Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Mystery Wednesday



Welcome back to Mystery Wednesday where I run down the best of the best in crime fiction happenings. Let's start out with TV this week, since one of my favorites -- The Americans, returns tonight on Fox (10pm ET, 9pm CT) for it's sixth and final season. 

In the fictional world of Russian sleeper spies, Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings, two years have passed since season five when Gabriel went home to Russia and daughter Paige started her training to possibly join her parents in their spy exploits. It's still the 1980s, and there's a lot at stake for our fake Americans. Will they stay married? Will they turn against one another and mother Russia? If they do will they leave their son here in the custody of their favorite FBI agent and neighbor, Stan? Or will they go back home and lead a quiet life of trying to find fruit at the grocery store. 

I can't wait to find out. 

Everytime I think of this season, one of my favorite short stories pops into my head, The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. That isn't such good news for the Jennings.

Here's the trailer for this season:


If you love thrillers and haven't watched The Americans, it's time to start at season one, episode one and binge your way through until you catch up. And while you're at it you might want to make some Russian cabbage soup. 

Agatha Award Nominees for Short Stories...

After you're done catching up with The Americans, you might want to read through all of the excellent short story nominees for this year's Agatha Award. All of the nominated short stories are free to access at the links below. It's a great bunch of stories and I'm thrilled to see three of our favorite Mystery Playground Drinks with Reads posters nominated -- Art Taylor, Debra Goldstein and Gigi Pandian


Best Short Story

"Double Deck the Halls" by Gretchen Archer (Henery Press)
Whose Wine is it Anyway by Barb Goffman in 50 Shades of Cabernet (Koehler Books)
The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s Place by Debra Goldstein in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (May/June 2017)
The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn by Gigi Pandian (Henery Press)
A Necessary Ingredient by Art Taylor in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Seat (Down & Out Books)

Need a Great Read...



If you need something a little longer to keep you entertained, my mom has hte book recommendation for you -- AJ Finn's, Woman in the Window. I will admit that I haven't read it yet, but it's in my bag for my next airplane ride when I will have hours of un-interupted reading time. The book is a re-telling of Hitchcock's Rear Window and trust me when I say that my mom is one tough audience. She reads everything, and isn't afraid to critique. If she says you can't put a book down, you can't put it down. And there's already a movie in the works frlomt he director of Darkest Hour, according to the Hollywood Reporter. If you've already read the book, tell us what you thought below. 

That's it for this week. See you next Wednesday,

Deborah Lacy





3 comments:

  1. Love the Americans and so glad it is back. I have The Woman in the Window on my TBR pile. I've heard it is fantastic. Plus I trust your mom's opinion!

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  2. Looking forward to The Americans returning, too. Also a thank you for constantly introducing your readers/subscribers (and I proudly count myself in that group) to new writers and works (count myself there, too). Appreciate you sharing the five Agatha nominated stories and their links...

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