it has been a great ride but meeting you and the “gang” has been wonderful. Thanks mate.
Hi Sergio,
You and I have only had a few chances to talk here, but I’ve so greatly appreciated your blog and those few discussions we’ve had. With everyone, I hope that whatever is going on is a good thing; if it’s not (or even if it is), my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
Thanks for everything,
Karl
Thanks Karl 😀 I had a great time. Thanks for the support – all the best chum. Sergio
Enjoy your retirement from this avocation…but don’t suppress any impulse to get back up on that saddle when the mood strikes…seven years is a lucky sort of stretch…soon it’ll be eleven on mine…
Thanks so much Todd, your support all through the years made it truly worthwhile. Eleven is awesome!!! Take carw matey 😀
Ciao, amico. Aloha.
Just found this! I’d heard rumors you were leaving. So long, buddy, and, as we say here in rural Virginia, “Y’all come back, heah?”
Thanks Matt, much appreciated. All the very best 😀
I hope your absence will be temporary … I’ve also stepped aside from blogging for a while in the past and I hope you will feel you can return in the future. It CAN happen. You will be missed regardless of the duration of your absence.
Thanks Noah – it was great when you came back to the blog. See you round chum 🙂