The Haunting Ballad by Michael Nethercott is the second supernatural mystery featuring the mismatched crime-solving duo of O'Nelligan and Plunkett (available September 30, 2014). The second book in the O’Nelligan and Plunkett series is another well-crafted meditation on love (this time primarily romantic) and tragedy wrapped in a period murder mystery. Set in 1950s Connecticut…
We know about the appreciation of, and contributions to, noir film and fiction by the French. We know that they celebrated the likes of Jim Thompson when the now-revered American noir author was kicked to the curb in his home country. And in 1960 another striking example of U.S. noir being recognized by the French…
For the third straight summer, Buffalo, Wyoming magically transformed (with the help of one hard-working Chamber of Commerce and an incredible team of volunteers) into Durant, the Absaroka County seat, and the characters of Craig Johnson’s fictional crime series came to life as thousands of fans converged on the town of about 4,600. This is,…
“Weird Al” Yankovic is known for his puns and parody. For his latest album release, Weird Al released a music video a day including the above song—“Word Crimes.” It's based on the controversial song, “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke and might help you get a better grade in grammar class…or remind you that you have…
When I read Scott Adlerberg’s excellent appreciation of the gangster film Performance on Criminal Element last summer, I thought, “At some point I should do a piece about that other Rolling Stones-related crime movie I like so much, A Degree of Murder.” So, nine months or so later, here I am doing that. A Degree…
Last episode, we saw the true detectives' fiery breakup. Maggie dealt Martin a dose of his own unfaithful medicine, we met founder of the Wellspring schools Reverend Billy Lee Tuttle, and modern-day Rust and Martin met after leaving the interviews with Gilbough and Papania. Rust talks Martin into a discussion over beer, and Martin follows…
A would-be burglar in Minnesota fled after initially breaking into Hooked on Fishing, a bait and tackle shop, after unknowingly setting off the wall-mounted, motion-activated Big Mouth Billy Bass singing fish. The fish was found on the floor of the store the next morning, knocked down when the door was broken into. Startled by Billy’s…
It seems a bit bizarre that there’s a cottage industry based on creative things to do with a someone’s cremains. You can display them artistically, pack them into ammunition, fuse them into diamonds, and now—apparently—have them pressed into a vinyl LP. Andvinyly.com is a U.K.-based company that will produce a working vinyl LP that contains…
From the magnificent site Lowering the Bar: After a series of “twists and turns” that began Tuesday afternoon, the judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in Calcagno v. Springfield, just before the case was to be sent to the jury. The judge has reportedly given both sides 90 days to investigate dramatic new evidence relating to the…
The City of Lost Dreams by Magnus Flyte is the second adventurous mystery set in a Europe where magic, science, and alchemy are all valid. In it, musicologist Sarah Weston and her friends—drunken dwarf Nico Petusato and her former lover Prince Max—will chase a villain through history and fight even death itself (available November 26th,…
