Category Archives: California

THE WENCH IS WICKED / BLONDE VERDICT / DELILAH WAS DEADLY by Carter Brown

Posted on 27 October 2017 by

This omnibus by ultra-prolific paperback writer ‘Carter Brown’ (in private life Alan Geoffrey Yates) – courtesy of those very nice people at Stark House Press – features the first three cases of Al Wheeler, the unorthodox and wise-cracking Lieutenant working in the California … Continue reading →

Posted in 2017 Golden Age Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt, California, Carter Brown, Friday's Forgotten Book, Stark House Press | 20 Comments

Quincy, M.E (1976-83)

Posted on 13 June 2017 by

“You are about to enter the most fascinating sphere of police work, the world of forensic medicine” Jack Klugman, one of the best actors who ever worked on American film and TV, was already a 25-year veteran, and star of … Continue reading →

Posted in California, Tuesday's Overlooked Film, TV Cops | 32 Comments

Death Valley (2011)

Posted on 5 June 2017 by

At least in popular culture, one might think that zombies really have inherited the earth. At least this hybrid cop show has a sense of humour and doesn’t get too bogged down in the morbidity of it all. Indeed this … Continue reading →

Posted in California, Police procedural, Postmodern | 10 Comments

Smile Jenny, You’re Dead (1974)

Posted on 21 March 2017 by

This is was the second of two feature-length TV Movies that ultimately served to launch the short-lived private eye series Harry O (1974-76) starring David Janssen, which in its first season may have got as good as this genre ever … Continue reading →

Posted in California, Film Noir, Noir on Tuesday, Private Eye | Tagged | 33 Comments

WOMAN ON THE ROOF (1954) by Helen Nielsen

Posted on 10 February 2017 by

This books starts off with a premise reminiscent of the Hitchcock movie Rear Window (or rather, the short story on which it was based, ‘It Had to Be Murder’ by Cornell Woolwich / William Irish): looking through a window a … Continue reading →

Posted in 2017 Golden Age Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt, California, Friday's Forgotten Book, Helen Nielsen, Stark House Press | 58 Comments

2016 Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt

Posted on 20 December 2016 by

For as long as I’ve been hosting this blog, I’ve participated in Bev Hankins’ irresistible vintage mystery reading challenges. The rules have been amended over the years, but the basic criteria is the same – review a mystery from two … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016 Golden Age Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt, 2016 Silver Vintage Scavenger Hunt, 87th Precinct, Albert Campion, Bill Pronzini, California, Canada, Catherine Aird, Chicago, Cosy Cozy, David Callan, Don DeLillo, Dorothy L. Sayers, Edgar Wallace, Ellery Queen, England, Fletcher Fliora, Florida, Germany, Gideon Fell, Inspector Wexford, Italy, James Hadley Chase, James Mitchell, John Dickson Carr, John le Carre, Kansas City, London, Louisiana, Margery Allingham, Middle East, Montana, New York, Noir, Ostara Publishing, Patricia Moyes, Police procedural, Private Eye, Radio, Ruth Rendell, San Francisco, Stark House Press, Vintage Mystery Cover Scavenger Hunt 2016 | 18 Comments

And your favourite Hitchcock movies are …

Posted on 25 April 2016 by

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 →

Posted in 'In praise of ...', Alfred Hitchcock, Boileau-Narcejac, California, Cold War, Cornell Woolrich, Ed McBain, England, Espionage, Film Noir, Film Poll, London, New York, San Francisco, Scotland, Spy movies, World War II | 51 Comments

1950s Hitchcock – vote for the best

Posted on 19 April 2016 by

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 →

Posted in 'In praise of ...', Alfred Hitchcock, Boileau-Narcejac, California, Canada, Cornell Woolrich, Edmund Crispin, Espionage, Film Noir, Film Poll, France, London, Los Angeles, New England, New York, Noir, Patricia Highsmith, Ray Milland, San Francisco, Screwball, Spy movies | 65 Comments

Hitchcock in the 1940s – vote now!

Posted on 18 April 2016 by

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

Top 25 Courtroom Movies

Posted on 8 September 2015 by

As I have blogged before, I love legal drama on the screen. Maybe it’s because I trained to be a lawyer (in the interests of full disclosure, my legal background informs the work I do in education in terms of … Continue reading →

Posted in 'Best of' lists, Australia, California, England, France, India, Scott Turow, Tuesday's Overlooked Film | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 73 Comments

CLEAN BREAK (1955) by Lionel White

Posted on 17 February 2015 by

I’d not read anything by Lionel White (1905-1985) before but was really looking forward to it, being a huge fan of the movie adaptation. This story of a racecourse heist that (of course) goes wrong was filmed very shortly after … Continue reading →

Posted in 2015 Vintage Mystery Challenge, California, Jim Thompson, Lionel White, New York | Tagged , , , | 40 Comments

THE DROWNING POOL (1950) by Ross Macdonald

Posted on 8 November 2013 by

This is the second of eighteen books featuring Lew Archer, the California PI created by Kenneth Millar, first published under his soon to be shortened pen-name, ‘John Ross Macdonald.’ It was also the first of the series that I read, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013 Book to Movie Challenge, 2013 Vintage Mystery Challenge, California, Friday's Forgotten Book, Ross Macdonald | 47 Comments