I can’t read Nero Wolfe mysteries, because of Archie Goodwin. But not for the reason you may think. I belong to an historical mystery book club, reading classics of the Golden Age. We tried our first Nero Wolfe last year, And Be a Villain, because someone wanted to read the one with “Wolfe’s Moriarty”, Arnold Zeck. I know several Sherlockians who are Wolfe Pack members, and I’ve been exposed to the theory that the detective is Mycroftian (a favorite character [...]

Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library is an adorable modern cozy with a strong sense of history. Tory Van Dyne is part of a rich New York family. Due to past trauma, her life has become small — she lives in a family home in Manhattan and restores old books. Don’t feel too sorry for her, though, because that building, thanks to her eccentric grandmother, also includes a perfect recreation of Agatha Christie’s home library, including the books she [...]

An overview of some mystery manga titles. Let’s start with the original detective. Manga Classics: Sherlock Holmes – A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by Crystal S. Chan, art by Julien Choy Manga Classics, $19.99 The first appearance of Sherlock Holmes is presented in full color. The storytelling and language are authentic, although the characters are drawn in manga style, with outrageous hair (Sherlock has a ponytail!) and dramatic outfits (including a bare-chested Holmes at breakfast!). There [...]

I will be presenting on “The Superhero Sherlock”, discussing whether Sherlock Holmes is a superhero and showing some of his encounters with the more traditional comic types, in Chicago on March 28 at 6:30 PM. It’s at the quarterly meeting of the Torists International, which requires a reservation and payment for the dinner at the Great Escape restaurant (9540 Irving Park Road, Schiller Park, Illinois). Email toristintss@gmail.com for more information, or PayPal that address $40 to attend ($35 if it’s [...]

I’d given up on The Drops of God manga series by Tadashi Agi and Shu Okimoto long before it concluded. I was glad to see Kodansha released it all digitally, but there was a lot of it, and it was substantially similar in structure, the amount of it I read. I came back to the sequel series, Drops of God: Mariage, because it has a twist I’m more interested in: pairing wine with food, the “marriage” of the two. I’m [...]

I found out about Wash It All Away by Mitsuru Hattori via The Manga Test Drive (an excellent review site). It’s about a young woman who runs a clenaners/laundry in a small seaside town known for its hot springs. That’s significant because, while I enjoyed the low-key, slow-paced, community feel — and the bits about cleaning techniques were interesting — we weren’t allowed to forget about the bathhouses because it’s apparently important to the series that we see our young [...]

In Creaky Acres, by Calista Brill and Nilah Magruder, Nora is upset at having to move. She’ll miss her riding lessons and her friends at the barn where she boards her horse. She’s a dressage champion, but her parents are moving her out to the country, where things are a bit more casual. And they don’t care much about competition events. The new riding school, Creaky Acres, has possums everywhere and a ragtag group of riders. Nora doesn’t fit in, [...]

Last week, Ngozi Ukazu revealed on socials that Check, Please!: Year Five, a brand new volume of Check, Please! will be serialized in 2026. With the popularity of MM hockey romance, driven by Heated Rivalry, this is perfect timing, and there’s clearly an audience for it. The strip is charming. The first collection of the webcomic came out in 2018, and I had the pleasure of chatting with Ukazu at this year’s Small Press Expo. You can view that panel [...]

Well, this justified staying on that crowdfunding mailing list, I guess. I have been notified that a new Sherlock Holmes comic called Holmes Undead is in the works. It’s created by “career martial artist and former professional wrestler Casus Belli”, written by Thomas Pugh, and illustrated by Virgilio Calgagno. In Holmes Undead, the vampire Moriarty bit Holmes, and now, in the modern day, the immortal detective works with Gionne Watson, descendent of John, in a story billed as “blood-soaked… gothic [...]

I wrote two posts about the British A Ghost Story for Christmas short TV film series for the Beat (because Heidi indulges me). The first is a brief overview of the history of A Ghost Story for Christmas. The second is about this year’s entry, The Room in the Tower, which I got to see earlier this month at the BFI preview showing, and I thought was the best yet.

The sequel to The Great British Bump-Off, a very British humor mystery comic I very much enjoyed, is now out. The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt is also set among crafters who behave in a very quirky, local, entertaining way. It’s written by John Allison with art by Max Sarin. Amateur detective Shauna Wickle is bidding farewell to a group of friends before setting off on a slow summer holiday on her uncle’s canal boat. (The group of [...]

I just found out about a movie coming out in May that I’m highly anticipating for the following reasons: It’s a murder mystery With Hugh Jackman And an impressive cast, including Emma Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, and Rhys Darby But best of all… talking sheep. Here’s the trailer. And the plot description: George (Hugh Jackman) is a shepherd who reads detective novels to his beloved sheep every night, assuming they can’t [...]