Sunday Morning Book Thread (01/04/2026) [MP4]

Good morning, book lovers! CBD was kind enough – or foolish enough, depending on your view – to ask me to host a Sunday Book Thread, and so here I am.

If you were around when the Book Thread posted pictures of my home library a while back, you might have noticed that one set of shelves contained books on true crime and mystery, which is going to be today’s topic. I, myself, make a distinction between the two: ‘true crime’ is something like Jack the Ripper, Lizzie Borden or the Son of Sam. A ‘mystery’ would be something unexplainable, such as Offyreus and his perpetual motion machine, the Bermuda Triangle or the vanishing of Richard Colvin Cox. Of course, some of these can be combinations; the Borden case is both true crime (her parents were axed to death) and a mystery (who did it and how?). I’m going to highlight a few books in each category that I enjoy.

Jack the Ripper: probably the most famous of true crimes, and probably the one with the looniest suggested solutions (ask me about Lewis Carroll as the Ripper. Yes, seriously). The gold standard for years was Donald Rumbelow’s Jack the Ripper: The Complete Casebook (198. Rumbelow, a former Metropolitan Police officer, gives a detailed history not only of the murders, but also the social and political scene in 1888 London. Although he never endorses a suspect, as a man on the inside, he has valuable thoughts as to why the police were never able to bring the Ripper to heel.

The late historian Philip Sugden tackled the Autumn of Terror with a doorstop of a tome, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper (2002). He covers the same areas as Rumbelow, but in much deeper detail, as well as assessing the major candidates for Jack. He comes cautiously down on the side of the barber Severin Klosowski, but admits that the case against him is far from proven. This is the book to have if you want a thorough analysis of the murders.

Other crimes: the publisher Carroll & Graf has a series, The Mammoth Book of , which covers everything from true crime to SF, history and beyond. If you’re looking for something to dip into at a spare moment, pick up The Mammoth Book of Unsolved Crimes (1999). The big ones are there – the Ripper, the Zodiac, the Black Dahlia – as well as the more obscure, but no less mystifying – the killing of Mary Rogers, the death of Bella Wright and the absolutely baffling poisoning of Lieutenant Hubert Chevis.

Mysteries: in my experience, books about ‘unsolved mysteries’ or ‘mysteries of the unknown’ are generally superficial and cover the same topics over and over again – the Nazca lines, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the riddle of the Mary Celeste – lots of sizzle, not much steak. I have a number of them in my collection, but if I were recommending to you, I’d start with The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries by Colin and Damon Wilson (1988 ). The father-and-son team split entries between them: Colin tackles psychic powers and haunted locations (UFOs, the Barbados Vault) while Damon speculates on ‘historic’ mysteries (the treasure of Rennes-le-Château, the Shroud of Turin). A little outdated in places and in spots rather outré, but nice to settle down with on a cold winter’s day.

In the 1970s, a research librarian named Lawrence David Kusche got tired of being asked about the Bermuda Triangle and decided to compile an easily-accessible dossier that he could forward to anyone interested. To his surprise, the more he looked into the ‘curse’ of the Triangle, the more he realized that almost every vanishing or oddity was either a lie or had a perfectly rational explanation. He compiled his work into The Bermuda Triangle Mystery - Solved (1995), which covers all of the major Triangle ‘mysteries:’ the Mary Celeste, Flight 19, the Marine Sulphur Queen and provides weather reports, Air Force briefings and newspaper accounts which destroy the common narrative of the ‘Vile Vortice.’ An absolute must.

What about you? What crimes or mysteries hold your attention? Which would you like to see solved?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at January 04, 2026 09:00 AM (Ia/+0)

2 Well, I started reading something, which I'll probably report on next week, if I finish it this week.

Holidays can really ruin schedules.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 09:00 AM (uQesX)

3 Foist?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:00 AM (wzUl9)

4 Ripping yarns!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 09:00 AM (kpS4V)

5 Excellent debut, MP4!

I'm glad you were able to fill in for me this week.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:04 AM (ESVrU)

6 Booken morgen horden!

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at January 04, 2026 09:04 AM (eZ5tL)

7 The Perfessor is missing!

Whodunnit?????

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 04, 2026 09:05 AM (Ippjd)

8 When I was a kid, I did read quite a few books about unsolved mysteries, especially some of the weirder ones like the Bermuda Triangle.

I don't remember any of the titles, though. I know they were aimed at younger readers.

I might have to check out some of the recommendations above.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:05 AM (ESVrU)

9 Years ago, I did a deep dive into the Bermuda Triangle mystery. What I found was that the losses in the area were not significantly higher than any other similarly sized region. I also found that the actual triangle was very malleable by authors, in order to make room for more disappearances.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 09:05 AM (0U5gm)

10 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of Reading. And thanks to MP4 for hosting this week.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 09:06 AM (yTvNw)

11 The Perfessor is missing!

Whodunnit?????
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 04, 2026 09:05 AM (Ippjd)
---
Huggy Squirrel. In the Library. With a pimp hat.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:06 AM (ESVrU)

12 Colin Wilson, in addition to being a fiction writer of note ("The Mind Parasites"), has some fascinating books on the occult and paranormal freak-a-delica. Just do a Wiki pull; the man was prolific.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 09:07 AM (kpS4V)

13 The greatest current crime is already solved, we just haven't gotten all the particulars and no one has been punished for it yet. Or ever.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 09:07 AM (uQesX)

14 Years ago, I did a deep dive into the Bermuda Triangle mystery. What I found was that the losses in the area were not significantly higher than any other similarly sized region. I also found that the actual triangle was very malleable by authors, in order to make room for more disappearances.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 09:05 AM (0U5gm)
----
Yeah, the Bermuda Triangle is one of those stories that makes for a good unsolved "mystery" but doesn't really hold up well once you start looking at actual data.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:08 AM (ESVrU)

15 Well, I made top 3!

Morning, Book Folken, and a tip of the chapeau to MP4 for wrangling the herd this day.

I'm currently reading Larry McMurtry's The Wandering Hill, book two (I think) of his Berrybender Narrative series. An English family headed by one Lord Berrybender has come to America and set out from St. Louis to hunt in the West of the 1830s. Along the way they meet and work with Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, and Hugh Glass, the fellow who survived the infamous grizzly bear attack and was embodied by Leonardo DiCaprio a little while ago. Since I haven't found book one, I'm playing catch-up here, but it contains some fine work. This includes one of LM's trademark sociopathic Indian bandits, the Partezon -- who is up there with Blue Duck for Someone You Don't Ever Want to Meet.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:08 AM (wzUl9)

16 Was recently reminded of the disappearance of Ambrose Bierce. I guess that would count as a mystery since it's unknown if there was a crime involved.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 04, 2026 09:08 AM (lFFaq)

17 Well getting through Rick Atkinson's The Fate of the Day, his continued history of the American Revolutionary War.
Past the tramping through my neckof the woods with the Battle of Brandywine, massacre at Paoli, camp at Pennypacker Mill and Battle of Germantown. Just finishing Battle of Saratoga..

Posted by: Skip at January 04, 2026 09:08 AM (Ia/+0)

18 So, the Ripper, having filled his reserves of lifeforce, did not build a cocoon to wait out the 19th and 20th centuries and return to stalk hookers in 2026?

Posted by: toby928(c) at January 04, 2026 09:09 AM (jc0TO)

19 Howsabout "The Man Who was Thursday" penned by the original 'Che'; G. K. Chesterton. Early 20th century yarn of anarchy, bombings and intrigue. A prescient reading by him of the tea leaves and future goings-on.

Posted by: Billy the Mountain at January 04, 2026 09:09 AM (Yp4ud)

20 Excellent debut, MP4!

I'm glad you were able to fill in for me this week.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:04 AM (ESVrU)

Thank CBD for asking me. I've got another subject in the pipeline for a future post.

In the spirit of true crime, I just finished The Poet and the Murderer by Simon Worrall, the story of master forger Mark Hofmann, who swindled the LDS church out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by 'finding' embarrassing letters and such that the Mormons wished to hide. The 'poet' of the book is Emily Dickinson, whom Hofmann imitated in a small poem that Amherst College spent $40K to buy.

At the end, Hofmann was so desperate for money that he ended up killing two people with pipe bombs in order to stay out of prison. Spoiler: it didn't work.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:09 AM (ufSfZ)

21 Good Sunday morning, horde.

Thanks for your post, MP4! I appreciate your perspective and expertise on topics like this.

I think psychology is basically a stupid field of study, but I do wonder what makes some of us so fascinated with true crime? It's hard to explain to someone who isn't interested in it at all.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at January 04, 2026 09:09 AM (h7ZuX)

22 Ripping yarns!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 09:00 AM (kpS4V)

Tomkinson's Schooldays is probably the best of the bunch.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 09:10 AM (uQesX)

23 ‘Hey! That’s Fauci! Grab him!’

Posted by: Eromero at January 04, 2026 09:10 AM (LHPAg)

24 I thought Jack the Ripper was a former surgeon or left-handed or something like that.

Good job, MP4!

Posted by: dantesed at January 04, 2026 09:11 AM (Oy/m2)

25 Pookette got "I Got This" by Frederick Key, a Moron author, for her birthday. I've asked her to give me her opinion when she's done.

Posted by: pookysgirl hopes to have a book review soon at January 04, 2026 09:11 AM (Wt5PA)

26 I like this kind of stuff, unsolved mysteries. It's like comfort food. But my consumption of this genre is almost all television and documentaries, rather than books. I've thought about reading some of David Paulides's or Graham Hancock's books. But I'm a slow reader and my stacks of unread books are already a real embarrassment.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at January 04, 2026 09:11 AM (JXTT6)

27 What about you? What crimes or mysteries hold your attention? Which would you like to see solved?

I'd like to find out why Lena Dunham is famous.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 04, 2026 09:11 AM (Riz8t)

28 Ripping yarns!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 09:00 AM (kpS4V)
-

Of course! They had no CDs in those days.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 04, 2026 09:11 AM (Ippjd)

29 In the spirit of true crime, I just finished The Poet and the Murderer by Simon Worrall, the story of master forger Mark Hofmann, who swindled the LDS church out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by 'finding' embarrassing letters and such that the Mormons wished to hide. The 'poet' of the book is Emily Dickinson, whom Hofmann imitated in a small poem that Amherst College spent $40K to buy.

At the end, Hofmann was so desperate for money that he ended up killing two people with pipe bombs in order to stay out of prison. Spoiler: it didn't work.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:09 AM (ufSfZ)
----
Nowadays you can just ask generative AI to make something up and pass it off as someone else's work.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:12 AM (ESVrU)

30 Mysteries: in my experience, books about ‘unsolved mysteries’ or ‘mysteries of the unknown’ are generally superficial and cover the same topics over and over again – the Nazca lines, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the riddle of the Mary Celeste – lots of sizzle, not much steak.

Hey! Hey! Hey!

Don't forget me!!!

And be sure to read my new tome-

"The Brick-Oven Pizzas of MU"

Posted by: The "MU" Guy at January 04, 2026 09:12 AM (iJfKG)

31 "Jack the Ripper slew at will in Old Earth's most populated city, and was never apprehended."

Robert Bloch had a fascination with the Ripper, and returned to the concept over decades in several short stories and teleplays like that one.

