Serving Up A Slice of Blackberry Pie A La Mode

Earlier this morning as I was doing the final round of edits on my next mystery title, I happened to think of a slice of blackberry pie, always good eating even before breakfast. It's late in the summer for blackberries, which are usually in season back in July. When I was a kid, we used to pick wild blackberries by the bucketful. My mother froze them for wintertime eating and used the others to bake pies. The juicy fruit part of the berries is sweet, but the berries also contain lots of pits (seeds). Anyway, the wild blackberries grew everywhere (we lived in the country). Nowadays, I see pint cartons of domestic blackberries out for sale at the Farmers' Market. They're bigger and plumper than the wild ones are. The vendors ask for a steep price, but then the blackberries are probably handpicked, and I know that's hard work.

Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons.

Pour Another Iced Tea And Turn The Page

Summertime has reached the dog days of August, and I can't think of a much better hot weather beverage than a tall glass of iced tea. I like mine served sweetened with a lemon or lime wedge hooked over the top rim. I used to drink iced tea for my dinner, but the caffeine in it now keeps me awake at nights, so I have to take mine for lunch, which is just as seems just as good.

I checked around on the internet to see which celebrities, dead and alive, who also enjoy their spot of tea, iced or hot. Taylor Swift surprised me, for one. I like her catchy songs. Sean Connery didn't surprise, and the same goes for Mick Jagger. But Jimi Hendrix gave me pause. When in Britain, do as the British, I suppose.

When I was a kid, I remember reading books during the summer months while drinking iced tea. Maybe it makes reading books more enjoyable. I'll have to try it someday when I get a free summer afternoon to sit out on the patio with a favorite book to read without any interruptions.                 
Photo credit: Publicdomainpictures.com

The Perils of the Daily Pedestrian

Earlier this summer, the local cops installed one of those portable radar units that flashes your oncoming speed as you drive up on it. An email went out to all the residents in our neighborhood that the purpose was to encourage the motorists on the street to slow down. Residents on the street had complained about the speeders.

The street, you see, is a cut-through motorists use to avoid having to wait at the traffic light down at the nearby intersection. The street sort of shaves off the corner, so it is a timesaver for morning commuters trying to get to work on time. The residents have children. I know because I see them every day when I go that way on my walk.

I don't know if the radar unit was a success or not. It's gone down now. I guess it appeased the residents for the time being. The cars passing me on the street seem to go the same speed as before the radar unit went up. I would've put it up after the vacation season ends following Labor Day when more commuters are using the street. I don't think the commuters are speeding so much as they're inattentive while on their smart phones texting, or whatever. Maybe the cops wanted commuters to slow down before school opens.

"Hey, let's be careful out there," as Sergeant Phil Esterhaus used to say on Hill Street Blues.

Check Out the New Front Cover Made for My Private Eye Novel

Earlier this summer, I posted a blog to reveal the new front cover to my private eye novel After the Big Noise. My private eye Frank Johnson is one of the original characters I created when I started writing commercial fiction two decades ago. We sort of grew up together in print you might say. Frank's life has been much more dangerous and exciting than mine. He's the kind of guy you might sit down and have a steak dinner with in a small restaurant. He's not a tough guy, a lady's man, or a weapon's expert. He's just hardboiled Frank Johnson who gets the job done. He's sleuthed his way through six books, and After the Big Noise is latest title in his series I've published.

AFTER THE BIG NOISE can be bought at Amazon Books or Barnes & Noble Books.

Meet the Three Musketeers in My Cozy Mystery Series

This week I've been working on the next title, SWEET BETSY, in my Isabel and Alma Trumbo Cozy Mystery Series. Three of the recurring minor characters in the series are known as "The Three Musketeers." Ossie, Blue, and Willie are spry octogenarians who like to spend their days sitting on the wooden bench situated in front of the flower shop down on Main Street. Willie's niece Corina runs the flower shop, so they won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

The three gentlemen made their first appearance in the debut series title Quiet Anchorage. Since then, their involvement in the different plots has been growing. They are Isabel and Alma's "eyes and ears" on Main Street. They are also the Trumbo sisters's good friends who enjoy their company.

While Isabel and Alma are based on real people (my aunts who are now deceased), the Three Musketeers are colorful characters I just made up. Readers have said they like the interactions between the Three Musketeers and the Trumbo sisters because they add a lot of good humor to my cozy mystery series.

