Halloween Door Mats

Halloween is the official favorite holiday of Mystery Playground, as you might expect, so we start the planning as soon as possible, but not as soon as Pottery Barn. They've already got all of their Halloween merch online and these Halloween door mats are what's new this year. I love the black cat one above.  

Here's another adorable mat:

And if you want something that will work during the entire fall season, you can go for pumpkins...

William Sonoma also has a great mat for black cats fans:

Cary Grant - Alfred Hitchcock Movie Double Feature

All month long we've been celebrating the movies of Alfred Hitchcock, ranging from martinis with Dial M for Murder to The Birds viewing party to Psycho greeting cards. Today I thought we'd hit a double header of Alfred Hitchcock movies starring Cary Grant - To Catch a Thief and North by Northwest. Both of these are perfect for the last lazy days of summer. No need to get the kitchen hot with all of that cooking. Pick up some cold chicken and beer at the store, just like Grace Kelly does in our first movie in the double feature. 

To Catch A Thief stars Grace Kelly as Grant's love interest, playing new money socialite looking for a husband to Grant's former thief with a heart of gold. The action starts when a cat burglar robs wealthy women of the jewelry on the French Riviera, just as John Robie (Grant's character) did back in the good old days before the war. The police are convinced it's Robie, and he sees no alternative than to catch the thief himself to prove his innocence. It's a race to see if the police arrest Robie, or the real burglar kills him first in this whodunnit. This movie is so easy to watch, even if you've seen it dozens of times before.

North by Northwest amps up the adrenaline as Grant's character is kidnapped when he's mistaken for a government agent. He can't convince the police that he was kidnapped, and the spies are still after him, so he goes on the run.
His love interest here is femme fatale, Eva Marie Saint and she's either a lot of trouble or in a lot of trouble. 
Here's a fun rundown of 15 things you didn't know about the movie from Mental Floss.  

Paperback Book Passport Holders

We love anything bookish and especially if it falls in the realm of Agatha Christie. These passport holders from the BagsyMeFirst Etsy store are so fun.

The store says they can make any paperback into a passport holder, but here are some of the ones they had in stock at the time of writing this post:

The Cambridge Murders - Dilwyn Rees - 1954

Buried for Pleasure - Edmund Crispin - 1948

Appointment in New Orleans - Tod Claymore - 1955

Death is no Sportsman - Cyril Hare - 1955

The Emperor's Snuff Box - John Dickson Carr - 1953

The White Priory Murders - Carter Dickson - 1954

Which one is your favorite?

Sherlock & the Smoking Gun

Did you know that Arthur Conan Doyle inspired the now cliche phrase, "smoking gun"? The words, "smoking pistol", first appeared in dialogue from Sherlock Holmes himself. 

This little tidbit was unearthed by the Mystery Playground resident librarian, Pat Hernas, and you can read all about it over on Smithsonian Magazine. 

Tropic of Kansas and the Michelada

Christopher Brown, the author of the dystopian novel, Tropic of Kansas, is here today mixing drinks and telling tales. Christopher was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for the anthology Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic. His short fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including MIT Technology Review’s “Twelve Tomorrows,”The Baffler, and Stories for Chip. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Tropic of Kansas is a dark road trip through a dystopian mirror America, in search of the better futures that might lie on the other side. It follows two characters on a journey through a barren heartland policed by citizen militias and autonomous drones: Sig, the fugitive orphan of political dissidents who gets deported from Canada back to a U.S.A. that has been walled off from the other side, and his foster sister Tania, a government investigator coerced into hunting Sig after he escapes from a Midwestern Guantanamo.  They seek sanctuary in the run-down cities and colonized countryside of a nation bled dry by greed and injustice, ultimately finding the only way to get there is by fighting to secure a new future, at great personal cost.

Yes, they stop for drinks along the way.