The only other Ripper story I have enjoyed was Ellery Queen's novelization of the film A Study in Terror. The Queen cousins added Ellery in a framing story, discovering an unknown Doyle Holmes novel dealing with the hunt for the Ripper.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:12 AM (wzUl9)

32 Not a lot of reading to report the last few days. But yesterday in the Kindle store, found a new ebook of Fritz Leiber's nifty Conjure Wife. Big deal, I thought, got it already and this is probably a cheap knockoff. But no, but no. It's a reissue of the 1943 text, and it includes two essays by Ramsey Campbell that originally appeared in the Centipede Press edition (which I missed out on due to $$$ at the time and now try to find one, just try). This is the debut title from a new publisher called Frolic Press, devoted to weird fiction; paperback coming this spring and ebook available now for 9 bucks. Web site is at frolicpress.ink and looks like it's worth watching.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 09:12 AM (q3u5l)

33 Colin Wilson, in addition to being a fiction writer of note ("The Mind Parasites"), has some fascinating books on the occult and paranormal freak-a-delica. Just do a Wiki pull; the man was prolific.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 09:07 AM (kpS4V)

I've never read any of his fiction. I do have his 2-volume Encyclopedia of Crime, the 2-volume Mammoth Book of True Crime, The History of Murder, The Occult and several other volumes.

I met him once, at a Ripper conference. There was just something about him that creeped me out.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:13 AM (ufSfZ)

34 I can't find the name of the book, but it was written by a woman that lived in Fall River. She makes a convincing case that the older sister did it. And part of that is the behavior of that older sister after everything was over.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at January 04, 2026 09:14 AM (+mUZM)

35 Good morning!
Thank you MP4- what an interesting topic.

A favorite of mine- though it's more techno than whodunnit- is "Thunderstruck" by Erik Larson. It's about the use of radio, new at the time, in apprehending the famous London murderer Dr. Crippen and his companion.

Posted by: sal at January 04, 2026 09:14 AM (f+FmA)

36 Despite all evidence to the contrary the Bermuda Triangle indeed is where the aliens have their base.

Thanks MPPPP

Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 04, 2026 09:14 AM (RIvkX)

37 The new issue of Muzzleloader magazine arrived this week. History (mostly based on contemporary sources), craftmanship, and gorgeous photography and printed on good quality stock. I have years of back issues just because they are fun to peruse. Worth the shelf space.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 09:14 AM (yTvNw)

38 Waiting to see how MP4's website is gonna look.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 09:14 AM (uQesX)

39 Nice guest post, MP4! Your love of history, to include the odd and outré (which is the best kind!) is a welcome respite from my Tolkien and Star Trek grooves.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 09:14 AM (kpS4V)

40 Sorry, that's about Lizzie Borden.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at January 04, 2026 09:14 AM (+mUZM)

41 Oh, and, um,

Morning, Perfessor.

Howdy, Horde.

And happy new year to all. Hope it was a good one.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 09:15 AM (q3u5l)

42 At the end, Hofmann was so desperate for money that he ended up killing two people with pipe bombs in order to stay out of prison. Spoiler: it didn't work.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:09 AM (ufSfZ)

Didn't I see this on Forensic Files?

Posted by: pookysgirl, remembering odd trivia at January 04, 2026 09:15 AM (Wt5PA)

43 The biggest Mystery in my life? "The Mystery of Which Book I Should Read Next." There are easily a half-dozen suspects, and I could make a compelling case for each of them...

Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026 09:15 AM (Lhaco)

44 I remember as a youth also reading books about sharks, after Jaws came out, when everyone was afraid to go into the ocean. What I found was that not only are sharks not constantly looking for humans to bite, but that statistically, more people are killed each year by lightning or being crushed by vending machines.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 09:15 AM (0U5gm)

45 @14 -- And ancient astronaut BS, especially pushed by that fraud Erich von Däniken (Chariots of the Gods?, 196

. Some of the pictures in that book were of supposed alien landing sites, which upon closer inspection were close-ups of some markings only a few feet in size. Must have been little tiny ant-like aliens. People ate that shit up, though.

Posted by: Angzarr the Cromulent at January 04, 2026 09:16 AM (XMwZJ)

46 Robert Bloch had a fascination with the Ripper, and returned to the concept over decades in several short stories and teleplays like that one.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:12 AM (wzUl9)
---
I really love the twist ending in "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper."

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:16 AM (ESVrU)

47 Love that top picture not just because of the topic but for the technique that made it.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 09:16 AM (yTvNw)

48 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:08 AM (wzUl9)
------------
I am also a big fan of the Berrybender series, and of McMurtry's writing generally.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at January 04, 2026 09:16 AM (rDiMt)

49 This is the debut title from a new publisher called Frolic Press, devoted to weird fiction; paperback coming this spring and ebook available now for 9 bucks. Web site is at frolicpress.ink and looks like it's worth watching.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 09:12 AM (q3u5l)

But, are they looking for authors?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 09:16 AM (uQesX)

50 I remember seeing a documentary on the Bermuda triangle a couple of decades ago. The conclusion was that any area with large amounts of shipping has the same rate of issues. They created a comparable triangle off the coast of Africa where shipping is heavy and found just as many ships going lost.

The military flight that got lost they credited to the flight leader being accustomed to flying off the other side of the Florida pan handle and forgetting where he actually was.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 04, 2026 09:17 AM (lFFaq)

51 I used to be into all that X-Files stuff when I was a kid... Bermuda Triangle, UFO's, Bigfoot. I grew out of it, but apparently there's still a big audience for bullshit. Flat Earthers, Moon Landing Truthers, Socialism....

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at January 04, 2026 09:18 AM (f0sNM)

52 Wolfus, there are tons of Ripper fiction out there. When I ran my own JtR magazine, I reviewed a number of them. I could count on one hand the number of ones that were worth keeping. Edward Hanna's The Whitechapel Horrors is one (it's a Holmes pastiche). Paul West's The Women of Whitechapel and Jack the Ripper is a dense, almost Umberto Eco-like exploration of the time and crimes. Not a book for a casual read.

I would, though, highly recommend the graphic novel From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. It was the source of the Johnny Depp movie, but is a much, much more interesting experience. It's a combination of the murders, human psychology and (a Moore specialty) the psycho-geometry of London.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:18 AM (ufSfZ)

53 Just finished reading Jame's Ruddick's "Lord Lucan, What Really Happened."

Interesting book. Mr. Ruddick is careful to distinguish between known facts and speculation.

Note, the Britbox 2 part series, "Lucan" is probably as accurate a portrayal as one can get from a television show.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (UJMvS) at January 04, 2026 09:19 AM (UJMvS)

54 Also this week, I finished James Burrows's memoir, Directed by James Burrows, written with one Eddy Friedfeld. Burrows started his career in theatre (his father was the famous Abe Burrows of Guys and Dolls fame, and moved into television in the '70s. He was stage manager for the ill-fated musical play of Breakfast at Tiffany's with Mary Tyler Moore that never actually opened.

He ended up directing all the episodes of Will and Grace, most of the Cheers episodes (he co-created the series), many episodes of Friends and Taxi, and much much more. He recounts loads of anecdotes about the actors and crew of each of the series. Fascinating stuff about a Hollywood that actually produced good solid entertainment.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:19 AM (wzUl9)

55 cool!

congratulations, MP4!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at January 04, 2026 09:20 AM (Cjt/F)

56
The Bermuda Triangle?

Mystery Solved!

It's caused by the mysterious reproductive cycle of the eel.

They all collect for for a big eel gang bang in the area of the Bermuda Triangle.

This creates what's known in scientific circles as-

Big Eel Fucking Force Vectors which disappear sailing vessels to regions of deep space.

Now you know!

Posted by: naturalfake, Mysterybuster Extraordinaire at January 04, 2026 09:20 AM (iJfKG)

57 I read The Mercy Of God, book one of the Captive's War series, by James S. A. Corey (Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank). The human population of the planet Anjiin is invaded by the Carryx, part empire and part hive. The best and brightest are abducted to the Carryx world-palace to join prisoners from hundreds of other species. Dafed Alkhor and the science team with whom he works are taken. Swept up in the situation, Dafed becomes the unlikely leader of the resistance against the Carryx. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Posted by: Zoltan at January 04, 2026 09:21 AM (VOrDg)

58 I don't recall the name of the book, but as a youth I read a book written by a former NYC police lieutenant that covered five or six of the most difficult cases his team had solved. One of them was a woman who was killed by a bullet while driving along the coast. It turned out that someone was practice shooting at bottles off of the coast, and a bullet ricocheted off of the water, and traveled nearly a mile before going through her open car window and hitting her in the head.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 09:21 AM (0U5gm)

59 I know you guys are going to find this hard to believe, but I only finished ONE book this week.

Now I'm reading two books in parallel, more or less, switching between them. I *might* be able to finish them both before next week.

We'll see how it goes.

I'll have more to say in next Sunday's Book Thread.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:21 AM (ESVrU)

60 I can't find the name of the book, but it was written by a woman that lived in Fall River. She makes a convincing case that the older sister did it. And part of that is the behavior of that older sister after everything was over.

The only book written by a woman in Fall River that I know of is Victoria Lincoln's A Private Disgrace, which speculates that Lizzie had epileptic fits and killed her parents during two of those. The only book I know that names sister Emma as the killer is Frank Spiering's Lizzie, but Spiering was a well-known bullshitter.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:21 AM (ufSfZ)

61 And morning to MP4.

Read a few Colin Wilson titles back in the 80s, but remember almost nothing of them now. Ditto the Rumbelow. I think Wilson did a novel that may have been Ripper-inspired called Ritual in the Dark, and there was a non-fiction book from him called The Outsider dealing with the criminal mind. Good stuff as I recall them, but don't ask me for any details now; authors and titles stick, but not nearly enough of the content.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 09:21 AM (q3u5l)

62 I would, though, highly recommend the graphic novel From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. It was the source of the Johnny Depp movie, but is a much, much more interesting experience. It's a combination of the murders, human psychology and (a Moore specialty) the psycho-geometry of London.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026

***
"Psycho-geometry"? Meaning the nature of the various London neighborhoods, Whitechapel vs. Cheapside vs. Shoreditch, etc., and how the local geography shaped each one?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:22 AM (wzUl9)

63 34 I can't find the name of the book, but it was written by a woman that lived in Fall River. She makes a convincing case that the older sister did it. And part of that is the behavior of that older sister after everything was over.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at January 04, 2026 09:14 AM (+mUZM)

There's an "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" on this very subject. "The Older Sister", Season 1, Ep.17

Posted by: sal at January 04, 2026 09:22 AM (f+FmA)

64
Good Job, MP4!

Posted by: naturalfake, Mysterybuster Extraordinaire at January 04, 2026 09:22 AM (iJfKG)

65 Was recently reminded of the disappearance of Ambrose Bierce. I guess that would count as a mystery since it's unknown if there was a crime involved.
Posted by: Polliwog
__________

Bierce is underappreciated, IMO. Killed at Resaca is my favorite short story by him. Better than Owl Creek Bridge, but there are so many to choose from. And, of course, the Devil's Dictionary.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at January 04, 2026 09:23 AM (XvL8K)

66 Waiting to see how MP4's website is gonna look.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 09:14 AM (uQesX)

If you want, look up kissmemyfool.com. The web address is for sale (which I have to do) and has a picture of what my site looks like.

And yes, the Hofmann case was on Forensic Files.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:23 AM (ufSfZ)

67 I spend a lot of free reading time reading mystery fiction, as distinguished from true crime, and adjacent genres like spy fiction as well. Right now I am finishing up the "Slow Horses" series, interspersed with rereading the excellent and sadly under appreciated Walter Mosley Easy Rawlins books ("Devil In A Blue Dress" being the best known, probably).