A Crepe Myrtle Summer

This summer, for some reason, the crepe myrtle has been unusually striking and vivid. I've noticed it while out doing my roadwork (i.e., walking) around our neighborhood. You might know it better as summer lilac. There might be other names for the flowering bush, too. We had a crepe myrtle bush at our previous house, and I remember the Japanese beetles loved eating it. Actually, it can grow to more than just a bush, as I've seen the crepe myrtle as large as a small tree. Our present yard is much smaller, and I don't have enough real estate to plant anything new in it. The crepe myrtle flower seems to bloom in different shades of red and purple. I don't remember it as being a high maintenance bush, so maybe that is part of its appeal and popularity. Many of our neighbors have it growing in their yards. I suppose you may be able to buy it at your local plant nursery. If we get our lot cleared off any, I may look into buying a plant or two of it to enjoy next summer. And the summers after that.
   
Photo credit: Public Domain.

The Funny Puns Used For Cozy Mystery Titles

One of the interesting trends seen in mysteries has been the increasing use of colorful, humorous puns for the titles of cozies. I'm writing two such series at the moment, and, so far, I've resisted adopting a pun for any of my titles.

Puns are fun, however, I'm not really good at coming up with clever puns. The good ones make you chuckle at first reading them. Well, that will change with an upcoming Isabel & Alma Trumbo cozy mystery title. But more about that in my later blog posts.

I often find puns coming up while I'm writing my books's drafts. The puns just sort of arise in the flow of the prose I'm writing. Sometimes I don't see the puns until later on while I'm revising my work. I usually strike out the puns unless I can use it in a refreshingly humorous way.

The other problem I've encountered with using puns for titles is the number of characters in the title grows longer. When you're looking at thumbnail-sized ebook covers, a long title becomes a more difficult problem in making it all fit in the small space along with the author's name. My name (ED LYNSKEY) uses ten characters. Anyway, those are my thoughts today on puns.

My Lady Sleuths Are Also Big Mystery Readers

My sister sleuths Isabel and Alma Trumbo who live in the small town of Quiet Anchorage, Virginia, are also big mystery fans and readers. They have a personal library containing all the mysteries they've ever read on its bookshelves. They keep the mysteries in case they ever want to reread one. I don't know how their library is large enough to hold the mysteries they've read since it must run in the thousands, but we're talking about fiction, so I can take a few author liberties for the sake of telling a story.

I include throughout my cozy titles the parts where Isabel and Alma enthusiastically talk about the mysteries they're currently reading. Readers like to discuss their favorite books. Isabel and Alma have pretty wide tastes in their favorite genre, but they tend to stick with female authors from the past and are now deceased. One such author is Dorothy Uhnak. You can click on her name which is a link to the interview I conducted with her a couple of years before her passing away in 2006. Margaret Millar (1915-94) and Dolores Hitchens (1907-73) are two mystery authors Isabel and Alma discuss. I won't mention the other authors here.

I don't include too many book discussions to interfere with Isabel and Alma's sleuthing adventures. After all, they're solving crimes more than they're reading about them. But their book discussions are an extra bit of fun. Isabel and Alma's sleuthing and reading adventures begin with Book #1 in the cozy series, Quiet Anchorage.

Photo credit: Martha Rosler Library. Public domain.

Makeover Cover Reveal to My Latest Cozy Mystery Series Title

This week I spiffed up my front cover to my latest ebook, The Amber Top Hat: Book 4 of the Isabel & Alma Trumbo Cozy Mystery Series, and released its new front cover. It depicts the murder victim's crayon drawing as a kid of a taxicab's roof sign, also known as the top hat in the cabbies's trade lingo. Ralph Blue dreams of driving his own taxicab, and when he grows up, he buys one to serve the good folks of Quiet Anchorage, Virginia, the small town where he lives. When he's found murdered inside of his taxicab, it's time for Isabel and Alma, our feisty and funny sister sleuths who live in the brick rambler on Church Street, to get busy with their proven detective skills. Of course, they also have to deal with their bumbling and often contrary Sheriff Fox. I included more small town humor in The Amber Top Hat because Isabel and Alma never take themselves too seriously while they snoop for the right clues and leads to unmask Ralph's killer. All of my cozy mysteries are fair play and clean reads. Here's a sample taken from Chapter 1 of The Amber Top Hat:

Alma was quick on the nod, thrilled the chase was on again. “Righter than rain, Isabel,” she said.

“Don’t forget three Trumbos sleuth on your behalf.”

