Friday, July 27, 2018

"The Last Man I Killed" by Margaret Maron

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March/April 2018, p. 101-103

Reading the narrator's history of murder in her disarming, evasive tone, it's easy to picture her dodging suspicion, making each kill seem either an accident or suicide. Even the story's title deceives. Well done by Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Maron.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

"Post No Bulls" by Marvin Kaye

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2018, p. 73–84

In this new Rex Stout pastiche by Wolfe Pack charter member Marvin Kaye, the corpse of widely-despised police lieutenant George Rowcliff is FedExed to Nero Wolfe's New York brownstone, addressed to his legman, Archie Goodwin. Offended, gourmand genius detective Wolfe vows to identify who sent the body as well as who killed Rowcliff.

Stout's stories of Wolfe, Archie, and friends spanned from 1934 to 1975. Though the world changed around them, the company of characters didn't age, making them adaptable to generation after generation of fans. For example, nods to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan set "Post No Bills" in the late 1990s.