Posted by: Huck Follywood at January 04, 2026 09:24 AM (lbCXT)

68 "Psycho-geometry"? Meaning the nature of the various London neighborhoods, Whitechapel vs. Cheapside vs. Shoreditch, etc., and how the local geography shaped each one?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:22 AM (wzUl9)
---
Maybe it refers to how the geometry of cities follows an occult plan incomprehensible to noninitiates, but those who practice certain rites can tap into mystical energy to power their spells.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:24 AM (ESVrU)

69 At the end, Hofmann was so desperate for money that he ended up killing two people with pipe bombs in order to stay out of prison. Spoiler: it didn't work.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:09 AM (ufSfZ)

I would never have guessed that *2* people would consider bombs to be a good way to stay out of jail. I wonder if that means even more have tried it. They must both be complete psychopaths.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 04, 2026 09:25 AM (lFFaq)

70 The military flight that got lost they credited to the flight leader being accustomed to flying off the other side of the Florida pan handle and forgetting where he actually was.

Kusche tackled the Flight 19 mystery in his Triangle book, but did a full-length version in The Disappearance of Flight 19. He reached that conclusion, too.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:26 AM (ufSfZ)

71 I remember that probably the biggest and most popular “Ancient Mysteries” book in the 70’s was Erik von Daniken’s “Chariots of the Gods”. For a couple years it felt like that book was everywhere, and although it’s been mostly forgotten, its thesis - that space aliens were responsible for all of those wild ancient stories - is thoroughly embedded in our culture now.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 04, 2026 09:26 AM (RFd77)

72 And yes, the Hofmann case was on Forensic Files.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:23 AM (ufSfZ)

Now you see why my high school Quiz Bowl team absolutely dominated the region. 😁

Posted by: pookysgirl, remembering odd trivia at January 04, 2026 09:26 AM (Wt5PA)

73 This past week I read "The Atlantean Issue 3." It's basically the continuing adventures of Public-Domain-Kull. A few years back Robert E Howard's "The Shadow Kingdom" fell into the public domain, so two guys named Randy Zimmerman and Russ Leach made a graphic novel adaptation of the story. And now they are doing their own comics that continue the story of TSK. Which is cool, because Howard introduced a cool concept in that story, but never followed up on it himself.

I enjoyed this issue. A lot more than the previous two. The premise is that Kull is hunting down the cabal of Lizard People that have been infiltrating and subverting his kingdom. In the first two issues he had started on this quest, but got sidetracked into typical warrior-with-a-sword adventures. This time he finally made second-contact with his enemy, and it made for an enjoyable read.

The art is black and white with grayscale shading. Stylistically, it is trying to look like John Buscema (the best artist to ever draw Conan or Kull) but not quite as good. Still, the art is not amateurish by any means, and there are quite a few splash-panel pages for the artist to show off his skills.

Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026 09:26 AM (Lhaco)

74 I'd like to find out why Lena Dunham is famous.
Posted by: Archimedes at January 04, 2026 09:11 AM (Riz8t)

Betting it's an option is probably safe. Especially given who her parents are.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 04, 2026 09:26 AM (lFFaq)

75 Read a couple books about artists named Carrington (not related to each other).

Dora Carrington was part of the Bloomsbury Group's pansexual ponces. She was academy trained but perpetually short of funds and made scratch painting pub signs and furniture. She didn't care, she just loved painting. Very droll style, and I remarked that her landscapes of hills looked like if Grant Wood licked toads. Alas, she killed herself after her soulmate Lytton Strachey died of cancer.

Leonora Carrington was a surrealist painter who became a part of the surrealist community in Mexico. The European exiles thought of themselves as Surrealists; the Mexicans just thought their trippy paintings embraced their fantastical and folkloric native heritage.

I wondered why Leonora Carrington's paintings reminded me so much of Remedios Varo's -- well, they were best friends in that artists' colony. They both had oddly compelling figures inhabiting their dream landscapes and their styles were similar, to my eyes at least.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 09:27 AM (kpS4V)

76 Read Larry Correia's Academy of Outcasts. Very fun, although the start was a bit unsteady imo.

In feel it reminds me of earlier YA adventures, before the publishers went woke and smutty.

It's clean, well-developed setting, likable characters. Recommended for when you need a break from heavy tomes

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at January 04, 2026 09:27 AM (tcsrY)

77 Seems like a lot of matricide and patricide these days. I can't believe they considered releasing the Menendez brothers.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 09:27 AM (KDPiq)

78 I also read Submission by Michael Houellebecq. When I read that the book was about a new Islamic party winning power in France, I thought it was an alt-history book. However, it's a dark-comic satire of the decadence of Western Civilization and the willingness of many to abandon it. An interesting read.

Posted by: Zoltan at January 04, 2026 09:28 AM (VOrDg)

79 Sorry, OrangeEnt and other members of the LitHorde, but I see nothing on the Frolic Press web site about submissions. Looks like straight reprint at the moment.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 09:28 AM (q3u5l)

80 “ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Matthew 5:6

Posted by: Marcus T at January 04, 2026 09:28 AM (zQLjY)

81 I really need to get down to working on my own book (and am going to do so today), but I picked up Allen Guelzo's over 500 page doorstop Gettysburg: The Last Invasion, and am determined to get through that before picking up anything else that isn't silent film-related.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:29 AM (ufSfZ)

82 The US and Russia had very good relations up through our civil war, leading to our purchase of Alaska. What changed that relationship was a man named George Kennan. Gregory Wallace tells his story in Into Siberia. Kennan, who had led an 1865 expedition in East Siberia to plan a telegraph line across Russia, went back specifically to investigate their Siberian penal system.

Kennan spent 1885 in Siberia, traveling by train, wagon and sledge, reviewing the treatment of those exiled by the Tsar. He brought an artist, George Frost, to capture images of the Russian exiles and their prisons.

Kennan's opinion of Siberia changed dramatically on his tour. He went from nonchalant to outraged at the treatment of exiles in Russia. Traveling thousands of miles of barely passable roads, Kennan and Frost suffered along with prisoners in the cold and undeveloped region. Visiting prisons which were barely habitable, he saw exiles who wore rags and suffered from both officials and criminals who were mixed in with political prisoners.

Once home, he published his report with photos which exposed the Siberian camps, and went on a nine year speaking tour to turn US opinion.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 09:29 AM (0U5gm)

83 Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 09:27 AM (kpS4V)

I believe there was a movie made of Carrington. Redgrave played her iirc.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 09:29 AM (KDPiq)

84 I would, though, highly recommend the graphic novel From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell...It's a combination of the murders, human psychology and (a Moore specialty) the psycho-geometry of London.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing

Oooh, Mr. Dmlw! has a birthday coming up, and this is right up his alley. Thanks!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at January 04, 2026 09:30 AM (h7ZuX)

85 This creates what's known in scientific circles as-

Big Eel F***ing Force Vectors which disappear sailing vessels to regions of deep space.

Well that explains my hovercraft.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 04, 2026 09:30 AM (Riz8t)

86 >>> 11 The Perfessor is missing!
Whodunnit?????

Who had:
Means?
Motive?
Opportunity?

Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 09:30 AM (gWBY1)

87 Yay Book Thread!

I'm between books, and using my old standby to help fall asleep: Tolkien's Unfinished Tales. The ne plus ultra of bedtime books. Just open it and read whatever fragment or essay you find.

Much of my time was spent editing Battle Officer Wolf's audiobook, which should be ready quite soon (as in: next week). As part of the editing process, I updated the manuscript finding tiny little errors that are only obvious when spoken aloud, but they're all gone now. The ebook is now available for folks who are into that sort of thing, and the paperback proof is on the way.

This was my first novel, a retelling of Beowulf but in space to capture the claustrophobic sense of fear and isolation. It follows the poem closely, unlike other modern adaptations. I enjoyed writing it, and people seem to enjoy reading it. If sci-fi horror is your thing, give it a read.

Posted by: AoSHQ Combat Journalist at January 04, 2026 09:30 AM (ZOv7s)

88 Welcome, MP4!

Mysteries I want solved? Let's start with Vince Foster, the Clinton aide found dead in Fort Marcy Park. Purported suicide, yet the suicide note had no fingerprints.

Then the DNC aide found slain in a purported robbery. (My memory is sputtering this morning.)

Add the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.

Locally, two sons of a wealthy family were slain about 20 Christmases ago. Apparently one was killed in some ritual, and rhe other stumbled in on the scene and was silenced.

The more I think about this, the more cases come to mind, but I don't want to get into the thread too late.

Posted by: Weak Geek at January 04, 2026 09:30 AM (p/isN)

89 >>> 11 The Perfessor is missing!
Whodunnit?????

Who had:
Means?
Motive?
Opportunity?
Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 09:30 AM (gWBY1)
----
I don't have an alibi!

Posted by: Huggy Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:31 AM (ESVrU)

90 I am also a big fan of the Berrybender series, and of McMurtry's writing generally.
Posted by: Huck Follywood at January 04, 2026

***
Lonesome Dove is really the only LM novel I've really loved -- maybe because of the action scenes and epic tragedy elements. He is an odd writer in some ways. Recently I read a biography of him. He was refreshingly non-drunken and non-drugged up (esp. compared to his contemporary and one-time friend Ken Kesey). But he has a habit, in LD especially, of changing viewpoint characters not just in different chapters or scenes, but within the same scene -- and sometimes the same paragraph.

Still: He was very successful for decades and had many of his works adapted well to film or TV. He was doing something right.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:31 AM (wzUl9)

91 Well that was because the crazy da gascon wanted them released

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 04, 2026 09:31 AM (bXbFr)

92 Bierce is underappreciated, IMO. Killed at Resaca is my favorite short story by him. Better than Owl Creek Bridge, but there are so many to choose from. And, of course, the Devil's Dictionary.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at January 04, 2026 09:23 AM (XvL8K)

I pull out Devil’s Dictionary every now and then, and Bierce still puts any modern sarcastic writer to shame. One of my favorite entries:
Academe: noun, an institute of ancient learning where logic, philosophy, and history were taught.
Academy: noun, an institute of modern learning where football is taught.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 04, 2026 09:32 AM (RFd77)

93 MP4, great book thread!

Both The Mammoth Book of Unsolved Crimes & The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries are goibg on to my "does the library have it" list

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at January 04, 2026 09:32 AM (tcsrY)

94 Never really got into true crime books: often too horrific to dwell on and a level of detail beyond my interest for the topic.

Unexplained mysteries, especially about the ocean or Great Lakes, are another matter. Growing up on the Atlantic coast might be an influence. The Mary Celeste and Bermuda Triangle are two examples. It's not an obsessive interest but articles will get my attention. I'm not interested in aliens being responsible but speculation about natural causes can be intriguing. However, I go into such reading not expecting the mystery to be solved since it is ninety percent conjecture.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 09:32 AM (yTvNw)

95 I thought I knew what book I would select to lead off this year, but as I was reshelving a few paperbacks that the dog had knocked off the bottom shelf, I spotted a book that I had received as part of an eBay lot. OK -- so "Skylark Mission" by Ian McAllister it is.

It's a WWII adventure that starts with a bang -- caused by a Japanese torpedo that sinks a freighter in the Vitiaz Straits, between New Guinea and New Britain. I'd never heard of those straits, so this is proving beneficial already. I love geography. A group of the survivors, led by Sam Flood -- he has to be the leader, his name's on the back cover -- escapes on a boat, only to put in at a river in New Britain where the Japanese are building a base for torpedo boats. Oops.

