Reviews 
Whether it be a book, movie, or something else, here’s a critique.
The Witching Hour
An Englishman remarks to a bartender in New York City that “he’d just come from New Orleans, and that certainly was a haunted city.” The doctor sitting next to him agrees and remembers … “He had been dreaming of the old house in New Orleans again. He had seen the woman in the rocker. He’d… Read More ›
Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses
If you are reading along with The Poisoned Martini, then perhaps this month you read a Georges Simenon mystery featuring the laconic Maigret, the French commissaire known for his cigars and love of a good stiff drink. As a book discussion choice, it may be hard to come by enough copies of the same Maigret… Read More ›
Sunset Boulevard
From the opening scene of a dead man face down in a pool to a star’s tragic descent down the stairs into madness, Sunset Boulevard is a Hollywood classic that ranks near the top of the 100 best films of all time. Joe Gillis (William Holden) is a down-on-his-luck Hollywood writer in need of a… Read More ›
Towards Zero
Perhaps one of the best modern adaptations of an Agatha Christie story is the 2007 French film, L’Heure Zero (Zero Hour), adapted from the novel, Towards Zero. Here, Superintendent Battle become Det. Bataille and he is present in the prologue when a group of lawyers listen to M. Trévoz, a former solictor, explain his theory of… Read More ›
OSS 117
Before he was The Artist, French actor—and Academy Award-winner—Jean Dujardin was OSS 117 (cent dix sept), a suave spy in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (Nid d’Espion). This secret agent, though, is a cross between James Bond and Inspector Clousseau, and he’s able played with joie de vivre by Dujardin. The film starts off with… Read More ›
Lady in the Lake
This 1947 film noir is unique in its presentation. “Right now you’re reading in your newspapers and hearing over your radios…about a murder. They call it the Case of the Lady in the Lake. It’s a good title. It fits. What you’ve read and what you’ve heard is one thing. The real thing is something else. There’s… Read More ›
The Thin Man
It’s 1934, and Prohibition is over! The martinis and highballs flow freely in this classic silver screen hit that spawned five sequels! “The champagne elite of sleuthing”, Nick and Nora Charles banter their way through solving their first mystery in The Thin Man. Clyde Wynant, an inventor, receives a visit from his daughter, Dorothy, who is soon… Read More ›
Murder by Death
The ultimate murder mystery parody? You are cordially invited to Dinner and a Murder at 22 Lola Lane Saturday evening 7 p.m. Your Host Lionel Twain What would happen if Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, and Charlie Chan teamed up to solve a mystery? Well, no one really knows, but… Read More ›
Topper Returns
Welcome to Carrington Hall, a creepy seaside mansion on a hill! Or as one character says, “If there wasn’t anybody living there, it’d be a haunted house.” Our story begins with a car accident. Oh, don’t worry! No one’s killed…yet. Anne Carrington (Carole Landis) and her dear friend Gail Richards (Joan Blondell) are on their… Read More ›
Murder in Passy
“You think life finally makes sense, then…Pouff, it turns upside down,” says Commissaire Morbier to his goddaughter, Aimée Leduc, in the opening pages of this eleventh book in the Aimée Leduc Investigation series. It’s Aimée’s first day back to work after a month’s recuperation from “the explosion that had laid her low on her last case,” Murder… Read More ›
The Poisoned Martini 