In this pint-sized episode, we reach into the archives and present a conversation from July 2016 on Ian Fleming's "Quantum of Solace". A divisive short story that had James Bond fans scratching their heads, Fleming's narrative experiment positions 007 as after-dinner audience to a morality tale of greed, revenge and marital conflict. It's a curious short story and well worth checking out!
In this engaging side-series, Josh flies solo in exploring the production, features and influences of Film Noir. Taking the shape of compact film reviews, the first of these complementary capsule episodes sets the stage for the genre's American premiere by looking at its European origins. Informative context then gives way to review as John Huston's 1941 adaptation of "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiel Hammett goes under the microscope. "The stuff that dreams are made of..." Enjoy!
Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" wastes no time cutting shapes and setting angles in its pursuit of modelling the hard-boiled genre. The opening sentence alone produces enough sharp edge to slice through a striploin at Herbert's on Powell Street: "Samuel Spade's jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting V under the more flexible V of his mouth." However, in spite of its influence, the whetted and defining weaponry of Hammett's straight-ahead narrative isn't to everybody's literary taste a...
"The Moonstone" is regarded by many as the progenitor of the detective novel in English. Published in 1868, it marks, perhaps, the peak of Wilkie Collins's career as a novelist and emerged onto the scene at a time of great change for Scotland Yard and the British Empire at large. Steeped in foreign intrigue and trapped within a casing of disguise, mistaken identity and class conflict, "The Moonstone" offers a wealth of intrigue for genre readers and literary historians alike. So, please take you...
In 1955 Patricia Highsmith introduced the world to Tom Ripley, a young and ambitious con-man who gets the break of a lifetime when serendipity (in the form of an acquaintance's rich father) sends him to Italy on a rescue mission. Haunted by insecurities and struggling against his own ego, Tom "fakes it till he makes it", drawing on deep reservoirs of charm and industry, and for a while his many demons are quietly contained. But invisible appetites are always sharpening their teeth and Highsmith ...
Edgar Allan Poe's contributions to literary form can hardly be overstated. Among many accomplishments, he is widely regarded as the progenitor of the detective story. His character, C. Auguste Dupin first appeared in 1841's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and returned the following year for "The Mystery of Marie Roget" and again in 1844's "The Purloined Letter". These three stories had an enormous impact on the development of mystery and the evolution of crime fiction, influencing many writers and a...
In Michael Connelly's debut novel, readers meet Detective Harry Bosch of the LAPD. Bosch is haunted by several demons from his past, each of which comes out to play in "The Black Echo". First, there's the tragedy of his mother's murder and the childhood wounds of growing up in the system. Then there's his time as "tunnel-rat" in Vietnam as part of the 1st Infantry Division. Finally, his fumble over the so-called "Dollmaker" serial killings: an accidental shooting which saw him cut from the lofty...
What do you get when an adventurous British writer combines suspension of disbelief, war-time propaganda and a patriotic dose of daring-do? John Buchan's "The 39 Steps", of course, a "shocker" that pleased troops and arm-chair generals alike and introduced the literary world to the character of Richard Hannay. In 1915, this novella seemed to strike all the right chords with British (and allied) audience. But more modern tuners are challenging the culturally-insensitive sharps and flats of Buchan...
In 1955, Graham Greene published "The Quiet American", part character confession and part political allegory, set amidst the changing of the colonial guard in Southeast Asia. As the French powers puff their last breaths in Vietnam the American agenda starts making its strident moves and there, observing all from the inside, is cynical British journalist Thomas Fowler. Forced into defending his own private sanctuary and selfishness, Fowler grows embroiled in a conflict with CIA agent Alden Pyle t...
Our "Sherlock Selects" summer series concludes here with a real show-stopper! "The Copper Beeches" is one of Conan Doyle's most atmospheric and engaging mysteries, featuring a female client with moxie and a country manse full of fear. We had a great time talking over this story back in May of 2017 and proudly re-present it here today in wrapping up our seasonal series.
When old age hands you lemons... it's time to take monkey gland injections from a quack Czech doctor! Or, at least, that's what Professor Presbury might have once suggested. This curious tale is as close as Conan Doyle ever gets to showcasing the hardships of graceful aging to the love-struck pensioner. Yes, "The Adventure of the Creeping Man" is full of crazy moments but it is not bereft of relevance: anti-aging creams, experimental diets, airbrushed photographs... how many of us wish for great...
In this gritty crime thriller, Detective Sergeant John Rebus makes his literary debut. Ian Rankin draws on rich material from the city of Edinburgh and his native Scotland in sculpting his protagonist's first adventure. From the dank alleyways of Auld Reekie to the spirited influence of Stevenson's "Jekyll and Hyde", Rankin works hard with his first Rebus novel to establish an immersive world of conflict and consequence.
A grizzly harpoon murder and a protégé inspector lure Sherlock and Watson out of London and into the remote Weald of East Sussex in this atmospheric adventure. Originally published in 1904, this yarn was collected and re-published a year later in "The Return of Sherlock Holmes". Our "Sherlock Selects" Summer mini-series continues here with a return to this dark story of revenge and retribution sparked years previously upon the open sea. All aboard!
Our "Sherlock Selects" mini-series continues to buffer the Summer's bigger reads, this time with a conversation on "The Bruce Partington Plans" from May 2018. Originally published in 1908 (and featured in the later collection "His Last Bow") this story of stolen government plans in a fog-draped London overflows with intrigue and eventually ranked as one of Conan Doyle's own favourites. We had fun revisiting this tale and stoking the fire over its slow-burning charm.