“That’s right.” Blue smiled for the first time. “I get three for the price of one.”

“You didn’t let me finish,” Alma said. “We’ll also call on Sammi Jo and Phyllis Garner as well as Petey Samson. He’s getting his beauty rest but don’t let that mislead you. He’s a ball of fire bloodhound when he’s called upon.”

“Is Petey Samson a bloodhound for real?” Blue asked. “I could’ve sworn he’s a mixed breed, what my folks used to call a pound mutt.”

“Oh, brother,” Alma said. “I wished you hadn’t said that.”

“I’ll have you know Petey Samson is no pound mutt,” Isabel said, shaking her finger at Blue. “His best breeding lies in his bloodhound line,” she said.

“I didn’t know that,” Blue said.

“Pay no mind to Isabel,” Alma said. “She’s just overprotective of her fur baby.”

I hope you enjoyed reading my sample. Please consider reading The Amber Top Hat with your other summer books. Thanks for your interest in my cozy mystery series.

Ed Lynskey
Author of the Isabel & Alma Trumbo Cozy Mystery Series

The Firefly Days of Summer Are Here Again

The other evening, I went downstairs and noticed a bunch of tiny sparks of light floating in air just outside our patio glass door. I knew the fireflies were back and flying around with their strange but fascinating ability to make their bodies glow in the dark. I've heard them also called lightning bugs and tinsel bugs. You might have your own name for them. Anyway, it wasn't quite dark yet with the long days of June here, maybe around eight-thirty or so. They remind me of E.T.'s glowing fingertip. When I was a kid, the fireflies were lots of fun to watch and try to catch in a Mason jar. I guess they intrigue all kids, even those who aren't bug fans. I live in the suburbs now, so I'm glad and grateful the fireflies are still around to watch and remind me of my misspent youth. Nowadays, I just let the fireflies be and enjoy watching their glimmering ritual for a couple of weeks, if that, each summer about this time. Are you a firefly fan? Or are they found in your corner of the world?

Tuesday's Forgotten Movies: Cry Danger Starring Dick Powell

This fairly suspenseful, well-made 1951 crime drama stars Dick Powell as Rocky Mulloy, an ex-con who is sprung from prison when a former Marine (Richard Erdman) steps up and offers him an alibi for an old stickup that went south. Rocky's partner Danny is still in the slammer, so Rocky wants to do some checking around since he was framed for the stickup where a guard was shot and killed. Danny's wife played by the gorgeous and talented Rhonda Fleming is also Rocky's old flame, so he's still stuck on her. Fleming deserves mention here again as one of the most underutilized actresses of her era. William Conrad plays the big shot crime chief who sent Rocky up the river. I always think of Conrad as the TV private eye Cannon, not as a villain. Powell is low-keyed, smooth, and tough, as he always is in these crime movies. He gets to say lots of snappy hardboiled dialogue that isn't too corny. Regis Toomey plays the tenacious cop who wants to recover the stolen 100 grand. Lots of great photography is shown of 1950s Los Angeles locales, including a trailer park. It was fun to watch a great cast deliver a solid movie that while not flashy or violent was still entertaining.

Bear Claws And My Cozy Mystery Series

I've been revising the latest book (Number 6!) in my Isabel & Alma Trumbo Cozy Mystery Series, and I came across a scene where Alma decides to order bear claws, one of her guilty pleasures. What are bear claws? They're a type of Danish pastry shaped like, well, a bear claw. I've seen them out for sale in the pastry section at our local Panera. Bear claws might be also offered in the local bakeries as well as the doughnut shops.  Wikipedia mentions bear claws have almond paste and raisins in them. I'm a big coffee drinker, so they look as if they'd go nicely with a hot cup of joe. Wikipedia also says the term "bear claw" is a regional dialect, maybe from the American South. I wouldn't be surprised if it's used more widely. Have you either eaten or heard of bear claws? My sister sleuth Alma begins eating bear claws in Book #1, [book:Quiet Anchorage|10530870], of the Trumbo sister cozy mystery series. Bon appétit!