Posted by: Weak Geek at January 04, 2026 09:32 AM (p/isN)

96 If you want, look up kissmemyfool.com. The web address is for sale (which I have to do) and has a picture of what my site looks like.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:23 AM (ufSfZ)

Looks fine. You just need to rebuy? Quite a range of prices for those expired domains.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 09:32 AM (uQesX)

97 MP4, Allen Quelzo's book on Gettysburg is good.

Posted by: dantesed at January 04, 2026 09:32 AM (Oy/m2)

98 Seth rich (there was more than met the eye)

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 04, 2026 09:32 AM (bXbFr)

99 I said I love geography. My Christmas haul included "This Way Up: When Maps Go Wrong (and Why It Matters)" by Mark Cooper-Jones and Jay Foreman, who produce the YouTube series "The Map Men." As a lover of all things cartographic, I think it will be safe to say that I will finish this one. Can't say that about all my book gifts.

Posted by: Weak Geek at January 04, 2026 09:33 AM (p/isN)

100 Did they ever send out a search party for that squadron

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 04, 2026 09:33 AM (bXbFr)

101 Maybe it refers to how the geometry of cities follows an occult plan incomprehensible to noninitiates, but those who practice certain rites can tap into mystical energy to power their spells.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:24 AM (ESVrU)
---
The City of Ann Arbor famously was built as a temple to the Elder Gods, with the street pattern using non-Euclidean geometry that is known to drive motorists insane.

Posted by: AoSHQ Combat Journalist at January 04, 2026 09:33 AM (ZOv7s)

102 Whew, that was an old sock!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 09:34 AM (ZOv7s)

103 Steven Pressfield even wrote a supernatural murder mystery . 36 Righteous Men.

As all his books are, it was a very easy read because he's such a good writer but it's not a feel good book in anyway so I didn't enjoy it very much.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 09:34 AM (KDPiq)

104 I also read Submission by Michael Houellebecq. When I read that the book was about a new Islamic party winning power in France, I thought it was an alt-history book. However, it's a dark-comic satire of the decadence of Western Civilization and the willingness of many to abandon it. An interesting read.

Posted by: Zoltan at January 04, 2026 09:28 AM (VOrDg)

My two targets for when I time travel are the demon-worshipping 7th-century warlord and SCOAMF. Although if I take care of the first one, I'm not sure if I have to take out the second.

Posted by: pookysgirl will finish the time machine after lunch at January 04, 2026 09:34 AM (Wt5PA)

105 Thanks to whomever mentioned Sora AI in the last thread. I took a quick look. If I can make a book trailer using that, I would be happy.

Got to quick run out and start the car. BRB

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:34 AM (ufSfZ)

106 The City of Ann Arbor famously was built as a temple to the Elder Gods, with the street pattern using non-Euclidean geometry that is known to drive motorists insane.
Posted by: AoSHQ Combat Journalist at January 04, 2026 09:33 AM (ZOv7s)
---
So lots of roundabouts?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:35 AM (ESVrU)

107 Once home, he published his report with photos which exposed the Siberian camps, and went on a nine year speaking tour to turn US opinion.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026

***
Edgar Rice Burroughs in the Tarzan series was no fan of Russians even before the Revolution, and has several as villains in the early books. Perhaps his view was molded by Kennan's reports.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:35 AM (wzUl9)

108 The first time I heard of the Nazca lines was in a Hardy Boys Mystery book. I had a collection of about 40 or so, maybe the first 40 in the series. It's been so long ago I don't remember.

The only song I know about the Nazca lines is Zappa's "Inca Roads". Some say it's his best song. I don't know about that but you can see an incredible live performance on the utoobs.

Posted by: fd at January 04, 2026 09:36 AM (vFG9F)

109 I was working my way through one of the several books I'm reading, and the author killed off one of the supporting characters. That left me irrationally angry, and I had to temporarily rage-quit the book. I've since picked it back up, but without the same level of enthusiasm as before.

I've picked up a bad habit of caring more about certain side character than the main characters. Possibly because the title character is generally untouchable. They are guaranteed to survive at least to the climax of the story. Generally they'll survive into the next story. If they are a franchise character, they'll survive the story essentially unchanged. And often enough, the title character is the author's favorite, and subject to a few Mary Sue-isms. Side characters, on the other hand, are sometimes more interesting to invest in. Their fate is a mystery (Ha! I this thought into the theme of the week!) so there are more stakes surrounding them. Alas, that can be problematic when the author sees them as a plot device more than a character...

Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026 09:36 AM (Lhaco)

110 Wait.
Should I be wearing pants?

Posted by: So confused at January 04, 2026 09:37 AM (2Ez/1)

111 80 “ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Matthew 5:6
Posted by: Marcus T at January 04, 2026 09:28 AM (zQLjY)

Interesting world we live in where many lie, cheat, and steal from the public through various scams and the minute these operations are exposed there is a common "righteous" indignation stance.

Posted by: r hennigantx at January 04, 2026 09:37 AM (gbOdA)

112 57 I read The Mercy Of God, book one of the Captive's War series, by James S. A. Corey (Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank).

---

Zoltan, have you read Livesuit yet? It's novella length. You must read it - very important backstory

Mercy of Gods got me into my current The Expanse audiobook marathon. About to start bk 5 Nemesis Games.

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at January 04, 2026 09:37 AM (tcsrY)

113 Thanks for the book thread, MP4. Almost finished with The Terminal List, by Jack Carr. I wanted to read it before watching the tv version. I’ve enjoyed it, although it’s a bit contrived in places. Picked up Operation Overflight by Francis Gary Powers from my TBR pile. This is the kind of history book we need, written by the guy who lived it.

Posted by: NCDave at January 04, 2026 09:37 AM (mAiNO)

114 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:35 AM (wzUl9)

I thought it was Belgians who were the villains.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 09:38 AM (KDPiq)

115 Did they ever send out a search party for that squadron

Posted by: Miguel cervantes

They sent out a flying boat to search, and that plane disappeared, but it is believed to have blown up due to fuel vapors igniting.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 09:38 AM (0U5gm)

116 For a couple years it felt like that book was everywhere, and although it’s been mostly forgotten, its thesis - that space aliens were responsible for all of those wild ancient stories - is thoroughly embedded in our culture now.
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 04, 2026 09:26 AM (RFd77)
---
Aided by Soviet propaganda to encourage apolitical Americans to spy on our military bases and report what they found. Also consistent with their war on faith, insisting that science was the true source of wisdom, not antiquated superstition.

Thus: it is considered more "credible" to come up with theories at variance with every principle of physics and treat them as true rather than follow the extensive documentation of the supernatural, which is simply waved away.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 09:38 AM (ZOv7s)

117 Sorry, OrangeEnt and other members of the LitHorde, but I see nothing on the Frolic Press web site about submissions. Looks like straight reprint at the moment.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 09:28 AM (q3u5l)

Was it this link: http://frolicpress.com/

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 09:38 AM (uQesX)

118 I would, though, highly recommend the graphic novel From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell.

I second this. One of the really weird things about it is that Moore loved to use superheroes to examine the theme of artificial saviors and the superior being. He ends up putting his Jack the Ripper on one end of a scale that ends with Miracleman.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at January 04, 2026 09:39 AM (EXyHK)

119 110 Wait.
Should I be wearing pants?
Posted by: So confused

--
Maybe since it's MP4 we have to wear hats

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at January 04, 2026 09:40 AM (tcsrY)

120 Aided by Soviet propaganda to encourage apolitical Americans to spy on our military bases and report what they found. Also consistent with their war on faith, insisting that science was the true source of wisdom, not antiquated superstition.

Thus: it is considered more "credible" to come up with theories at variance with every principle of physics and treat them as true rather than follow the extensive documentation of the supernatural, which is simply waved away.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 09:38 AM (ZOv7s)
---
So, a book about conspiracy theories was itself the product of a conspiracy? What are the odds?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:40 AM (ESVrU)

121 I read mystery stories long ago, more historical these days than fiction.

Posted by: Skip at January 04, 2026 09:40 AM (Ia/+0)

122 The hyped Charles Berlitz book, "The Bermuda Triangle" (1974), has sold over 20 million copies. I can't find any sales figures on the "The Bermuda Triangle -- Solved"; I'll guess the number is much lower.
I find truth more interesting than fiction.

Posted by: JM in Illinois at January 04, 2026 09:41 AM (WaTrL)

123 Maybe since it's MP4 we have to wear hats
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at January 04, 2026 09:40 AM (tcsrY)
---
All I know is that my own piercings are not practically perfect.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:41 AM (ESVrU)

124 So lots of roundabouts?
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:35 AM (ESVrU)
---
Yes, and there's a ring road around the massive medical complex with parking structures jumbled here and there, blocked by one-way streets.

Which they periodically change. I'm not making that up. They will just switch the direction of the street, and sometimes you have two of them converge onto a cross street. I do not exaggerate the horror of driving there. Makes Detroit driving a relaxed experience by contrast.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 09:42 AM (ZOv7s)

125 Time travelers instead of aliens make just as much sense to me.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 09:42 AM (KDPiq)

126 19 Howsabout "The Man Who was Thursday" penned by the original 'Che'; G. K. Chesterton. Early 20th century yarn of anarchy, bombings and intrigue. A prescient reading by him of the tea leaves and future goings-on.
Posted by: Billy the Mountain at January 04, 2026 09:09 AM (Yp4ud)

I got halfway through that book before losing interest. It's probably still on my shelf somewhere. I should probably give it a second try.

Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026 09:42 AM (Lhaco)

127 I looked it up and I was wrong. The book was "Mystery of the Desert Giant", #40 in the Hardy Boys series. The giant figures were the figures in the desert near Blythe, California.

I told you it was a long time ago. Anyway, I became aware of the Nazca lines and figures around that time, probably because of von Daniken's books.

Posted by: fd at January 04, 2026 09:42 AM (vFG9F)

128 Castle Guy, Alexandre Dumas is said to have cried when he killed Porthos. But he did go through with it nonetheless.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at January 04, 2026 09:42 AM (EXyHK)

129 Did they ever send out a search party for that squadron

Yes. Soon after Flight 19s last transmission, a (IIRC) Martin Mariner was sent to the last known location and never returned. That's been added to the Triangle 'mystery,' but what doesn't get mentioned is that the things were called "flying gas tanks" because of their propensity to explode and that a massive aerial explosion was seen soon after the Mariner took off.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:43 AM (ufSfZ)

130 In feel it reminds me of earlier YA adventures, before the publishers went woke and smutty.

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at January 04, 2026 09:27 AM (tcsrY)

If you really want to go back, Cascade Press offers facsimile reprints of vintage YA series for girls from the 40's, 50's and 60's. I enjoy them for the nostalgia, as I read most of them as a yoot. Young readers might enjoy comparing the "olden days" today.

Posted by: sal at January 04, 2026 09:43 AM (f+FmA)

131 Edgar Rice Burroughs in the Tarzan series was no fan of Russians even before the Revolution, and has several as villains in the early books. Perhaps his view was molded by Kennan's reports.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

Kennan spoke before large crowds all over America. In one of his early engagements, he spoke in New York, and appeared on stage wearing the rags of some political prisoners and the chains they spent their lives in. Mark Twain was in the audience with tears running down his face as Kennan spoke.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 09:44 AM (0U5gm)

132 Betting it's an option is probably safe. Especially given who her parents are.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 04, 2026 09:26 AM (lFFaq)

Betting it's an *op*! One day I will learn to proofread before posting.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 04, 2026 09:44 AM (lFFaq)

133 Bierce's Devil's Dictionary is one of the great delights in American literature. His verse that closes his definition of 'weather' is a favorite of mine, as is his definition of 'logic' with his example of the syllogism.

