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Category Archives: ‘In praise of …’
Arrivederci
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 … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...'
64 Comments
Buon Natale 2017
So, what’s 2017 been like? Well, about this big as James Stewart might have said in that dark example of Film Noir that bizarrely seems to everyone’s favourite feel good Christmas movie … And on the mystery front? Well … … Continue reading
Crime at Christmas
As Britain gets ready for a very chilly yule indeed (and no, I don’t just mean the weather), my mind inevitably turns to the comforts of fictional crime! There are some splendid books being made available for crime aficionados this … Continue reading
Hark! The 87th Precinct podcast
Well, this just made my day! Just as I am winding down to my last remaining reviews of the 87th Precinct series, here are a whole bunch of enthusiasts who are looking at the books anew in a smashing podcast … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', 87th Precinct, Ed McBain, Police procedural
12 Comments
Colin Dexter, requiescat
Colin Dexter has died aged 86. To crime fiction fans he will of course be remembered as the creator of Inspector More and Sergeant Lewis, two of Oxford’s finest detectives. Dexter was also an educator and a crossword buff, and … Continue reading
The Columbo podcast
Today is my Dad’s 79th birthday and he loves this show (almost as much as the Montalbano series). So, I’ll keep this short and sweet. Columbo is my favourite US cop show (I have explained why elsewhere, along with a list of … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', Columbo
30 Comments
Six years old today …
Scary, that’s what that is … It’s all the fault of the Puzzle Doctor and Mrs P, who six years ago provided such good examples of delivering accessible and enjoyable crime fiction blogs that I had to give it a … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...'
70 Comments
THE POWER OF THE DOG (1967) by Thomas Savage
Not to be confused with Don Winslow’s book of the same name, this powerful study of revenge and repressed emotion is too little-known and unlikely to turn up on anybody’s list of classic crime fiction. But don’t be fooled – … Continue reading
THE MANY by Wyl Menmuir
This compact debut novel came to my attention after it made it on to the longlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize. It tells the brooding and mysterious story of what happens when the pressures of water pollution and diminishing … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...'
22 Comments
The romance of Brian De Palma
The following revisit of a favourite film and director is offered for the Brian De Palma Blogathon being hosted by Ratnakar Sadasyula at his site, Seetimaar – Diary of a Movie Lover from 11 to 21 September to celebrate the great filmmaker’s birthday … Continue reading
And your favourite Hitchcock movies are …
Drum roll please … Having gone through a week of voting for the favourite films directed by Alfred Hitchcock on a decade by decade basis, this was meant to lead to a top 10, though we ended up with a … Continue reading
Results for the Hitchcock poll
Well, the polls are now closed and the results are in. First things first though – the response to this celebration of the 53 films directed by Alfred Hitchcock was really gratifying, so special thanks to everyone who joined in. … Continue reading
Hitchock in the 60s and 70s – time to vote
Hitchcock’s life and career changed forever with the release of Psycho in 1960. Made on a tight budget, its enormous success made him a very wealthy man and saw him change studios to Universal for the rest of his career. … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', Alfred Hitchcock, Amnesia, Boston, Cold War, Cuba, Daphne Du Maurier, Ed McBain, Espionage, Film Poll, France, Germany, London, New York, Norway, Paris, Psycho, Robert Bloch, San Francisco, Spy movies, Sweden, Washington DC
63 Comments
1950s Hitchcock – vote for the best
This was the decade when Hitchcock truly became a superstar – along with a string of critically acclaimed and commercially successful films he became the host of his own TV shows Alfred Hitchcock Presents (and later, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour), … Continue reading
Hitchcock in the 1940s – vote now!
