Tag Archives: mystery books

December 31, 2020

Whither 2020

I think we all agree 2020 has been, as the curse puts it, an “interesting” year. Going into it, I had intentions about making changes. Most fell by the wayside due to COVID-19; I still haven’t taken the bus to watch the St. Paul Saints play. Or the bus-light rail combo to Target Field.

As a life long hard-core introvert, “social isolation” mostly meant I shopped for groceries less often but stocked up more when I did. The pain was fewer occasions of meeting a friend for tasty food, drink, and chat. I’m really looking forward to dining out again.

All-in-all, the last four years, this year… It’s been exhausting.

20 Comments | tags: 2020, BOOL, library, mystery books, quantum computing, quantum mechanics, science fiction books, Twins 2020 | posted in Life

September 28, 2020

Agatha Christie

By Wyrd Smythe

Shakespeare talked about the ages of man, and it’s well known that age seems to revert us to our youth. The last handful of years that’s been true for me with regard to mystery authors. For the first time in many decades I’m reading (or rather re-reading) Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey), Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe), and others from my past.

This month I’ve been enjoying Agatha Christie and her Hercule Poirot novels. I got into them after finishing a collection of 51 short stories starring her famous Belgian detective (with his “egg-shaped head” and giant mustaches). Reading those put me in the mood to revisit the novels.

And I must say I’ve been thoroughly enjoying them!

32 Comments | tags: Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot, murder mysteries, mystery books | posted in Books, Mystery Monday, Writing

December 9, 2019

Nero and Archie

By Wyrd Smythe

Science fiction has been a deep part of my life since I was a child. I discovered it early and have been reading it ever since I started picking my own reading material. As a consequence, I’ve written a lot of posts on various SF topics, but somehow I’ve never gotten around to writing much about my other favorite genre: detective stories.

As with the SF, I discovered Sherlock Holmes early, along with the Agatha Christie detectives, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. I fell in love with the idea of the puzzle-solving detective. (I also had a crush on Nancy Drew, but that was a whole other kind of interest.)

Then my dad, who also loved mysteries, introduced me to Rex Stout…

25 Comments | tags: Archie Goodwin, detective books, murder mysteries, mystery books, Nero Wolfe, Rex Stout | posted in Books, Mystery Monday

October 3, 2019

The Playfair Cipher

By Wyrd Smythe

Code master Wheatstone

Among my second tier interests are murder mysteries, detective stories, and cryptography. The first typically includes the second, but there are many detective stories that don’t involve murder. Two of my favorite detectives, Spenser (by Robert B. Parker) and V.I. Warshawski (by Sara Paretsky), often have cases not involving murder.

The third interest I listed, cryptography, doesn’t usually coincide with the first two, but it did play a role in a recent locked-room murder mystery involving the delightful amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey (by Dorothy L. Sayers). While I’ve always enjoyed secret codes, I’d never heard of the cipher Sayers used — the Playfair cipher.

It dates back to 1854, and is kind of cool, so I thought I’d share it.

5 Comments | tags: cipher, code, decipher, detective books, Dorothy L. Sayers, Lord Peter Wimsey, mystery books, secret codes, substitution cipher | posted in Basics, Books