A master of sarcasm, and a lot of nifty short stories too. And the above-mentioned Frolic Press has his collection Can Such Things Be on their posted schedule.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 09:44 AM (q3u5l)

134 Castle Guy, Alexandre Dumas is said to have cried when he killed Porthos. But he did go through with it nonetheless.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at January 04, 2026 09:42 AM (EXyHK)
---
I've heard of other authors having an emotional experience when they realize that the story requires the death of a beloved character.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:44 AM (ESVrU)

135 So, a book about conspiracy theories was itself the product of a conspiracy? What are the odds?
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 04, 2026 09:40 AM (ESVrU)
---
There's a scene late in Focault's Pendulum where the narrator's girlfriend blows up the entire story, and the narrator wishes he listened to her instead of going further down the rabbit hole. Great book on conspiracies.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 09:44 AM (ZOv7s)

136 One thing that surprised me about the Bermuda Triangle is how big it was. With that much ocean, situated so close to places lots of people would sail to, you're guaranteed to have 'a lot' of ships go down. At least that was my impression upon seeing it on a map...

Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026 09:44 AM (Lhaco)

137 I've picked up a bad habit of caring more about certain side character than the main characters. Possibly because the title character is generally untouchable. They are guaranteed to survive at least to the climax of the story. Generally they'll survive into the next story. If they are a franchise character, they'll survive the story essentially unchanged. . . .
Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026

***
When I was running a fantasy novel of mine through the writing group, a supporting character -- a griffin -- became the readers' favorite. "You can kill off any of these characters you want -- but not him!"

I hadn't planned to anyway. But it was nice to get that reaction.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:45 AM (wzUl9)

138 Right now I'm enjoying Megan Shepherd's "Malice House", about an artist who encounters unexplained phenomena while clearing out her recently deceased father's isolated house on the bleak Washington coastline.

Her father, the critics' darling who wrote Cheever-ish fiction about suburban angst and midlife crises, also left behind a hidden manuscript that is nothing like his usual fare. It's a collection of unsettling morbid stories about monsters and enigmatic humans. She hopes her illustrations paired with her famous father's prose can jump-start her career. Her father, who suffered from dementia, complained of monsters in the walls, and one night Haven is attacked by something under the bed...

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 09:45 AM (kpS4V)

139
92 - His Regalia entry is my favorite. Culled for the best:

REGALIA, n. Distinguishing insignia, jewels and costume of such ancient and honorable orders as the Genteel Society of Expurgated Hoodlums; the Impenitent Order of Wife-Beaters; Cooperative Association for Breaking into the Spotlight; the Sublime Legion of Flamboyant Conspicuants; the Grand Cabal of Able-Bodied Sedentarians; Associated Deities of the Butter Trade; the Garden of Galoots; the Society for Prevention of Prevalence; Polite Federation of Gents-Consequential; Uniformed Rank of Lousy Cats.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at January 04, 2026 09:45 AM (XvL8K)

140 >>>Was recently reminded of the disappearance of Ambrose Bierce. I guess that would count as a mystery since it's unknown if there was a crime involved.

Like most mysteries, this one is probably the simplest explanation: a gringo with a romantic view of Latin American revolutionaries only to end up against the wall like everyone else.

Posted by: Citizen Cake at January 04, 2026 09:46 AM (CwhoI)

141 Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 09:32 AM (uQesX)

Yes, I need to pay $200 to get the domain name back. I don't know if I am going to use GoDaddy for the new site, though.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:46 AM (ufSfZ)

142 The sun is awfully low in the southern sky this morning. Winter is like that I suppose, but it feels a bit like a Star Trek episode and I am on a mysterious new planet. Watch out for those nasty tribbles is my advice.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at January 04, 2026 09:46 AM (EYeDJ)

143 Stephen King heard your complaints and rage about killing a story character and wrote Misery.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 09:46 AM (KDPiq)

144 MP4, fantastic subject! What do you think about the theory that HH Holmes could have been Jack the Ripper? One of Holmes' descendants supports the theory. Holmes was in England at the time of the killings...possibly. It's a cool theory! Even if unlikely.

Also there's a FASCINATING documentary on Mark Hoffman! Called "Murder Among the Mormons." It was co-directed by Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess, and his contributions really added to the cinematic, gripping quality of the narrative. My husband doesn't like true crime docs, and even he got sucked into watching it with me.

One of the revelations that shook me in the doc, as a Mormon, was that Hoffman's forgery successes were leading to him tackling his magnum opus of all forgeries: "finding" the original Book of Mormon manuscript that was lost. One of the great mysteries in LDS history, if you believe Joseph was actually a prophet, is what those pages contained.

Hoffman actually convinced the church leaders the "white salamander" letters were real. Who knows what he could have convinced them of, with false Book of Mormon teachings! It's chilling to think about.

Also they go into his full forgery process. Neat stuff.

Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 09:47 AM (gWBY1)

145 OrangeEnt at 117

Link is frolicpress.ink

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 09:47 AM (q3u5l)

146 Leaving an historical vacuum allows for every Tom, Dick, and Mark Lane to write a book about JFK, or UFOs. I’m told there is a lot of overlap.

The issue with the great Pyramid isn’t so much how they were constructed, but the fact that modern archaeology does not allow for the ancients to have had the ability to do what they clearly did.

There are circular saw cuts on hard stone, granite, diorite, etc all over the Giza plateau. Their ability to work with granite is pretty much unsurpassed. That isn’t really getting into the why, either. They did some things for reasons that aren’t apparent.

Their ability to drill through granite impressed an early Surveyor, who estimated a feed rate of 1 in 60 or about a tenth of an inch cut for every revolution of the core drill. There is also a superb collection of obviously turned diorite or andesite bowls and vases in the Egyptian museum. They are absolutely turned on a lathe, for starters.

But modern scientists can’t acknowledge that, so the subject simply isn’t discussed. So we get the “it wuz alienz” crowd flooding the zone.

Posted by: Common Tater at January 04, 2026 09:48 AM (VmO84)

147 The great thing about old YA fiction ( and even some modern stuff) is how unsupervised the kids are.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 09:48 AM (kpS4V)

148 Yes. Soon after Flight 19s last transmission, a (IIRC) Martin Mariner was sent to the last known location and never returned. That's been added to the Triangle 'mystery,' but what doesn't get mentioned is that the things were called "flying gas tanks" because of their propensity to explode and that a massive aerial explosion was seen soon after the Mariner took off.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:43 AM (ufSfZ)
---
My grandfather was a navigator during WW II on the transatlantic supply run. He flew both routes - Brazil to Dakar and Newfoundland to Scotland.

Aircraft losses were not considered mysterious. Aircraft then were not as reliable as now, navigation was crude and beacons could (and were) distorted by interference, so it was mostly dead reckoning and guessing at the weather.

Flying for "the duration" was considered a major achievement and my grandmother had all of his stats memorized and like to brag to people about his record. I have his charts and flight logs.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 09:48 AM (ZOv7s)

149 Well, there was also that true crime story about Julius somebody or other. I may have read about him in a play.

Just teasing. For the past century, Jack has been an unknown serial killer, in living memory, and a much more immediate terror.

Posted by: JM in Illinois at January 04, 2026 09:49 AM (D+CDV)

150 11 The Perfessor is missing!
Whodunnit?????

Who had:
Means?
Motive?
Opportunity?
Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 09:30 AM (gWBY1)

Just saw the trailer for season 6 of Slow Horses which has a clip of Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) talking to his crew:

Lamb: Need the 5Fs
Crew1: What's the 5 Fs?
Lamb: What the F-, who the F-, how the F-, why the F-.
Crew2: That's just 4 Fs
Lamb *glaring at him* Get the F- out

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at January 04, 2026 09:49 AM (tcsrY)

151
My silliness at 56 ackshewallee has a basis in fact.

The Reproductive cycle of eels was, in fact, one of the great biological mysteries until just recently.

It turns out that eels swim as much as 5000 miles to reproduce in the Sargasso Sea, which is in the Bermuda Triangle!

https://tinyurl.com/3wanej37

So, if you go in for Eel Porn...

Beware the Big Eel Fucking Force Vectors!!!

Posted by: naturalfake at January 04, 2026 09:50 AM (iJfKG)

152 Good morning and Merry Christmas, MP4, Horde

Congratulations on running this book thread, MP4

Posted by: callsign claymore at January 04, 2026 09:50 AM (mnbnw)

153 I've heard of other authors having an emotional experience when they realize that the story requires the death of a beloved character.

J.K. Rowling probably did when she killed off Albus Dumbledore. He was gay, after all.

Posted by: Archimedes at January 04, 2026 09:50 AM (Riz8t)

154 See women are second class. No mention of Amelia Earhart or did I miss it?

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 09:50 AM (KDPiq)

155 The week of reading started well with "Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people". I mentioned last week that this will be my 60th annual reading of LOTR. Since I know how the plot goes I'm concentrating on the elements that make the book so compelling: words and phrasing, how Tolkien is, for my taste, a master of description and pacing. I have a highlighter to mark such things and a pen to make notes in the margins always at hand. It slows reading but I'm not in a hurry. I'm curious how the book will look when I finish. (Probably serve as a study for some psychology thesis.)

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 09:51 AM (yTvNw)

156 It took about 5 centuries but Kirk and Spock finally got the Ripper.

Posted by: Guy who relates everything to Star Trek at January 04, 2026 09:51 AM (vFG9F)

157 MP4, fantastic subject! What do you think about the theory that HH Holmes could have been Jack the Ripper? One of Holmes' descendants supports the theory. Holmes was in England at the time of the killings...possibly. It's a cool theory! Even if unlikely.

I don't think it's likely. Holmes' method of murder was generally gassing, and he preferred his 'murder castle' so that he could kill in safety and at leisure. The Ripper was just 'smash and slash.' And I don't know if Holmes was ever in London, though; I would have to refresh my memory.

Thanks for that Hofmann documentary reference! I'll definitely check that out.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:51 AM (ufSfZ)

158 One thing that surprised me about the Bermuda Triangle is how big it was. With that much ocean, situated so close to places lots of people would sail to, you're guaranteed to have 'a lot' of ships go down. At least that was my impression upon seeing it on a map...
Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026 09:44 AM (Lhaco)
---
I have a shipwreck map of Lake Superior. Very dangerous place.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 09:51 AM (ZOv7s)

159 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026
*
I thought it was Belgians who were the villains.
Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026

***
As I recall -- it's been a *long* time since I read any Tarzans -- ERB had Belgians, Germans (in German East Africa during WWI; ERB had Germans attack Tarzan's homestead and carry Jane off), at least one Russian, and lots of others.

To me, the best Tarzans are the first, the sixth (Jungle Tales of Tarzan -- short stories from the years before he first met Europeans), and a couple of the later ones like Tarzan's Quest and Tarzan and the City of Gold. Quest features Jane leading a group of plane crash survivors in the jungle, using knowledge Tarzan has taught her; and Gold has one of the best climactic scenes in the saga.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:51 AM (wzUl9)

160 MP4 I used to use namecheap to buy domains

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at January 04, 2026 09:51 AM (tcsrY)

161 The issue with the great Pyramid isn’t so much how they were constructed, but the fact that modern archaeology does not allow for the ancients to have had the ability to do what they clearly did.“

Have you read of the current group using some kind of ground survey analysis to claim that there are huge structures extending 2 km beneath the pyramids? No, I don’t believe it either, but all of the usual suspects are pushing the story.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 04, 2026 09:52 AM (RFd77)

162 Carlos Fuentes did a novel about Bierce disappearing into Mexico called The Old Gringo. Filmed with Gregory Peck as Bierce if memory serves (can't recall who else was in it). I never got around to the book or movie, though.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 09:53 AM (q3u5l)

163 With that much ocean, situated so close to places lots of people would sail to, you're guaranteed to have 'a lot' of ships go down.
——-

If there were a section of North Dakota or Montana where freight trains routinely vanished , now that might be something pretty weird.