With the success of The Lady Vanishes, Hitchcock got a contract with producer David O Selznick and headed to Hollywood to make the Oscar-winning Rebecca – and never looked back. This period saw the director blossom as he got to … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', Alfred Hitchcock, Amnesia, Anthony Berkeley, Australia, California, Cold War, Courtroom, Daphne Du Maurier, England, Espionage, Film Poll, Francis Beeding, London, Los Angeles, New York, Noir, Patrick Hamilton, Philip MacDonald, Screwball, Spy movies, The Netherlands, World War II
59 Comments
Vote for your favourite 1930s Hitchcock movies
In the 1930s Hitchcock hired a PR firm to get his name in the news and very soon he was cultivating the black humour and publicity gimmicks that would ultimately make him as well-known as the films he made. During … Continue reading
Vote for your favourite Hitchcock movie – part 1
Spurred on by quizzes and polls so well executed by my blogging buddies the Puzzle Doctor and Margot Kingberg, I thought I’d have a go too – and start with probably the most famous movie director ever, Alfred Hitchcock. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', Alfred Hitchcock, Film Poll
43 Comments
ROGUE MOYLE by I Retru Grade
Following on from The Bald Bowelero, which I previously profiled here, and Punschi Coins a Spin, now comes the third volume in the series featuring the misadventures of Jewish Irish shamus, Ira Retru Grade. Here’s the blurb: A twin tale of … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', Ira Retru Grade, Jim Ballantyne
10 Comments
CONCRETE ANGEL – guest post by Patti Abbott
Patti Abbott is blogger in chief at her fab Pattinase blog and is also the author of more than 100 stories in print, online, and in various anthologies. In 2009, she won a Derringer Award for her story ‘My Hero.’ She is … Continue reading
PUNSCHI COINS A SPIN by I Retru Grade
“You wouldn’t have a brother called Luigi van Brux? “No.” “Are you a relation of Girth Brux, the hairless grappler, aka ‘the Belgian Bollard’?” “No.” “You wouldn’t be related to the van Bruxes of Bruxelles, by any chance?” “The very … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', Ira Retru Grade, Jim Ballantyne
11 Comments
Buon Natale 2014
2014 has been very busy – but will it be remembered as a vintage year?
John Dickson Carr Poll – The Results!
We’ve had some great responses to this poll, both here and over at the Golden Age Detection group on Facebook, leading to some genuine surprises. Let’s put it this way, if I’d put money on which book would come top … Continue reading
Farewell to PD James
News reaches Fedora that PD (Phyllis Dorothy) James, creator of Adam Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray, has died at the age of 94. She made her debut in 1962 with Cover Her Face and was soon trumpeted as a major innovator … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', PD James, RIP
20 Comments
Fedora’s half a million visits
This site just passed another milestone this week with its 500,000th visit! How to celebrate? Well, here are three very different but equally great (and coincidentally, campus-based) books I read this year but didn’t blog about and so am linking … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...'
48 Comments
In Praise of … MEDIUM (2005-11)
I just finished watching the seventh and final season of Medium, the mystery / supernatural drama loosely inspired by reputed real-life spirit medium, Allison DuBois. It is one of my favourite shows, one of the most consistently inventive and ingenious whodunits to … Continue reading
Posted in 'Best of' lists, 'In praise of ...', Arizona, Medium, Scene of the crime, Top 10, Tuesday's Overlooked Film
Tagged Patricia Arquette
41 Comments
Fedora’s 400,000 visits
Well, we pause briefly for a minor celebration here at Fedora … Late yesterday this blog sailed past its 400,000th visit, which seems incredible to me – and that’s not including the 113,000 plus visits from spammers (a curse on their … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...'
69 Comments
Buon Natale 2013
This site began back in January 2011 and here we are, three years and 374 posts and 7,500 comments later. So, what have we learned this year?
Posted in 'In praise of ...'
40 Comments
The Edgar Wallace Anthology
This is a bit of an indulgence I realise but I just got myself this massive box set and wanted to tell everybody about it … The following overview is offered as part of the Tuesday’s Overlooked Film meme hosted … Continue reading
SS Van Dine – forgotten author
Does anyone read the rarefied intellectual puzzles investigated by Philo Vance anymore? I have been looking again at this series written and narrated by ‘SS Van Dine’ mainly with great pleasure (and will provide a couple of reviews here at … Continue reading
Raven’s Head Press is launched
Great news reaches us at Fedora – the redoubtable John F Norris of Pretty Sinister Books and Michael Hudson have launched Raven’s Head Press, a new imprint devoted to weird and wonderful crime and adventure fiction. Their motto is ‘Reviving … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', Raven's Head Press
24 Comments
Tipping My Fedora 