This blog passed a plateau yesterday that had never been reached before, not even close. Tuesday was the first day that over 1000 visitors checked in, 1005 in all. The previous high was somewhere just over 800, so you can see what an achievement this was.

A good chunk of the traffic came to read Michael Shonk’s recent article about the 1959-60 season of the Philip Marlowe TV show, but congratulations and thanks go to all of the contributors to this blog. It couldn’t have been done without you!

If you ever get tired of reading about mysteries, old movies and old TV shows (and some new ones too), could I make a couple of suggestions?

My daughter Sarah’s blog, Reading the Past, focuses on Historical Fiction, with loads of penetrating reviews, insightful interviews, and previews of forthcoming books, lots and lots of them.

And my son Jonathan has a new website, Financial Review of Books, which is exactly as it says. If you’re interested in up to date discussions of derivatives, economic theory, tax policy and the world of finance, his site is the place to go.

Hurricane Irene is all but over where we are, and we made it through OK. The predictions had the storm aimed straight toward Connecticut all week long, and they were right. But hitting land a couple times along the way took its toll on Irene, and by the time it got here it had been downgraded to “only” a tropical storm.

The rain has stopped and there’s a hint of sun shining through the clouds, but with the center of the storm going north, the winds coming around the southern side are starting to blow, with some strong gusts making the house shake every so often.

We didn’t lose power, as I was sure we would, but with the ground soft and the wind still strong, there’s a chance that some falling trees will take some power lines with them. There are some 800,000 people without power, just here in Connecticut. The state is pretty much a mess. What it’s like lower down the Atlantic coast, I hate to think.

I’ll be taking the next couple of weeks off from blogging. I’ll be back after Labor Day. See you then!

      NEW MYSTERY BLOG:

   Few publishers promote their books better than Macmillan’s Tor Books. Tor.com is a must stop for any fan of science fiction or fantasy. Tor has a sister imprint, Forge that is focused on the mystery genre. Finally, Tor.com has a sister.com as well. CriminalElement.com is ready to entertain and inform the mystery fan.

   Posts dating back to Saturday, April 23, 2011 (or a few days ago) already offer mystery fans much to enjoy. Joseph Finder writing about thrillers. Hard Case Crime’s Charles Ardai discussing how he failed to get the rights to republish a few of his pulp favorites. Ho-Ling Wong examining the Japanese detective sub-genre.

   Leslie Gilbert Elman presenting a strong defense for pet cozy books to get some respect. There are reviews, a contest, and even an excerpt from Janice Hamrick’s Death on Tour.

   http://www.criminalelement.com

      HARRY O:

   According to tvshowsondvd.com, Smile Jenny, You’re Dead, aka the second TV-Movie pilot for the TV series Harry O, will be available on DVD in early May.

   Warner Archives Collection will offer it at its site on demand. So it may be exclusive to the WBShop.com in the beginning.

   http://www.tvshowsondvd.com
   
http://www.wbshop.com/Smile-Jenny-Youre-Dead-1974TV/1000205559,default,pd.html?AID=10811526&PID=3821628

   In the world of fiction, there is a black door. The door stands alone. To its left is a beautiful garden lit in soft focus sunshine. To its right, ugly weeds force themselves up through broken concrete in the blackest of night. Open the door and you will find yourself in the Home of Mystery.

   Designed from plans stolen from the Doctor in the Home of Science Fiction, it is larger inside than outside. The Home of Mystery is endless and defies all laws of science. Sub-genres merge and separate. Writers, characters, and books can exist in more than one place at the same time.

   I head for the comedy mystery wing, a multi-floor structure. The classic era is on the bottom floor, but I take the stairs to the modern era one floor above.

   I am in a hallway, cozies to my left, hardboiled to my right. I look to my left and pass doors for other sub-genres, “little old ladies,” “pets,”, and “special interests.” Finally, I see a lavender door covered by a cartoonist drawing of a thin perky young female in a short dress. I have found what I was looking for, the Modern Romance Comedy Mystery. I knock.

   A pretty Heroine greets me. She stares at me suspiciously and tells me that Men’s Adventure Pulp is across the hall. I explain how much I enjoyed Hailey Lind’s (Julie Goodson-Lawes and Carolyn Lawes) “Art Lovers” series featuring former art forger Annie Kincaid, and I wanted to learn more about MRCM. Reluctantly, she let me in.

   The room is full of more light and color than I am used to in the mysteries I normally read. The place is comedically disorganized and messy, yet clean.