The BT is one of the most traveled sections of da erf in the world by air or sea. In that context it ain’t so strange.

Posted by: Common Tater at January 04, 2026 09:53 AM (VmO84)

164 I enjoyed Graham Hancock's book "The Sign and the Seal", theorizing that the Ark of the Covenant had been taken to Ethiopia, though I don't know if I agree, or with his conclusion that it is now in a museum in Zimbabwe.

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at January 04, 2026 09:54 AM (tRYqg)

165 Oh, one more unsolved crime!

Remember the Vatican bank scandal? A key figure was found hanged from a bridge in London. Apparently not a suicide.

Posted by: Weak Geek at January 04, 2026 09:54 AM (p/isN)

166 But modern scientists can’t acknowledge that, so the subject simply isn’t discussed. So we get the “it wuz alienz” crowd flooding the zone.
Posted by: Common Tater at January 04, 2026 09:48 AM (VmO84)
---
Every major scientific discovery is widely hated and despised by the establishment and only gains acceptance when the Old Guard finally dies off.

At this late date, the notion that ancients were all retarded and no one could ever figure out physics or technology is pretty untenable.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 09:54 AM (ZOv7s)

167 It took about 5 centuries but Kirk and Spock finally got the Ripper.

You know, the ending of Wolf In The Fold always bothered me. It was explained that "Red Jack" was possessing the body of Hengist, using him to perform the murders. But at the end, Kirk and Spock kill poor Hengist (who, remember, is possessed by a demon) by beaming him out into space. Couldn't Spock have used some Vulcan mind-trap to exorcise the spirit and free Hengist?

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:54 AM (ufSfZ)

168 MP4, fantastic subject! What do you think about the theory that HH Holmes could have been Jack the Ripper? One of Holmes' descendants supports the theory. Holmes was in England at the time of the killings...possibly. It's a cool theory! Even if unlikely.

Posted by: LizLem

While HH Holmes had the psychopathy to do it, it did not fit his modus operandi. If you want a close up look at just how depraved one of America's first serial killers was, read Devil in the White City.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 09:54 AM (0U5gm)

169 The great thing about old YA fiction ( and even some modern stuff) is how unsupervised the kids are.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026

***
Yes! In the Whitman TV adventures for young readers, Jeff Miller and Timmy Martin, on their bikes, both ranged all around their farms with Lassie at their sides and got into adventures. As long as they did their chores and were home for dinner, and didn't miss school, they had enormous freedom.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:55 AM (wzUl9)

170 Good morning all.
Appreciate the topic MP4 because I happened on a great mystery find in the tiny library at my condo. A Killer in King's Cove by Iona Whishaw takes place in a very very small rural town in Canada shortly after WW2. She introduces Lane Wilson, a recent emigre for Great Britain with a mysterious past into a tight knit community who all have their own secrets. When a murder takes place to an outsider that nobody knows , there are only 20 possible suspects for Inspector Darling to consider. The 1940's setting adds difficulties to the process with things like party lines where anyone can listen in. Much is revealed about Lane's past and some great twists and a very satisfactory ending. Really glad the person who left the book also left the next two in the series.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at January 04, 2026 09:55 AM (t/2Uw)

171 If the omani arabs would not have colonized kenys no obama

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 04, 2026 09:56 AM (bXbFr)

172 I've gotten spoiled by reading on a tablet. Find an unknown word or place? Just copy and get the prompt to look it up in the browser if it doesn't immediately show up in a window from Wiki. Analog is decidedly less convenient since I need to get my tablet out and type in the desired info.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 04, 2026 09:56 AM (lFFaq)

173 Carlos Fuentes did a novel about Bierce disappearing into Mexico called The Old Gringo. Filmed with Gregory Peck as Bierce if memory serves (can't recall who else was in it). I never got around to the book or movie, though.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026

***
There is also a short story by Gerald Kersh called "The Oxoxoco [sp?] Bottle" which is narrated by Bierce, and explains his disappearance too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:57 AM (wzUl9)

174 If you're a fan of radio mystery whodunnits the UToobs has dozens and dozens of episodes of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.

Can be quite entertaining on a road trip.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at January 04, 2026 09:57 AM (2Ez/1)

175 An unsolved mystery that I'd like definitively solved: Amelia Earhart.

Posted by: pookysgirl, always curious at January 04, 2026 09:57 AM (Wt5PA)

176 Hoffman actually convinced the church leaders the "white salamander" letters were real. Who knows what he could have convinced them of, with false Book of Mormon teachings! It's chilling to think about.

Also they go into his full forgery process. Neat stuff.
Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 09:47 AM (gWBY1)
---
Every Easter there is some new forgery designed to discredit Christianity, and the same scholarly establishment that demands photographs of the Apostles holding up a current issue of Roman newspaper to authenticate their work jumps in without even checking the composition of the ink.

It's all so tiresome.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 09:57 AM (ZOv7s)

177 There are a lot of unexplained advanced tech questions about the pyramids but there is no discussion of ancient tech that was also used. If they had advanced tech provided or usedby 'aliens' to build why use ancient tech? Aliens just liked using old school as a hobby or something?

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 09:58 AM (KDPiq)

178 Hi All, Thanks All, Happy 2026. Finally finished "War Before Civilization" by Keeley. a bit of a wandering slog, especially toward the end, but otherwise very good. Explains how and why the 'peaceful primitives' myth started and continues, and completely debunks it. I lear more every day.

Posted by: goatexchange at January 04, 2026 09:58 AM (hyS0X)

179 Whatever happened to the Roanoke Colony has likely been resolved but there remains an appealing mystery.

Posted by: Northernlurker , Maple Syrup MAGA at January 04, 2026 09:58 AM (8CIFn)

180 Link is frolicpress.ink

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 09:47 AM (q3u5l)

Ah, ya shoulda said dot ink! I did a search for "frolic press" and found nothing like that. Did frolicpress dot com and came up with the other link. I was confused. Thanks.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 09:58 AM (uQesX)

181 No, it's not one of those. She says the sister, who was supposedly off on a visit, had time to get back. Lizzie was young when her mom died and didn't hate her stepmom, but the older sister never forgave her dad for remarrying.

Murder weapon was smuggled out in a container used for menstrual rags. The men at the trial didn't want to consider that a woman could be the murderer. But it's the behavior of the sister afterwards, where she has Lizzie under her control, that is most suspicious. I'll see if I can find it

Posted by: Notsothoreau at January 04, 2026 09:59 AM (+mUZM)

182 >>>Couldn't Spock have used some Vulcan mind-trap to exorcise the spirit and free Hengist?

NOW you tell me. How illogical.

Posted by: Spock of Vulcan at January 04, 2026 09:59 AM (CwhoI)

183 Oh, one more unsolved crime!

Remember the Vatican bank scandal? A key figure was found hanged from a bridge in London. Apparently not a suicide.
Posted by: Weak Geek at January 04, 2026 09:54 AM (p/isN)

There's a Netflix documentary that touches on that. The Vatican Girl is about the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi in 1983. Very briefly put, the theory is that Pope JP2 was funneling money to Solidarity through Banco Ambrosiano (run by Roberto Calvi), who was the Blackfriars Bridge suicide). Some of that money came from the Mafia, and Orlandi was kidnapped by them as a message - "give us back the money and we give you the girl." Orlandi was targeted because she was, specifically, a 'Vatican girl' - she was born and raised within Vatican City.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:59 AM (ufSfZ)

184
Aircraft losses were not considered mysterious. Aircraft then were not as reliable as now, navigation was crude and beacons could (and were) distorted by interference, so it was mostly dead reckoning and guessing at the weather.

Flying for "the duration" was considered a major achievement and my grandmother had all of his stats memorized and like to brag to people about his record. I have his charts and flight logs.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 09:48 AM (ZOv7

----

"Fate Is the Hunter", by Ernest Gann, is a marvelous collection of true aviation stories in the 1930s and '40s, when commercial flying was just starting. In one story, his aircraft is sabotaged by jealous ground crews in Belem; only by chance did he notice the oil spouting out of his engine in flight, allowing him to turn back in time. Luck and skill seemed to play equal parts in early aviation survival

Posted by: JM in Illinois at January 04, 2026 10:00 AM (9qZ8R)

185 Yeah it related to p2 and otjet masonic dealings roberto calvi

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 04, 2026 10:00 AM (bXbFr)

186 Oh, and a true crime book I read and loved recently is "The Woman They Could Not Silence," by Kate Moore. The true story about Elizabeth Packard, a woman who was forcefully institutionalized by her husband (for disagreeing with him on a religious beliefs and for being anti slavery), and fought first for her own freedom, then the freedom of others thrown into mental institutions with little or no evidence.

All the quotes are 100% from actual quotes, newspapers, or diaries, and then she uses her own narrative style to fill in the rest of the gaps. It's so good. She also frames Elizabeth's emancipation against the backdrop of the civil war and the emancipation of slaves, which was an interesting parallel.

It was neat to see that Elizabeth did one of the first "crowd funding" efforts to get her books published, and it was a success! Way back in the 1800s.

Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 10:00 AM (gWBY1)

187 The Great Pyramids are proof that a group of men with a rope can move anything.

Posted by: Citizen Cake at January 04, 2026 10:01 AM (CwhoI)

188 Seth graham smith said it was vampires

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 04, 2026 10:01 AM (bXbFr)

189 "Every major scientific discovery is widely hated and despised by the establishment and only gains acceptance when the Old Guard finally dies off."

We're meeting at the Elks Lodge Wednesday night at 7:00 pm.
See you there.

Posted by: The Flat Moon Society at January 04, 2026 10:02 AM (2Ez/1)

190 107
Edgar Rice Burroughs in the Tarzan series was no fan of Russians even before the Revolution, and has several as villains in the early books. Perhaps his view was molded by Kennan's reports.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:35 AM (wzUl9)

ERB would be incomprehensible to 'modern audiences.' He had Tarzan team up with a very honorable Arab at one point, but then at another point Tarzan would fight against a Arab-slaver who fit all the evil stereotypes...

Russia was also usually viewed with suspicion. Very backwards, very Asian, and very, very big. Also, very ambitious--they needed warm-water-ports, and had to go through others to get them. Basically, they were dangerous and hard to figure out...

Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026 10:02 AM (Lhaco)

191 Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 09:47 AM (q3u5l)

Also, just contact and see if he's publishing new work of his own, or if he's interested in publishing other authors. He has a substack as well at https://frolicpress.substack.com/

Worth a try if anyone's writing that genre here.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 10:02 AM (uQesX)

192 After serving 20 plus years in a large,big city PD, I can’t watch or read any crime stories. The only one I will read is if it’s set in the cowboy west or an ancient city or something along the lines of Holmes. I’ve seen enough of what man can do to man.
I’m retired 22 years now and for the first ten or so I would have terrible nightmares of either being in a gun battle or seeing something hideous that one person did to another.
I know people enjoy crime stories and I would never tell anyone what to read, so enjoy. I know there are many great authors of the genre.

Posted by: RetSgtRN at January 04, 2026 10:03 AM (OaoIR)

193 The Great Pyramids are proof that a group of men with a rope can move anything.
Posted by: Citizen Cake at January 04, 2026 10:01 AM (CwhoI)

I like the one theory that they moved the stones with wind power. They demonstrated that a large kite sail could easily move those stones.

