Rudolph Fisher’s 1932 novel The Conjure Man Dies evokes both the Harlem Renaissance and Golden Age mysteries as well as embodying in important ways the more authentic voice of the streets that Dashiell Hammett had begun to make sing. Of course Fisher’s voice remains distinct from all of these: a polymath who studied to be…
Tag: crime fiction
Review: The Get Off – Christa Faust
The thriller killer trilogy ends with The Get Off. Angel Dare’s adventures began with Money Shot and continued with Choke Hold, the latter I read on a train ride in Finland and was so captivated with its breakneck pace that I immediately read it again. It’s hard to believe that Christa Faust can get even…
Surreal Noir Ep 5 on YT
EPISODE FIVE [Original air date 24 Nov 21] Episode Five: Noirvember musings include stalkers, loneliness, travel and cows. Well, one cow anyway. This month noir fans watch the whole range of films that fall under that capacious umbrella, often including neo-noir along with the traditional black and white films from the 40s and 50s. *Content cautions for…
Surreal Noir: 14 Sep 22
Tonight’s episode was inspired by seeing Loving Highsmith, so I chose to read at random from Patricia Highsmith’s diaries and journals. Her cahiers (as she always called them) came in two flavours: daily recaps of what she had done and where she had gone and how she felt about it all, and in the more…
Surreal Noir is back!
Back from our summer break it’s SURREAL NOIR crossing your airwaves once more at No Bounds Radio. Another jam-packed episode airs tonight, this time skewing more noir than surreal as most of the recent episodes have veered the other way. Tonight’s episode dwells on Letty Lynton, which you may recall is a film, a novel…
The Falcon Takes Over (1942)
A loose adaptation of Chandler’s Farewell My Lovely with George Sanders as the Falcon instead of Marlowe, which more or less means the same plot but instead of Marlowe muttering we have Sanders kissing all the girls — almost literally! And he swans about in his white tie and tails about which I’ve no complaint….
The Big Clock (1948)
THE BIG CLOCK (1948) is another John Farrow-directed noir(ish) and quite a bit snappier overall than NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES, though less interesting beyond that slick surface — but what a surface! Milland and Laughton of course, and a criminally underused O’Sullivan, but the shine is in the supporting cast who really give the…
Letty Lynton: Marie Belloc-Lowndes (1931)
On holiday so I am reading novels and watching fun things and yes, I was curious about the novel which (allegedly) inspired the film since they seemed a bit different — also there was that whole plagiarism case with the play that inspired the film Dishonoured Lady (1947) (again, I can only guess allegedly!). Having…
Letty Lynton (1932)
LETTY LYNTON (1932) I am on something of a Marie Belloc-Lowndes kick somewhat unexpectedly, though I didn’t write up The Lodger (1944) which I watched recently because I thought I had seen it but I hadn’t. With Merle Oberon as the vivacious Kitty, George Sanders as the sleuthing Inspector Warwick and a swivel-eyed Laird Cregar…
Out Now: All Due Respect 2021
Out Now: the 2021 collection of stories from All Due Respect, which includes my tale ‘Squid Lord’ which — wait for it — was inspired by a song from The Fall. Of course. Links when it is available for sale. What’s the story about? A fellah who’s out of work, annoyed by his wife’s worship…