Published in 1977, "A Morbid Taste For Bones" introduced Brother Cadfael to the world, a Welsh Benedictine monk of the 12th Century with a penchant for solving crimes. Although Ellis Peters establishes a dynamic back-story for her protagonist, set amidst the turmoil of the First Crusade, the vibe of his first adventure is decidedly more "crofter intrigue" than "conflicts of war". Led by the suspect vision of an ambitious monk, the Brothers of Shrewsbury Abbey feel entitled to the nearby relics o...
Second in our series of "Sherlock Selects" for the Summer is "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box". Originally published in January of 1893 (and first covered on LTP in June of 2017), Conan Doyle himself ruled against anthologizing this tale due to its controversial subject matter. But you can't keep a good story down and "The Cardboard Box" would soon enough see wide release in both the UK and America. We had a lot of fun chatting through this twisted tale of morbid mail and jealous love!
This season, we'll be buffering new episodes with re-introduced and smaller story reviews. For these selections, we reach back into our first season vaults and renew our love for some favourite Sherlock pieces and chats. First up is "The Abbey Grange", one of Josh's choices from The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Originally published in March of 2018, we had a great time talking through the beats of this locked room mystery.
"Later" marks the third and most recent crime story written by Stephen King for the Hard Case Crime label. Offering readers a predictable mix of the supernatural and police procedural, the horror master's latest tale continues his career penchant for coming-of-age narratives with soul-searching themes. Josh and Scott break down the narrative and weigh its subtle strengths as series three of LTP picks up momentum.
Josh and Scott kick off a new series of crime story explorations with a trip to Lindsey Davis's Ancient Rome, guided by Imperial Informant, Marcus Didius Falco. "The Silver Pigs" is set in AD 70, during the rule of Vespasian, and travels from the Aventine to Roman Britain where a conspiracy involving the trade of silver ingots propels Falco further into deep and dangerous territory. Join us for a time-travelling romp through antiquity as Davis reconstructs ancient Rome for modern crime readers t...
For their series finale on the Philip Marlowe novels, Scott and Josh reflect on their reading of the canonical sweep and rank the stories and features of Raymond Chandler's enduring collection.
Chandler's final complete Marlowe novel was written at a time of deteriorating health and tumultuous circumstances for the author. Not surprisingly, some of these conflicts from 1958 find their way into the story. Marlowe is different here and the narrative is markedly unique, in ways both satisfying and off-putting to readers. Josh and Scott complete their "Marlowe Sweep" by examining the context behind and story of Chandler's finishing full-length adventure.
1953 saw the publication of Raymond Chandler's sixth Philip Marlowe novel, "The Long Goodbye". Chandler himself regarded it as his best work and many fans agree. Nevertheless, behind the scenes it was getting harder for Chandler to find peace. Personal issues and professional conflicts continued to grow, marring his sense of contentment. Josh and Scott sit down to expose the context behind this penultimate Marlowe adventure and, of course, "light the pipes" over its striking narrative features.
Driven by amphetamine, Graham Greene knocked out this thriller in only 6 weeks of 1939 in a rented room of a Bloomsbury flat. He wrote fervently as premonitions of a second world war grew more tangible around him. Josh and Scott take a break from their Raymond Chandler campaign to investigate and weigh the merits of this compelling espionage adventure.
After a five-year hiatus, Raymond Chandler returns to the world of Philip Marlowe with "The Little Sister". His small-town client brings big-city trouble as the investigation into her missing brother turns up a lot of Tinseltown intrigue, including ice-pick murders and sexual betrayal. Coloured by Chandler's own experiences within the studio system, this fifth Marlowe adventure shows no mercy in presenting a deeply problematic view of show-business and the rotten cogs of its machinery.
For his fourth novel, Raymond Chandler sends detective Philip Marlowe away from the steamy tumult of Los Angeles and up into the fresh mountain air in search of a client's missing wife. The investigation starts simply enough but soon careens along a grotty path of quick-fire hunches and deadly secrets that take no prisoners. Josh and Scott drag the narrative waters of this complex caper as their survey of Raymond Chandler's writing continues!
Commenting on the gigantic success of his company, Walt Disney once famously said "...it was all started by a mouse". Years later, it would again be a mouse that helped to safeguard Disney's future, this time by restoring hope and energy into its animation wing. 1986's "The Great Mouse Detective" is a smaller cog in the studio's machine but one full of curios and performances that merit discussion. Here, we take a trip down the Baker Street mouse-hole and review this classic.
While it may snuff the hopes of Sherlockians in search of a faithful adaptation of Conan Doyle's detective, there's still a lot to enjoy about Netflix's "Enola Holmes". Scott and Josh are joined in this special episode by their "Bond By Numbers" co-host, Jeff Chapman, to review the film and discuss the controversies surrounding its release.
Raymond Chandler's third novel offers readers a different look at detective Philip Marlowe than afforded in his first two outings while expanding on themes of spiritual decay and corruption. A missing wife, a lost doubloon and a frightened secretary are three early clues that our protagonist follows as his case for the grizzled matriarch, Mrs Murdock, gains traction. What unfolds is a story of grotty forgery, sinister blackmail and deep family secrets. Josh and Scott also take a look at a new "S...
Raymond Chandler fought hard, insisting that the title for his second Philip Marlowe novel was right in playing off more erudite connotations of romance and drama. Like "The Big Sleep" before it, "Farewell" is a challenging text, at times both raucous and textured, driven by smoky characters, clever prose and explosive narrative impetus. Los Angeles and its criminal environs are again decorated for readers through Marlowe and his wry observations but remain steeped in the historical and cultural...
Bowman and the BFG kick off their Raymond Chandler review series with "The Big Sleep". After introducing the writer's early life and formative years for the journey ahead, the foundations for the publication of his first novel are established. Finally, the PIPES are resurrected and "The Big Sleep" goes under the microscope.