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The House On 92nd Street

This 1946 well-done espionage film was made with the assistance of the FBI and even includes an opening shot of J. Edgar Hoover seated at his desk running the operations. Lloyd Nolan, who I enjoyed in his playing Mike Shayne, is an FBI Inspector in charge of pursuing the Nazi spies at work in the USA. They are trying to steal the atomic bomb secrets, and it's up to the FBI to infiltrate and bust up their spy ring. There is a lot of state-of-the-art CSI science shown, all of which looks pretty archaic by today's standards. The actress playing the Gestapo officer is pretty menacing, and the Nazi thugs do a good job of showing how far they'd go to get the bomb-making secrets. Signe Hasso is the attractive, smart Nazi ringleader. I've seen a number of these wartime semi-documentary style movies, and this one is better than most are. Of course, there's a lot of patriotism, and the good guys win. Nonetheless, I found it an entertaining movie.

Introducing Petey Samson, My First Cozy Mystery Series's Star Beagle

Petey Samson is the pet beagle found in my Isabel & Alma Trumbo Cozy Mystery Series. He is spoiled, lovable, and playful. Isabel is especially fond of him, and he can do no wrong in her eyes. He pretty much has the run of their brick rambler found on Church Street in the small town of Quiet Anchorage, Virginia. How can she not love the rascal? Petey Samson also has a keen nose able to pick up scents. So, Isabel puts him to work. He plays a key role in helping them to solve the murder mystery in The Ladybug Song. If you are a dog lover, and you enjoy reading books with a pooch playing a role in them, Isabel and Alma's mysteries should be the right ones for adding to your summer reading list.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Born to Kill (1947)

This gritty, well-acted film noir from 1947 is directed by the reliable Robert Wise. The main stars are Lawrence Tierney, Claire Trevor, and Walter Slezak. But the weasel-faced great character actor Elisha Cook, Jr. steals the show for me. Tierney had a long acting career including a fine role in a 1990 Seinfeld episode. In this film he does a lot of shifty eye mannerisms and speaks in clipped dialogue. The never colder Claire Trevor is the femme fatale of femme fatales. Walter Slezak plays the bible-quoting, seedy private eye. Esther Howard plays the perfect floozy who is determined to solve the murder. The film, considered by many as a classic, is a lot of fun to watch.

Tuesday's Forgotten Movies: Ministry of Fear Directed by Fritz Lang

I've been a big fan of Director Fritz Lang's movies for some time, and I never pass up the chance to watch a new one (for me, at least) like Ministry of Fear based on Graham Greene's novel. Throw in the talented Dan Duryea playing a bit role, and I've simply got to watch it. I wasn't disappointed in this atmospheric espionage drama involving Nazi spies, desired objects smuggled in baked cakes, and a most odd first editions bookstore. Ray Milland plays a likeable protagonist, and the lovely Marjorie Reynolds is his romantic interest. Lang does some artful things with the camerawork, and the pace moves right along. I haven't read Greene's book, so I don't know how faithfully the movies follows his work of fiction. While Ministry of Fear doesn't rate as high as the classic The Third Man (Greene wrote the screenplay, then the novel) does, I enjoyed watching it just the same. You might, too.

Tuesday's Forgotten Movies: The Prowler Starring Van Heflin

I'm a bit late with this post, but better late than never, as they say. This gritty, well-acted 1951 film noir stars Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes playing in meaty roles as the romantic interests. Both competent actors are very fine. I've seen them in other movies but always as support players and never as the dramatic leads. When Susan Gilvray (Keyes) reports a prowler she thinks she has spotted outside her house, the police officer Webb Garwood (Heflin) arrives and investigates. Susan is a lonely, rich housewife, and Webb is a greedy ex-jock. When they meet, the love/lust bug bites them. Of course, Susan is married, and Webb strings Susan along until he can figure out how to do away with hubbie and get away with it. Everything goes smoothly until new complications develop, and the lovers have flee to a deserted old mining town where things really come unraveled. Their roughing it while staying at the primitive mining camp is somewhat puzzling, since their clothes never get dirty, and they eat rather well. John Maxwell also stars, and the uncredited Dalton Trumbo wrote the snappy script. He also is the voice behind Susan's hubbie who has a popular radio show. IMDb.com gives The Prowler an impressive 7.3/10 rating, and I'd concur with it.

