Carol Dickinson
2017-07-28 00:24:39 UTC
Well I've saved it on my TBR pile for a long time, but I finally picked up the last Steve Allen mystery.
I read my first Allen way back in the 60's and have enjoyed every one, not just the mysteries. His writing style was pretty much just like a conversation, the way he spoke in real life. Even his mysteries were written as if he was telling a story to a person on a TV show or in his living room. Especially the mysteries which he writes with himself and his wife Jayne as the detectives. And he throws in all the details of the celebrity life in Hollywood, New York and where he places the story.
My favorite had been "Murder on the Atlantic" which was based on a cruise ship, which makes it fit in the country house sub-genre. But by accident In saved "The Murder Game" for last and it definitely my new favorite. Unfortunately, this is the last one, and most of his are out of print. Unless you're an old geezer like me, they can't be appreciated anyway because you wouldn't know about places like the Brown Derby, TV shows like "What's my Line" and who the heck is Bennet Cerf, Dorothy Kilgallen or Bill Cullen, or the jokes about people confusing Jayne with her sister Audrey.
Just makes me feel sad that there will be more because as I've lamented frequently here, the modern crop of mystery writers on the cozy side that I prefer just don't have the pizzazz the writers from the previous century. I continue to try new authors but they all seem to fit under that "cookie cutter" label that Nyssa suggested.
After I finished "The Murder Game" last night I started the last Alisa Craig "The Grub and Stakers Spin a Yarn". Alisa Craig is a pen name for Charlotte MacLeod. Now the MacLeods I don't care for, but the goofy Craigs I did enjoy even though they are truly goofy, the characters have bizarre names, and the fictional small town in populated with a goofy populace. This is so far the funniest and the most tongue in cheek, and as I'm reading and laughing out loud, again I"m thinking, where are the new authors that can write this well.
Carol
I read my first Allen way back in the 60's and have enjoyed every one, not just the mysteries. His writing style was pretty much just like a conversation, the way he spoke in real life. Even his mysteries were written as if he was telling a story to a person on a TV show or in his living room. Especially the mysteries which he writes with himself and his wife Jayne as the detectives. And he throws in all the details of the celebrity life in Hollywood, New York and where he places the story.
My favorite had been "Murder on the Atlantic" which was based on a cruise ship, which makes it fit in the country house sub-genre. But by accident In saved "The Murder Game" for last and it definitely my new favorite. Unfortunately, this is the last one, and most of his are out of print. Unless you're an old geezer like me, they can't be appreciated anyway because you wouldn't know about places like the Brown Derby, TV shows like "What's my Line" and who the heck is Bennet Cerf, Dorothy Kilgallen or Bill Cullen, or the jokes about people confusing Jayne with her sister Audrey.
Just makes me feel sad that there will be more because as I've lamented frequently here, the modern crop of mystery writers on the cozy side that I prefer just don't have the pizzazz the writers from the previous century. I continue to try new authors but they all seem to fit under that "cookie cutter" label that Nyssa suggested.
After I finished "The Murder Game" last night I started the last Alisa Craig "The Grub and Stakers Spin a Yarn". Alisa Craig is a pen name for Charlotte MacLeod. Now the MacLeods I don't care for, but the goofy Craigs I did enjoy even though they are truly goofy, the characters have bizarre names, and the fictional small town in populated with a goofy populace. This is so far the funniest and the most tongue in cheek, and as I'm reading and laughing out loud, again I"m thinking, where are the new authors that can write this well.
Carol