Tropic of Kansas is a book about borders, about the arbitrary lines on the map that define what a country is, lines that can’t change the liminality of identity no matter how thickly drawn or heavily fortified the line may be. It’s a story about regular people, the people for whom the best parts of the future are most unevenly distributed. It's a story about the land on which we live, and our relationship with it. It’s a realist dystopia, constructed from the material of the observed world. 

One of the bars Sig and his information-smuggler buddy Moco visit draws from a real place I have visited in the Texas borderlands, a place where the ingredients of other cultures thrive in the interstices of the American metropolis, hiding in plain sight, mixing with and appropriating the available material to reinvent their own reality. This cocktail is one you could probably get if you stopped for happy hour in El Agasajo, where the Mexican drone techs party after work in the industrial blocks of the St. Louis Restoration Zone. It’s cocktail that hydrates and nourishes, using simple and unpretentious ingredients.

Serve it as cold as you can, because the planet is burning.

Ingredients

100% agave Mexican tequila. 

Inexpensive mass-production U.S.A.-made lager beer, ideally Budweiser repackaged as America. Lone Star will also do.

Clamato, or a mix of tomato juice and clam juice.

Mexican salsa picante, such as Cholula.

Worcestershire sauce.

Lime.

Himalayan sea salt.  

Ice.

Instructions: 

• Take about a tablespoon of the sea salt and sprinkle it on a plate or cutting board. Rub sliced lime around the rim of the glass (preferably a 12 oz drinking glass) and then press the rim into the salt, encrusting it2.
• Fill the glass with ice. They don’t need to be fancy cocktail cubes, just plain old tap water from the fridge or the cooler.
• Fill the glass 1/3 with Clamato or a mix of tomato juice and clam juice.
• Add one shot of tequila.
• Add one lime’s worth of fresh lime juice, two dashes of salsa picante, and two dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different mixes, or to add weird additional ingredients.
• Add beer to the rim of the glass.
• Stir the contents and enjoy the results.
• Repeat as necessary.

Book Review: The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes by David Handler

David Handler has a new book out in his Stewart Hoag series and Kerry Hammond is here to tell us about it.

The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes is the ninth book in the Stewart Hoag mystery series. The previous eight were written in the 1980s and 1990s, but 20 years later the characters are back. The book picks up where the author left off and the action takes place in 1992. In addition to his Stewart Hoag series, Handler is the author of two other mystery series, a thriller, and a couple of non-mystery books. I am always looking for new series to try and I decided to take a chance on such a prolific author.

In The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes, Stewart Hoag, aka Hoagy, wrote a novel that shot up the charts and propelled him to literary fame. Since then, however, his writing has taken quite a nosedive. He is currently a ghostwriter, writing books for celebrities who want their stories told. One day he is contacted by his agent, whom he affectionately calls the Silver Fox, and is asked to ghostwrite a book for Monette Aintree, the daughter of the famous novelist Richard Aintree. Richard Aintree fell off the face of the earth two decades earlier after writing the great American novel. Monette is a celebrity in her own right after she published a tell-all book about her father’s sexual abuse, which she later recanted in her second book.

Monette’s need for a ghostwriter is due to a letter she received from her father telling her that he wants to make things right and that she needs to contact Hoagy to proceed. Even though he’s mentioned by name, Hoagy is torn about getting involved. Partly because he’s unsure if the letter really is from Richard Aintree and partly because many moons ago he was madly in love with Reggie, Monette’s sister and Richard’s other daughter.  The sisters have not spoken since Monette’s books and Hoagy hasn’t seen Reggie since the day he walked out on her, a breakup which led to his penning his famous book.

Hoagy travels to L.A. to meet Monette and is living in her pool house with his basset hound Lulu when the stakes are raised even higher, this time to murder. Ghostwriting turns into crime-solving and Hoagy and Lulu are caught up in yet another mystery that needs to be solved.