Introducing My New Cozy Mystery Title: THE AMBER TOP HAT

They're back...Isabel & Alma are sleuthing again. Quiet Anchorage, Virginia, is just like any other small town but with one notable difference: the dead bodies keep turning up. Fortunately, Sheriff Roscoe Fox, who never met a sugar-glazed doughnut served with coffee he didn’t like, can depend on the sisters sleuths Isabel and Alma Trumbo. This time tragedy strikes Blue Trent, one of the codgers affectionately known as the Three Musketeers who warm the wooden bench just outside the flower shop on Main Street. One summer morning, Blue’s nephew Ralph is discovered murdered while seated inside his taxicab, leaving Blue devastated. Alarmed about their old friend’s emotional state, Isabel and Alma put away their Scrabble board, grab their pocketbooks, and get busy doing what they do best: snooping. The clues have never been any scarcer, and they have their detective work cut out for them. Their spunky young assistant Sammi Jo also pitches in. The amber “top hat” sign mounted to the roof of Ralph’s taxicab just might hold the key to unlock the mystery of his murder. The fourth series title, The Amber Top Hat is a clean read and a traditional whodunit set in a charming small town. Join Isabel and Alma when they set off on solving their latest mystery as amateur sleuths that is as fun and challenging for them as it is for the reader.

A Cozy Place Where The Sun Always Shines

One of the things I've discovered is casting my story on a sunny, clear day sets a cheerier mood and creates more likeable characters than a story that happens on a rainy, dreary day. It only makes sense. So, I decided to just use bright sunny days in my two cozy mystery series. Furthermore, I also decided I'd set my cozies in the good, old summertime of the year. This idea is especially appealing when I sit and write the cozy title during the cold wintertime. My latest cozy title is The Corpse Wore Gingham, the first book in my Piper & Bill Robins Cozy Mystery Series. The sun is always shining down on Piper and Bill.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The Killers Starring Burt Lancaster

This 1946 film noir classic is hardly a forgotten movie, but I saw it for the first time, and liked it fine. It stars Burt Lancaster in his movie debut, the drop-dead gorgeous Ava Gardner, and Edmond O'Brien. William Conrad plays one of the killers sent to blow away Ole "The Swede" Andreson (Lancaster). I've seen Conrad in quite a few films noir, and he's always reliable. From what I remember of the famous Ernest Hemingway short story, the movie provides the back story of what may have transpired before the execution takes place. Life insurance investigator Jim Reardon (O'Brien) draws the assignment to investigate the murder since Ole took out a $2,500 insurance policy. Reardon gets an able assist from an old neighborhood pal of Ole's, Police Lieutenant Sam Lubinsky played by the droll Sam Levene. Ava Gardner plays the femme fatale Kitty Collins who Ole has the misfortune to fall deeply in love with enough to take a three-year prison rap for her. Lancaster played his role rather understated while O'Brien did a solid job playing the persistent, tough-nosed insurance detective. The narration is told through an interesting series of flashbacks, and the plot is complicated by crosses and double crosses. For the most part, I could follow the bouncing ball of the plot. Where did the stolen dough end up is the question I kept asking myself. By the final scene, I found out the answer. The Killers is a quite enjoyable movie and worth seeing for a second time.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The Lineup Starring Eli Wallach

This rather late entry in the film noir genre was directed by the stalwart Don Siegel in 1958 and stars a manic Eli Wallach and a suave Robert Keith as partners and hit men. I've enjoyed Don Siegel's other crime pictures, and this one didn't leave me disappointed either. The cops-and-robbers chase scene finale on the unfinished Embarcadero Freeway is alone worth the time spent watching The Lineup. Wallach and the older Keith (playing Wallach's mentor) show up in San Francisco where the film is shot on location as a pair of psychopathic hit men. Their task is to make a pick up of heroin smuggled into the country by unsuspecting tourists who just disembarked from a cruise ship back from the Orient. What makes the hit men so fascinating (remember this picture is from 1958) is how their casual violence is portrayed. For some screwy and creepy reason, Keith always wants to know the dying words of their victims. One thing I noticed was the cops having to use the police call boxes on the streets to reach the station house except for the motorcycle cop who uses the radio on his bike. Also, I saw a dirigible (or is it a UFO?) floating above the Golden Gate Bridge in one of the scenes. The thing hovering in the sky really bugged me. didn't the film editors catch it before releasing the movie to the public? Stirling Silliphant (he once won an Edgar Award from MWA) wrote the sturdy script. Anyway, I enjoyed watching The Lineup, and you might, too.

Welcome To The Small Town I Call Quiet Anchorage

As far as I know, no small town exists that is named Quiet Anchorage. I googled it, too. There is just plain Anchorage up in Alaska, but I can find no Quiet Anchorage. But it's my literary small town. I don't remember how I derived the small town's name. Maybe I spotted the nautical term—quiet anchorage—used somewhere in my reading and adopted it. I know the small town’s creation came from my recollections of having grown up in a similar rural town found in northern Virginia.