Also like the retired guy whose hobby was moving stones ( concrete) that weighed tons by himself.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 10:04 AM (KDPiq)

194 98 Seth rich (there was more than met the eye)
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 04, 2026 09:32 AM (bXbFr)

Really, anyone dead who was involved with the Clintons. It would have to be a multi-volume set.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at January 04, 2026 10:04 AM (h7ZuX)

195 I think my favorite Pyramid theory - and no I don’t believe this, but it’s very detailed and creative - is that the Pyramids weren’t tombs at all, but rather that they and the chambers in them were connected under the plateau and are remains of a vast air pump system that lifted water out of the Nile and irrigated land for miles around the Giza plateau.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 04, 2026 10:04 AM (RFd77)

196 The Bermuda Triangle has been every woman I have ever had a relationship with since college. The fast boats delivering the goods are mostly off of the radar.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at January 04, 2026 10:04 AM (nljXp)

197 Alas, that can be problematic when the author sees them as a plot device more than a character...
Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026 09:36 AM (Lhaco)

A major reason I like both Georgette Heyer and the Horde's own Sabrina Chase is that each treat their supporting cast respectfully in terms of being their own personalities, not just objects for the MC to act/emote around.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at January 04, 2026 10:06 AM (lFFaq)

198 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is a gold standard modern mystery. By now, even if we ever find the plane, there's a good chance we'll never know for sure what happened.

Posted by: Citizen Cake at January 04, 2026 10:06 AM (CwhoI)

199 No, it's not one of those. She says the sister, who was supposedly off on a visit, had time to get back. Lizzie was young when her mom died and didn't hate her stepmom, but the older sister never forgave her dad for remarrying.

Emma Borden's alibi of visiting friends in Fairhaven was thoroughly checked by the Fall River police, and it was determined that she never left during the time frame of the murders. I'd love to know the name of the book you're thinking of; I'd add it to my Borden collection.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 10:06 AM (ufSfZ)

200 Anybody here ever read Modern Times by Paul Johnson? I've been reading it, and I was stricken by something he puts forward - basically he says that the savagery of Nazis & Communists & Japs created a bull market on brutality, and that eventually the Allies were drawn into competition in this market with their attacks on civilian populations.

I think this is correct, but not nearly as important as Johnson does. This has sort of always been the case. It's reciprocal. Players look at the level of brutality that the opponent (or even an ally) is willing to employ, and then try to match it. If they don't, they lose. Thus, the bigger asshole determines the extent of misery. It's just the nature of the beast.

Take, for instance, Israel & Palestine between the 80s and now. When it was penny ante Intifadas and terror attacks, Israel responded with larger but still limited military actions against them, usually with excessive restraint WRT collateral damage, then frankly cucky diplomatic solutions.

But once they beheaded a bunch of babies and young adults and farmers, Israel leveled Gaza completely. This is simply how wars work, and WWII wasn't novel besides the scale of destruction.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 04, 2026 10:07 AM (BI5O2)

201 The Dyatlov Pass incident

Posted by: one hour sober at January 04, 2026 10:08 AM (Y1sOo)

202 The book The Terminal Spy unwinds the polonium poisoning of KGB traitor Alexander Litvinenko. He's not a character worthy of sympathy.

If you're going to betray Russia or Putin, don't do it in London, or you may be found hanging from the ceiling with phone cord knotted around your neck.

Posted by: 13times at January 04, 2026 10:08 AM (fnZRl)

203 I read that original Bermuda Triangle book in school, early 70s

Posted by: Skip at January 04, 2026 10:08 AM (Ia/+0)

204 71 I remember that probably the biggest and most popular “Ancient Mysteries” book in the 70’s was Erik von Daniken’s “Chariots of the Gods”. For a couple years it felt like that book was everywhere, and although it’s been mostly forgotten, its thesis - that space aliens were responsible for all of those wild ancient stories - is thoroughly embedded in our culture now.
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 04, 2026 09:26 AM (RFd77)

Never read that book. But Graham Hancock references it a lot in his talks/shows. The way Hancock talks, the book is more about pointing out things that don't match the generally accepted historical narrative, rather than positing a solution...Or maybe that was the way Hancock sees things, rather than the book.

I've grown to enjoy the 'conspiracy theory' style of history, even if I'm not read to believe all the theories. (More speculation than evidence) But 'aliens' strike me as the least fun type of conspiracy theory...

Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026 10:08 AM (Lhaco)

205 The only true crime book I've read is Helter Skelter. Creeped me out, partly because Manson in the 1950s (pre-beard and long hair) looked like the dude my wife dated briefly before I met her.

She may have dodged a bullet there.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, First of his name at January 04, 2026 10:09 AM (0aYVJ)

206 Posted by: Pug Mahon, First of his name at January 04, 2026 10:09 AM (0aYVJ)

Another guy who had no problem sucking dick that was a psycho murderer.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 10:10 AM (KDPiq)

207 128 Castle Guy, Alexandre Dumas is said to have cried when he killed Porthos. But he did go through with it nonetheless.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at January 04, 2026 09:42 AM (EXyHK)

I....don't remember Porthos dying in Three Musketeers. Did that happen in the sequel? (Man in the Iron Mask?)

Anyways, good for Dumas for caring, in any case...

Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026 10:11 AM (Lhaco)

208 Robert Bloch's "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" was a delight and he adapted it later for one of the nicer episodes of the Karloff-hosted Thriller series. His novel Night of the Ripper was reissued not too long ago by Valancourt Books, and ain't too dusty either. Bloch's contribution to Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions, "A Toy for Juliette," and Ellison's sequel in the same volume are worth a look if you like Ripper fiction, but the Ellison piece ain't even remotely for the squeamish.

Bloch did a Holmes novel as well called American Gothic. Hasn't been reissued in a while, but not too hard to find used.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 10:12 AM (q3u5l)

209 >>> since I know how the plot goes I'm concentrating on the elements that make the book so compelling: words and phrasing, how Tolkien is...

So cool, JTB! I wish you much pleasure and success with the endeavor.

Are there any definitive books on what the Groundlings at Oxford was really like? How their writing group worked, what the personalities were like? I know that Tolkien thought allegory was insipid so he ridiculed CS Lewis' Narnia fiction. Those arguments would be fascinating to watch live. But I'd love to know more about them palling around at Oxford together. One of the fly on the wall parts of history I wouldn't mind witnessing in person.

Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 10:12 AM (gWBY1)

210 Aliens just liked using old school as a hobby or something?
Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 09:58 AM (KDPiq)
---

Hipster aliens who feel old tech is just more authentic.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 10:12 AM (kpS4V)

211 Anybody here ever read Modern Times by Paul Johnson? I've been reading it, and I was stricken by something he puts forward - basically he says that the savagery of Nazis & Communists & Japs created a bull market on brutality, and that eventually the Allies were drawn into competition in this market with their attacks on civilian populations.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 04, 2026 10:07 AM (BI5O2)
---
The distinction between enemy combatants and civilians is itself a recent one, and arguably artificial. In pre-industrial times, cities were considered uniformly hostile. Everyone within it was assumed to be aiding the defense. Thus, if the city did not submit, everyone could expect to be killed or raped and sold into slavery.

There were times when 'honors of war' were granted because the cost of storming the city was viewed as prohibitively high, and clemency was useful to convince other cities to submit, but it was widely known that once troops get within the walls, it's hard to control them.

In a lot of way, the modern notion of "managed conflict" and targeting killing on an individual basis is much more barbaric and inhumane.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 10:12 AM (ZOv7s)

212 The Dyatlov Pass incident

Posted by: one hour sober

An interesting take on that incident is found in the novel Dead Mountain by Preston and Child.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 10:12 AM (0U5gm)

213 @174 --

I second the recommendation for Johnny Dollar. Shame that radio dramas are no more.

Posted by: Weak Geek at January 04, 2026 10:14 AM (p/isN)

214 In addition to the highlighting and margin notes as I reread LOTR, I have a pad to write down thoughts (i. e., rabbit holes) as they come to me. The first one was "EVERYBODY SINGS". In just the first few chapters Hobbits, dwarves and elves all sing or at least their singing is mentioned. There are so many other examples throughout the book, especially Tom Bombadil. The importance and power of music and singing is a subtle but constant element in the legendarium. Echoes of music of the spheres? The power of the Word? Lots of room to make interesting connections and speculate.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 10:14 AM (yTvNw)

215 Maybe since it's MP4 we have to wear hats
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at January 04, 2026 09:40 AM (tcsrY)

Fine brocade smoking jackets.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at January 04, 2026 10:14 AM (h7ZuX)

216 The Dyatlov Pass incident
Posted by: one hour sober at January 04, 2026 10:08 AM (Y1sOo)

The two most accepted theories now are:
1. Winds blowing off the terrain create sub-frequency 'brown noise' that, after long exposure, mind-fuck you and drive you crazy;

2. The hikers, for some reason, did not camp in the nearby forest, but on a slab of snow / ice that, due to winds, weight and shifting meteorological conditions, moved and crushed them.

sThe only true crime book I've read is Helter Skelter. Creeped me out, partly because Manson in the 1950s (pre-beard and long hair) looked like the dude my wife dated briefly before I met her.

You want creepy? Read Ed Sanders' The Family. He knew the Manson 'family' and was familiar with the various cults that infested southern CA in the late 1960s.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 10:14 AM (ufSfZ)

217 Since I know how the plot goes I'm concentrating on the elements that make the book so compelling: words and phrasing, how Tolkien is, for my taste, a master of description and pacing.
Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 09:51 AM (yTvNw)
---
The man could turn a phrase. Beautiful writing.

I'm between rereads (to keep it from getting too stale), and one of the ones I did not long ago was to note all the instances of faith/religion appearing. How often people are blessed, when holy names are spoken and so on. I also finally connected the "seen and unseen" reference to the Nicene Creed.

Lots of stuff going on there. On a related note, Friday night my daughter watched the Bakshi film of the books, which IMO looks pretty good. Yeah, it's a bit spotty, but at least Legolas doesn't shield surf at Helm's Deep. Jackson's films are awful.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 10:17 AM (ZOv7s)

218 You know, the ending of Wolf In The Fold always bothered me. It was explained that "Red Jack" was possessing the body of Hengist, using him to perform the murders. But at the end, Kirk and Spock kill poor Hengist (who, remember, is possessed by a demon) by beaming him out into space. Couldn't Spock have used some Vulcan mind-trap to exorcise the spirit and free Hengist?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:54 AM (ufSfZ)

I always thought Hengist was already dead when Red Jack took him over. Haven't seen it in years, but didn't Dr. McCoy said Hengist was dead? Red Jack went into Scotty and he didn't die when RJ left him, so why would Hengist be dead when he went out of him unless he was dead already.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 10:18 AM (uQesX)

219 I second the recommendation for Johnny Dollar. Shame that radio dramas are no more.
Posted by: Weak Geek at January 04, 2026 10:14 AM (p/isN)
----
Thirdified!

Posted by: Weasel at January 04, 2026 10:18 AM (Ldgt5)

220 1. Winds blowing off the terrain create sub-frequency 'brown noise' that, after long exposure, mind-fuck you and drive you crazy;
---
So, like growing up in Cody, Wyoming. The horror...the horror.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, First of his name at January 04, 2026 10:19 AM (0aYVJ)

221 Just saw the trailer for season 6 of Slow Horses which has a clip of Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) talking to his crew:

Lamb: Need the 5Fs
Crew1: What's the 5 Fs?
Lamb: What the F-, who the F-, how the F-, why the F-.
Crew2: That's just 4 Fs
Lamb *glaring at him* Get the F- out
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport

Gary Oldman is fantastic as Jackson Lamb. Love that show.