I was drawn into the book from the very first page. I really liked Hoagy and Lulu, and the author’s writing style hooked me. Having the book set in 1992 added another layer of fun. There were flashbacks from popular music to AT&T calling cards used at pay phones. More importantly, not everyone had a cell phone and when they did appear they were few and far between and the size of a toaster. Hoagy even types on an Olympia typewriter and refuses to use modern word processors.

This was my first Stewart Hoag mystery but short of looking up the author’s previous works, I never would have guessed that I had jumped into a series at book nine. It read like a standalone mystery and I had no problem getting right into it. I can’t quite put my finger on Handler’s writing style. Hoagy is witty, real and matter of fact. He was once famous enough that he can hobnob with celebrities, yet their lifestyles are clearly much different than his own. The fact that he takes his dog everywhere he goes just adds to his likeability. I was reminded of noir novels set in the 50s, complete with trench coat and fedora, but replace the cigars and dames with an anchovy eating basset hound and you’ve got this series.

This book was provided to Mystery Playground by the publisher. The review was fair and completely independent. 

Book Review: End of Temperance Dare

Sharon Long joins us today to review Wendy Webb's latest novel, The End of Temperance Dare...

The End of Temperance Dare by Wendy Webb released on June 6^th by Lake Union Publishing. This is her fourth standalone and she has been dubbed Queen of the Northern Gothic. She has won several awards including the Minnesota Book Award for fiction in 2011. Wendy is one of my favorite authors and I could not wait to read this book. This is a ghostly, chilling, creepy story which is perfect for braving those sizzling summer days. 

Eleanor Harper is on her way to Cliffside, the artist retreat founded by Chester Dare. The fog builds the closer they get to the grounds. In her mind, Eleanor is reliving her first trip to Cliffside 20 years ago. She was the newspaper reporter there to cover the tragic accident of Chester and his daughter, Chamoille. They had driven over the cliff during a foggy day and both died. The driver, Mr. Baines assures her they are fine. When they arrive at Cliffside, the last remaining member of the Dare family, Penelope greets her. After Eleanor receives a tour of the house, she goes to her room to fresh up before meeting Penelope to discuss her duties. While she is excited to put aside her 20-year career covering criminals and murders; Eleanor has a deep sense of foreboding and dread that she cannot seem to shake. 

Eleanor is only the third director at Cliffside, the former TB sanatorium which Chester built to house TB patients including children. Penelope explains the daily routine for the upcoming four-week session. Eleanor is to host a nightly cocktail hour with the artists and lead them in a discussion about their progress and work. Eleanor is to stay out of the way to let the artists create but be there for support. She meets Harriet who runs the household and is Mr. Baines’ wife. They both live on the grounds but in a separate house. 

Penelope retreats to her room reminding Eleanor they will meet at the customary 5:30 for cocktails before dinner. Eleanor is in the sitting room at 5:30 but after 30 minutes when Penelope does not arrive, she rings for Harriet. Harriet goes to Penelope’s room and lets out a scream. Eleanor quickly runs up to the third floor and believe her eyes. Her first day at Cliffside is quickly turning into a nightmare. From there things only get worse. Eleanor starts seeing and hearing things that cannot be real, or can they? 

This story is fast paced with great characters including Harriet, Mr. Baines, and Nate, the handsome onsite doctor. In addition, the artists each have their own quirky personalities which adds to the story. As is Wendy’s style in her earlier books, Cliffside becomes one of the characters.  I was drawn into the story at once and thoroughly enjoyed the surprising twists and turns. Wendy does a terrific job of creating an atmosphere of normal but creepy. The End of Temperance Dare is eerie and bone-chilling. This is one of the best books I have read this year. I am anxiously awaiting the next gothic novel from Wendy Webb. 

Vintage Alfred Hitchcock Movie Posters

Here at Mystery Playground, we're celebrating Alfred Hitchcock all month long, and today we've got all of these lovely vintage posters from some of our favorite movies. Don't you just love the one above of Cary Grant trying to out run a crop duster or The Birds, below?                    

