Category Archives: Robert Bloch

2014 Vintage Mystery Challenges – completed

Posted on 28 December 2014 by

12 months and 72 book reviews later and the Vintage Mystery Challenge bingos, both Golden (pre-1960) and Silver (1960 to 1989) varieties, are complete! The indefatigable Bev of My Reader’s Block gives structure and meaning to the reading habits of us mystery … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 Vintage Mystery Challenge Bingo, 87th Precinct, Agatha Christie, Bill Pronzini, Carter Dickson, Charlotte Armstrong, Cornell Woolrich, Dashiell Hammett, David Callan, Dorothy Dunnett, Ed McBain, Edward D. Hoch, Erle Stanley Gardner, Evelyn Anthony, Georges Simenon, Gideon Fell, Gil Brewer, Gillian Freeman, Graham Greene, Harold Q. Masur, Helen Nielsen, James Hadley Chase, James M. Cain, James Mitchell, John Blackburn, John Dickson Carr, John Sladek, L. Ron Hubbard, Lange Lewis, Lawrence Sanders, Leslie Charteris, LP Davies, Maigret, Marcia Muller, Miss Marple, Nero Wolfe, Ngaio Marsh, Noir, Orson Welles, Parker, PD James, Perry Mason, Peter Corris, Philip Marlowe, Philo Vance, Poirot, Police procedural, Private Eye, Raymond Chandler, Rex Stout, Richard Stark, Robert B. Parker, Robert Bloch, Roderick Alleyn, Science Fiction, Shirley Jackson, Somerset Maugham, SS Van Dine, Stanley Ellin, Stark House Press, The Shadow, Thomas M. Disch, Walter B Gibson, William Goldman | 24 Comments

SHOOTING STAR (1958) by Robert Bloch

Posted on 19 September 2014 by

Reprinted by Hard Case Crime a few years back, this was Robert Bloch’s one and only private eye novel – so of course, given his inclination towards the tongue-in-cheek, he made it a book about an investigator with only one … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 Vintage Mystery Challenge Bingo, Friday's Forgotten Book, Hollywood, Robert Bloch | 71 Comments

THE TODD DOSSIER (1969) by Robert Bloch

Posted on 4 April 2014 by

This medical thriller was the first novel by Robert Bloch that I ever read, though I didn’t know it at the time. The reason I picked it up was because it was credited to Collier Young, the creator of Ironside … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 Vintage Mystery Challenge Bingo, Friday's Forgotten Book, Novelisation, Robert Bloch | 57 Comments

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Annabel (1962)

Posted on 1 October 2013 by

During the week David Kelsey lives in a little apartment in Froudsberg but at weekends he drives off to a large secluded house near Ballard to become ‘William Newmaster’, where he dreams of a life with his ex-girlfriend Annabel, now … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013 Book to Movie Challenge, New York, Patricia Highsmith, Robert Bloch, Tuesday's Overlooked Film | 37 Comments

THE HORIZONTAL MAN (1946) by Helen Eustis

Posted on 31 December 2012 by

Phew! By the skin of my teeth I’ve managed to complete the 2012 Vintage Mystery Readers Challenge. To celebrate, and as my last blog post until late January, here is my (short) review of Helen Eustis’ influential Edgar-winning debut. Set … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012 Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge, Amnesia, Campus Crime, Five Star review, Golden Age Girls, Margaret Millar, New York, Robert Bloch, Scene of the crime | 22 Comments

The Blake Edwards mysteries

Posted on 6 November 2012 by

In a career spanning six decades, writer-director Blake Edwards (1922-2010) really mixed it up, making almost every conceivable type of film. There were westerns (Panhandle and Wild Rovers), musicals (Darling Lili and Victor Victoria), dark drama (Days of Wine and … Continue reading →

Posted in Blake Edwards, Cold War, Espionage, Evelyn Anthony, Hollywood, London, Michael Crichton, Mickey Spillane, Mike Hammer, Paris, Police procedural, Private Eye, Robert Bloch, Rome, San Francisco, Scene of the crime, Screwball, Tuesday's Overlooked Film, TV Cops | 45 Comments

ONE FOR THE ROAD (1958) by Fredric Brown

Posted on 31 August 2012 by

A whodunit that, as the title suggests, is more than a tad on the bibulous side, One For the Road is one of the less well-known mysteries by cult author Fredric Brown and  one of his last. In the 40s … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012 Alphabet of Crime, Arizona, Crime Fiction Alphabet, Fredric Brown, Friday's Forgotten Book, Robert Bloch | 14 Comments