   My guide talks about her idol, Stephanie Plum. It is hard not to notice the influence Janet Evanovich’s series has had on MRCM. Plum is a feisty, funny, horny woman with a slow sex life and active sexual fantasy world. As many MRCM books that followed, the books feature a supporting cast of comic relief characters, and a popular romance subplot: the triangle. Stephanie loves good cop Joe Morelli but lusts for bad boy Ranger.

   The Heroine mentions New York Times bestselling “Bibliophile” series by Kate Carlisle, but suddenly stops talking, distracted by some bad boy beefcake in skintight leather. After a few uncomfortable moments I walk on. She does not move, unaware I have left.

   A man and a woman’s screams make me think about Maddie and Jack from the “High Heels” series by Gemma Halliday. The man is a cop and the woman is an amateur detective. Both scream at each other at the same moment, “Mind your own business!”

   They are the screwball couple of MRCM, two strong willed people who “hate” each other to the point of falling in love. Predictably, the screaming couple are now in each other’s arms as they fade out of the room. In MRCM, most sex and violence happens off page.

   My former guide has not moved. Bad boy beefcake notices her and smiles. Embarrassed, she runs off, bumping into another popular romantic subplot.

   Happy Couple is trying to hide in the shadows, content just to be alone together. They remind me of award-winning Donna Andrews’ Meg Langslow and Michael. Happy Couple tell me they had met in her first book and their relationship has grown more serious as the series continued. Spotted, their supporting cast attacks them, odd parents, strange siblings, attention demanding pets, wacky friends, all separating the comically frustrated lovers.

   There are endless variations of the romance subplot, from unlucky in love (Jaine Austen by Count Chocula’s creator Laura Levine) to the strange (Kasey Michaels’ Maggie Kelly, mystery writer, who finds the man of her dreams when her fictional hero Saint Just comes to life).

   I spot the MRCM femme fatale, the gorgeous blonde bitch who usually annoys the Heroine, but sometimes is the murder victim. Typical of MRCM, she just flirts, teases and then is gone.

   I understand why the Heroine thinks more about sex than the mystery. Who cares who the killer is after all this “talk”? Even fictional characters can take only so much. To drive such thoughts from my mind, I think about what makes a Modern Romance Comedy Mystery.

   The books are short quick reads, told in first person, the fourth wall is often ignored, the heroine’s life is threatened, and the victim often deserves to die. The characters’ lives are more important to the story than the mystery. The characters change and grow as the series progresses. It is wise to read an MRCM series in order.

   The female amateur detective gets involved because of one of the following: she is the main suspect, she knows the main suspect, she feels responsible for the accused problems, the cops are idiots and/or order her to go away, the killer is after her, or she keeps falling over dead bodies.

   Sales have moved many MRCM series from original paperbacks to hardcover releases, such as Nancy Martin‘s “Blackbird Sisters.”

   Of course there is my reason for reading them: they are funny. From pun titles, such as Slay It with Flowers by Kate Collins, to some of the funniest comedy in fiction today, the MRCM are fun to read.

   Still suffering from my encounter with the MRCM femme fatale, I think I’ll pick up one of the bimbos across the hall in Men’s Adventure Pulps.

Steve

In one of the recent blogs SINISTER CINEMA was mentioned. I thought you might want to let regulars know that from now until March 27th they are having a Spring Sale — 40% off everything — their $16.95 titles for $10.17 and $12.95 titles for $7.77. Hundreds of mystery, spy, Edgar Wallace, horror, sf, exploitation, and other titles as well as their line of trade paperback sf reprints all 40% off.

Their url is www.sinistercinema.com.

David Vineyard

   When present day critics and historians look back at the Golden Age of Detection as it took shape in its British form, they almost never go beyond the four “Mystery Queens” of the era: Christie, Sayers, Allingham and Marsh.

   Curt Evans, a frequent guest blogger here on Mystery*File, accepts all four as “royalty,” but as you will know from his reviews and his followup comments on the reviews of others, he is a devoted champion of the male authors of the same time period, now deposed and all but relegated to the dustbins of the past.

   In this regard, may I recommend to you a two part part series on The American Culture website, in which Curt takes on the present day one-sided view of the past? Names are named, and claims that have been made are hung up for inspection, analyzed and rejected.