Main Street is where much of the action takes place in the Quiet Anchorage of my Isabel & Alma Trumbo Cozy Mystery Series. The sun is always shining there. Really. It never rains. A wooden bench is situated in front of the flower shop where the three well-liked codgers--Willie, Blue, and Ossie--like to sit and watch everything going on. Nothing much gets by them.

A softball pitch down the street is the town pharmacy where prescription medicine is sold at the pharmacy counter and banana splits at the soda fountain counter. Naturally, a railroad track runs through one end of Quiet Anchorage. Following the scheduled trains's whistles plays a large part in the townies's (i.e., the residents) daily routines.

There is a men's barbershop and a lady's hair salon, though you won't find many scenes taking place there. I think the settings have been overused. Instead, the laundromat is where the always busy but friendly pair of lady gossips--Lotus and Rosie--hang out, catching up on the latest news. If you need groceries, the IGA should suit your shopping needs. The proprietor--Jumpy--is a burly man with a quick smile and a sales pitch for his lamb chop specials.

Several blocks over from Main Street is Church Street with a brick rambler and a powder blue sedan parked in the driveway. My sister sleuths Isabel and Alma Trumbo reside there with their lovable beagle named Petey Samson (yes, he uses two names as I tell why in my book). Isabel is older and wiser while Alma sometimes goes off half-cocked.

They spend a lot of their time doing stuff on Main Street. You can read about their start as a pair of sleuths in the first book Quiet Anchorage, which is named after their small town. Now you know all about Quiet Anchorage. I hope you'll stop by for a read.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Chicago Syndicate Starring Dennis O'Keefe

This uninspired 1955 mob film stars Dennis O'Keefe, Xavier Cugat, Allison Hayes, and Abbe Lane. O'Keefe, a veteran actor I've enjoyed watching in other crime films, plays a tough guy CPA who infiltrates the Chicago mob to get the right damning ledgers from a mob boss played by Paul Stewart. Allison Hayes plays the daughter of the previous accountant who was exposed while working undercover and gunned down. I won't reveal more about the plot so as not to be a spoiler. Xavier's flashy band does a couple of snappy numbers, and his then-wife Abbe Lane sings a song. Lane is the gangster's girlfriend who knows more about the shady operations than she lets on. Carl Sandburg's famous poem "Chicago" is quoted at the beginning narration to help to set up the movie in the city of the same name. IMDb.com rates Chicago Syndicate at 6.5/10 which sounds like a fair mark to me. Enjoyable but nothing really special.

Married Couples Who Like To Read Books

While I was developing the personality profiles for my married couple who are the mature sleuths featured in my second cozy mystery series, I debated over whether to make the husband and wife as fellow book lovers. In the end, I decided to do it, but I let the husband Bill Robins read his favorite types of books (military, hardboiled, etc.) while his wife Piper Robins read her preferred fiction genres (chick lit, cozy mysteries, etc.). I thought it was an effective way to show their common interests besides just their being sleuths in the series. Their first cozy mystery title is The Corpse Wore Gingham.

I wonder how often do the married couples in real life share a mutual passion for reading books. Is "the he/she must be a reader" on the list of desired traits for finding a mate? :-) My wife and I, for instance, both enjoy reading books, and we recommend titles to each other we think the other might also enjoy reading. Our reading tastes are similar, though I lean more toward nonfiction such as sports and history. We go to the library and to the bookstores together. I just read my first "fun book" this year, an Anne George mystery Murder Boogies With Elvis, which I enjoyed and recommend to other mystery lovers.

Does your significant other also enjoy reading books? Do you read the same types of books?

Tuesday's Forgotten Films: The Good Die Young Starring Gloria Grahame

This gritty 1954 crime drama stars Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, John Ireland, Joan Collins, Stanley Baker and Richard Basehart. Robert Morley and Margaret Leighton also are featured. What a good cast. Lewis Gilbert who went on to helm movies like Alfie and James Bonds was the director. Maybe the American actors (Grahame, Ireland, Basehart) were included to make the British production appealing more to the U.S. viewers. The straightforward story involves four men who are strangers hooking up to rob the post office with Harvey as their ringleader. Three men are basically good but need the money for various important reasons. Harvey is a good-for-nothing playboy who was decorated in the war for dubious valor. Each of the men have wives who are also good and bad. Grahame and Collins do a nice job in their roles. Everything climaxes at Heathrow Airport. I got a big kick out of watching The Good Die Young.