This one is Dial M for Murder in French. 

And in English...

And who doesn't want to head to the French Riviera, To Catch a Thief? 

Path Into Darkness and the Irish Shillelagh

If you love the Irish, and even if you don't, you'll love Lisa Alber's new book, Path Into Darkness. Lisa is here today making Ireland-inspired cocktails today on Drinks with Reads.  

Third novel, third signature cocktail!

Unlike the previous two cocktails, which I also wrote about on this blog—thanks Deborah! —here and here, this time around I didn’t invent a new cocktail. I decided to go on a search for an Ireland-inspired cocktail.

I found one called the Irish Shillelagh (pronounced shuh-lay-lee). The word “shillelagh” means “cudgel.” I’m not sure what a cudgel has to do with drinking, except that drink enough of these and you’ll feel like you’ve been beaten about the head!

I thought the name was fairly apt considering that my third novel, PATH INTO DARKNESS, features an unusual murder implement made out of a hard wood, similar to cudgels. I won’t say anything more about my murdering tool, though. Hopefully, you’ll read the novel!

Here’s a little something about the novel:

A Haunting Tale of Family Secrets, Madness, and Healing

Lisfenora is known across the British Isles for its yearly matchmaking festival. But a local man’s murder and the grim discovery in his home have cast a somber mood over the town. Detective Sergeant Danny Ahern tries to make sense of the chaotic scene while struggling to set aside moral conflicts and grief for his comatose wife. Within days, he’s plunged into even darker terrain when the investigation leads him on a collision course with the Tate family: troubled Nathan, who conceals secrets within ghastly secrets, and beautiful Zoe, the daughter Nathan abandoned years ago.

In this “dark, compelling mystery” (Booklist), one man is propelled toward a tragic downfall while the other struggles to walk the narrow path between life and death.

And now for the drink!

Irish Shillelagh

Serves 1

4-6 crushed ice cubes

2 measures Irish whiskey

1 measure lemon juice

½ measure sloe gin

½ measure white run

½ tsp. simple syrup

½ peach, peeled, pitted, and finely chopped

2 raspberries, to decorate

1. 1. Put the crushed ice cubes into a blender and add the whiskey, lemon juice, sloe gin, rum, simple syrup, and chopped peach. Blend until smooth.
2. 2. Pour into a small, chilled highball glass and decorate with raspberries.

Slainte!

The Quiet Child by John Burley

Kerry Hammond takes us back to 1954 with a review of John Burley’s latest novel.

Yesterday we reviewed Rear Window, Alfred Hitchock’s 1954 classic film. What a coincidence that John Burley’s latest book The Quiet Child, which was released on August 8 by William Morrow, also takes place in 1954. This is Burley’s third book, all of them standalone novels of suspense. I read and enjoyed The Forgotten Place, and it made me eager to try the author’s latest novel.

The story takes place in the small town of Cottonwood, California and follows one family through a series of tragedies that culminates in the kidnapping of their two young sons. Cottonwood is a town full of despair. It has seen more than its fair share of illness, heartache, and death. The residents don’t think this is a coincidence, though. They blame a 6-year-old boy, Danny McCray, who hasn’t spoken a single word in his short life. A quiet child whose peculiarity breeds suspicion and blame.  

Danny’s own family isn’t immune to whatever plagues the town, and his mother is slowly dwindling away from a fatal disease. Keeping the family together falls on his father, until one day on his watch both Danny and his ten-year-old brother Sean are kidnapped. What follows is a search for the boys, with only their father and local law enforcement who really want their safe return.

The book was eerie and I had a hard time putting it down. I wouldn’t call it a mystery, but there were definitely elements of suspense and a twist or two. It really makes the reader think about the choices we make and brings up the question of what we might do in a similar situation. I think it also solidifies the concept that no matter what decision you make at any given time, there are consequences. Whether you can move on and accept those consequences is another matter. It's the kind of book that stays with you past the turn of the final page.