   And who are the Crime Kings of the era? Curt will tell you. His two-part essay is long, but it’s well worth your time and consideration.

http://stkarnick.com/culture/2011/03/01/the-british-golden-age-of-detections-deposed-crime-kings-part-1-of-2/

http://stkarnick.com/culture/2011/03/03/the-british-golden-age-of-detection%E2%80%99s-deposed-crime-kings-part-2-of-2/

   J. F. “John” Norris, whose several posts and many comments you have seen here on this blog over the past couple of months, has begun his own, as of today, and he’s off to a great start. If you’re interested in classic detective fiction and other similar literature from the musty past, I highly recommend it to you — and even if you aren’t!

   Going into more detail about it, he describes his blog as “a foray into the realm of the old-fashioned detective novel, the ghost story and supernatural novel of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, the pulp adventure magazines of the 30s & 40s and similar dusty relics.”

   Along these lines John has already posted reviews of —

The Chinese Parrot – Earl Derr Biggers (1926)
The House of Strange Guests – Nicholas Brady (1932)
Murder on Wheels – Stuart Palmer (1932)
The Saltmarsh Murders – Gladys Mitchell (1932)
The Poison Fly Murder – Harriet Rutland (1940)
The Cut Direct – Alice Tilton (1938)
Death Turns the Tables – John Dickson Carr (1941)

    …but between you and me, I don’t think he can keep up the pace. (He must have storing these up. That’s all I can think of.)

   The full URL is http://prettysinister.blogspot.com/, and you can tell him I sent you.

   Posted by me last Friday on this blog was an advance announcement of an essay by Paul Collins in today’s New York Times Book Review section, in which he revealed the identity of the hitherto unknown author of The Notting Hill Mystery, described as the world’s first detective novel. The book version was published in 1865, but before that, the novel had appeared in serialized form in Once a Week magazine, beginning with the November 29, 1862, issue.

   The identification of “Charles Felix” as Mr. Charles Warren Adams seems solid enough. It’s the characterization of The Notting Hill Mystery as the first detective novel that no longer is valid. When I reported the news on Yahoo’s FictionMags group, I received the following reply from well-known science fiction writer and historian Brian Stableford:

   My reply, somewhat shortened, was: Just to sure, if I may ask — definitions may be important here. Even though Jean Diable had a character who was a detective, it sounds as though the novel may have been a thriller rather than a detective story. The distinction may be more important to some than to others, I know.

   Brian’s response:

[UPDATE] 01-10-11.   I’ve been away from the computer most of the day, and I’m still in the process of going through the email this post has brought forth. Many of these emails, as well as the comments that have already been left, plus suggestions I have have seen elsewhere, have included other books that ought be be in the running as “the world’s first detective novel.”

   On the Yahoo FictionMags list, for example, Doug Greene said (and this is a very small excerpt from a longer post), “Many of the sensation novels from the early 1860’s come close to detection. A strong argument can be made that Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s The Trail of the Serpent (1861) is a detective story — perhaps the first full-length one.”

   Last October on this blog, in the midst of a flurry of lists of favorite and significant books from various eras, David Vineyard submitted “100 Important Books From Before the Golden Age,” a list of titles not all of which were intended to be Detective Novels, but each of which he felt were progenitors of the form in one way or another. It’s very much worth your going back to re-read it.

   While it’s awfully fun to try, attempts to name the first of almost anything historically are almost always doomed to failure, not in terms of obtaining universal agreement. I’m not convinced that anyone can say that any one book is a detective novel, and this other one, which came before it, is not, even if you have a definition everyone agrees with, an event which I suggest is next to impossible in and of itself.

   Literary history proceeds in incremental fashion, building on what came before, not quantum jumps.

[UPDATE #2.] 01-11-11. I received the following email from Paul Collins before I added the update above, but after he had seen Brian Stableford’s comments about Jean Diable, by Paul Féval:

Dear Steve:

    Many thanks for the links, and for the kind attention to the article!

    I first became interested in tracing The Notting Hill Mystery last spring, after a footnote in the OUP edition of The Moonstone got me curious about the mysterious Charles Felix.

    I am, perhaps, too quick to accept Symons’ snub of Féval, who seemed to regard Féval as a writer of “criminal romances.” Mr. Stableford’s perspective on this is certainly of interest, and I do hope that he may note Féval’s work in a letter to the editors.

    If I may hazard one potential line of inquiry: regardless of how these things are categorized, if Féval and Adams were indeed published just three months apart, that may be suggestive. Adams is also known to lived in France in the early 1860s, so perhaps he was reading Féval. Or maybe it was “in the air” — interesting timing, in any case!

          Best,

             Paul