In which Philip begins the pursuit, and Norman Urquhart slithers back into his life. (Part 1 is here.) I may change the title at some point, since this one isn't particularly inspiring (and while something like, say, Fifty Shades Of Boyes would definitely stand out more, I wouldn't want to be responsible for the resulting mental scars). As before, ( Read more... )

Presidents' Day isn't something that usually registers with me except as the occasion of a day off school for children and mattress sales for adults, but this year we ended up observing it by visiting friends and watching this edit of The Hobbit. This is the FunnyPuzzle/David Killstein edit (though I have my doubts about either one of those being ( Read more... )

One thing about Dorothy Sayers' books which I've wondered about for a long time (though my interest was refreshed by a combox discussion in, I think, October) is the question of what brought Philip Boyes and Harriet Vane together in the first place. The explanation in Strong Poison is reasonable enough on the face of it, but while we're told that ( Read more... )

Before starting, let it be known that today is the ninety-second anniversary of W.W. Sterrett's unsolved murder by arsenical wedding cake, which I wrote a post about here. As I recently edited it to include what happened to his wife, which I didn't know at the time I wrote it last year, I think this justifies linking to it again. Short version of ( Read more... )

While taking a breather from the sixteenth century (my God, the Anne Boleyn books NEVER END, I really had no idea what I was taking on there) I wrote this post -- the story of a Pennsylvania accountant poisoned by an anonymously-sent slice of arsenical wedding cake. This happened in 1922, and what with the ironclad alibis, all-too-talkative ( Read more... )

I've always enjoyed reading Tudor novels (yes, even before Philippa Gregory made it big). As time has gone by and I've filled my spare moments with one fictional Anne Boleyn after another, my inner student's urge to Compare And Contrast finally became too much. This LJ didn't really seem like the place for it, so if you want, you can get your fill ( Read more... )

Quick note: due to various reasons (most of them stemming from my own depressed brain, I'll freely admit) I've decided that I'll be more comfortable with this journal being friends-only. I don't think that affects too many people, but if you've been lurking and want to be added, leave a comment and I can fix that for you ( Read more... )