Posted by: Tuna at January 04, 2026 10:19 AM (lJ0H4)

222 Kirk and Spock kill poor Hengist (who, remember, is possessed by a demon) by beaming him out into space.

I just watched this episode a few days ago. My take is that the being was shown as being able to inhabit already dead people, so that Hengist was probably already dead.

Gotta be honest, though. Only his mother ever cares when that actor’s characters die.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at January 04, 2026 10:19 AM (wRoQB)

223 They still drag van Daniken’s crusty ass out to deny GOD ever so often, be it on mummy show, Bermuda triankle, Hitler mystery, ot whatever. In the end it was always aliens. Even Shatner says so.

Posted by: Eromero at January 04, 2026 10:19 AM (DXbAa)

224 Every major scientific discovery is widely hated and despised by the establishment and only gains acceptance when the Old Guard finally dies off.

At this late date, the notion that ancients were all retarded and no one could ever figure out physics or technology is pretty untenable.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

There is a conceit that modern people have, that believes that they are the smartest and most knowledgeable ever. They never imagine that people from long ago had the intelligence to find ways of doing things that modern people can't even do today. South Pacific islanders were using celestial navigation to travel hundreds of miles of open ocean between tiny islands a thousand years ago.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 10:20 AM (0U5gm)

225 175 An unsolved mystery that I'd like definitively solved: Amelia Earhart.
Posted by: pookysgirl, always curious at January 04, 2026 09

---
This youtuber, Veritasium, does a number of fact-based videos. His 36-minute video gives a credible explanation about what likely went wrong. Short answer: there was a lack of coordination of radios between her plane and the Navy ship that was helping her navigate over long distances of open water.

https://tinyurl.com/4kmth5ub

Posted by: JM in Illinois at January 04, 2026 10:20 AM (69CZb)

226 OK, folks, I'm glad I was able to entertain you today. So thanks again to CBD and the Perfesser for letting me guest-host this morning.

I need to edit a few chapters of my novel and I can't do it at home. Too many distractions. I'm going out to the covfefe shop and get work done.

Hope you all have a lovely day and I will see you again on Tuesday.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 10:21 AM (ufSfZ)

227 Did that happen in the sequel? (Man in the Iron Mask?)

Yes. Very different tone than Three Musketeers, much like The Hobbit and LoTR.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at January 04, 2026 10:21 AM (wRoQB)

228
The distinction between enemy combatants and civilians is itself a recent one, and arguably artificial. In pre-industrial times, cities were considered uniformly hostile. Everyone within it was assumed to be aiding the defense. Thus, if the city did not submit, everyone could expect to be killed or raped and sold into slavery.

-----

Right, but the basic math never changes; those were more brutal times, with a higher baseline for brutality. So, for instance, in the Social Wars, the mutual hatred escalated into atrocities like Picene Asculum, which discomfited polite Roman society, given that these were cousins being despoiled.

The loose "rules" of war that developed from the 18th century forward got broken by the gangster states, so the more-or-less civilized countries set them aside and started firebombing cities. Just the way she goes.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 04, 2026 10:22 AM (BI5O2)

229 Aliens would be a product of God also if he created the universe. But I assume most alien adherents are atheist or agnostic.

Is that a wrong assumption?

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 10:22 AM (KDPiq)

230 Thanks MPPPP.

Posted by: 13times at January 04, 2026 10:22 AM (fnZRl)

231 Have a good one, MP4, and thanks for the thread.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 10:22 AM (q3u5l)

232 SS Ourang Madang attracts attention except:

It happened in 1940 and in 1947 in the newspaper accounts. 1940 story requested a warship. Location has been reported in the Malacca Straits, south of the Solomon Islands, or south of the Marshall Islands.

Posted by: Anna Puma at January 04, 2026 10:23 AM (Y97GY)

233 Congrats & great job, MP4.

Posted by: Darles Chickens at January 04, 2026 10:23 AM (vOKvj)

234 Nicely done, MP4!!

Posted by: Weasel at January 04, 2026 10:25 AM (a18rM)

235 I only accidentally saw the pants link once, and long ago.
But would be a hoot if Mary P4 had hats link

Posted by: Skip at January 04, 2026 10:25 AM (Ia/+0)

236 I'm wearing a smoking jacket a la Monty Woolley in "The Man Who Came to Dinner", puffing on a thin cheroot, and petting my ambush predator in front of a cheerfully crackling fire.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 10:25 AM (kpS4V)

237 Targeting civilians was always and is the last option for the United States . Just because it remains an option does not mean we accepted it as normal because are enemies have.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 10:25 AM (KDPiq)

238 >>> I know people enjoy crime stories and I would never tell anyone what to read, so enjoy. I know there are many great authors of the genre.
Posted by: RetSgtRN at January 04, 2026 10:03 AM (OaoIR)

Bless you for your work to keep us safe. You've certainly earned the right to enjoy whatever reading genres you choose in your leisure time! Thanks for indulging us in crime today.

Lucy Worseley is one of my fave modern historians, she makes things unstuffy and fun. She hosted a three-part documentary series called "A very British Murder," looking at our fascination with crime novels in British society and how it built to the golden age of detective fiction. All while covering how modern forensics helped leap our knowledge of true crime forward.

She theorizes that as Victorian British lives got more safe and sterile from actual crime, mostly in the middle and upper classes of course, people got more obsessed with reading about murder. I think there's a truth to that!

Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 10:25 AM (gWBY1)

239 "Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 09:21 AM
NYC police lieutenant...a woman who was killed by a bullet while driving along the coast. It turned out that someone was practice shooting at bottles off of the coast, and a bullet ricocheted off of the water, and traveled nearly a mile before going through her open car window and hitting her in the head."

I remember reading his account of that case (OMG, I believe it was Reader's Digest). One of the interesting aspects was that he immediately decided it had to be an accidental shooting, on the grounds that no sniper in the world could have made that shot.

Posted by: Disillusionist at January 04, 2026 10:26 AM (u5DQm)

240 An unsolved mystery that I'd like definitively solved: Amelia Earhart.
Posted by: pookysgirl,

I think there is an expedition underway right now on Nikumararo Island sponsored by Purdue University. The premise is that they flew an arc looking for land, and ended up there, and either died in the crash or were not found because no one thought to look there.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 10:26 AM (0U5gm)

241 Thanks for a lovely Book Thread, Poppins!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 10:27 AM (kpS4V)

242 209 ... "Are there any definitive books on what the Groundlings at Oxford was really like? How their writing group worked, what the personalities were like?"

LizLem,
The group was called the Inklings. There are a number of books on the members and how they interacted. "Bandersnatch" by Patricia Glyer and "The Inklings" by Humphrey Carpenter would be good places to start. There are others including one on how each of the Inklings approached the King Arthur legends.

Be careful! The more you learn about the members of the Inklings the more you will want to read their other works.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 10:27 AM (yTvNw)

243 @198 except there's evidence supporting that one of the pilots took it off course, or am I confusing that with another Malaysian air crash.

Posted by: Chairman LMAO at January 04, 2026 10:28 AM (36PRH)

244 I've been enjoying my hate feed this morning.

One was some old dingbat whining that Trump is destroying social security.
Author blurb says she's been on that whine for 4 decades.
Even written a couple of books.

Can you imagine the propaganda, lies, and distortions stuffed (and recycled) to write those?

Anyway, best part was the open where she laments Trump is going to demolish some building with a bunch of "famous" FDR commie propaganda murals.
Good.
That asshole still holds the title of "most destructive and evil" president. He deserves to be erased.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at January 04, 2026 10:28 AM (HXT0k)

245 You know, the ending of Wolf In The Fold always bothered me. It was explained that "Red Jack" was possessing the body of Hengist, using him to perform the murders. But at the end, Kirk and Spock kill poor Hengist (who, remember, is possessed by a demon) by beaming him out into space. Couldn't Spock have used some Vulcan mind-trap to exorcise the spirit and free Hengist?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at January 04, 2026 09:54 AM (ufSfZ)
====

Because of the dilithium crystals. Or something.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 04, 2026 10:28 AM (RIvkX)

246 Wkll say there are many mysteries of actual events we may never really know.

Posted by: Skip at January 04, 2026 10:28 AM (Ia/+0)

247 Don't worry. We'll find it.

Posted by: CNN at January 04, 2026 10:29 AM (2Ez/1)

248 @198 except there's evidence supporting that one of the pilots took it off course, or am I confusing that with another Malaysian air crash.
Posted by: Chairman LMAO at January 04, 2026 10:28 AM (36PRH)

Allah Akbar !!!!!

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 10:30 AM (KDPiq)

249 Did George Mallory and Andrew Irvine summit Everest?

Posted by: Northernlurker , Maple Syrup MAGA at January 04, 2026 10:30 AM (8CIFn)

250 My current favorite title is "The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB’s: A Secret History of Jewish Punk".

Alas, no copies in the library system.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 10:31 AM (kpS4V)

251 The forthcoming remake of "Wolf in the Fold" will change the closing tag. Somebody will ask a digitally-created Spock why he didn't just mind-meld Red Jack out of Hengist. D-C Spock will raise an eyebrow and say "Oops."

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 10:31 AM (q3u5l)

252 How many years will The Curse of Oak Island be broadcast?

Posted by: Northernlurker , Maple Syrup MAGA at January 04, 2026 10:32 AM (8CIFn)

253 The two mysteries I want the true scoop is the Las Vegas mass shooting and Jo Benet Ramsey.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 10:32 AM (KDPiq)

254 Did George Mallory and Andrew Irvine summit Everest?

Posted by: Northernlurker

I recall reading not too long ago that Mallory's camera was found and recovered. If the film is not ruined, one would think that there would be a picture on it that provides the answer.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at January 04, 2026 10:32 AM (0U5gm)

255 Regarding Unsolved Mysteries, my friend was peripherally involved with one. A young woman in Wyoming was kidnapped and they never found her. My friend was acquainted with her, and they even drove the same model Honda car. The Feebs spoke with him to rule him out as a suspect (he didn't do it, for the record). I never saw that episode when it aired, but I did see the re-run years later, where they add the case solved epilogue. The guy had lured her to his place west of Casper, did horrible things and then buried her car on his property with a backhoe.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, First of his name at January 04, 2026 10:32 AM (0aYVJ)

256 What happened to the 9th Legion?

Posted by: Northernlurker , Maple Syrup MAGA at January 04, 2026 10:32 AM (8CIFn)

257 >>> Be careful! The more you learn about the members of the Inklings the more you will want to read their other works.
Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 10:27 AM (yTvNw)

Crap, yes I meant the Inklings! Thanks for correcting me. And challenge accepted! It's got to be tough being in a writing group with two men casting such a long shadow. Thanks for the tips! I'll have to check them out.

Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 10:32 AM (gWBY1)

258 What happened to the 9th Legion?
Posted by: Northernlurker , Maple Syrup MAGA at January 04, 2026 10:32 AM (8CIFn)

That was King Arthur.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 10:34 AM (KDPiq)

259 Morning.

Sorry for being off topic but the cobs might want to consider posting a special thread for today. There are so many dank memes going around about the Maduro operation that it's insane. And they're just soooooooooo funny. Don't wanna crap up all the regular threads.

Anywho, sorry to interrupt the nerdliness of the Book Thread.

Posted by: Robert at January 04, 2026 10:36 AM (R6aIA)

260 Anywho, sorry to interrupt the nerdliness of the Book Thread.
Posted by: Robert at January 04, 2026 10:36 AM (R6aIA)
---

PoliSci jock is purple-nurpling the nerd book thread!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 10:38 AM (kpS4V)

261
I have a shipwreck map of Lake Superior. Very dangerous place.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at January 04, 2026 09:51 AM (ZOv7s)

The funny thing is the last major shipwreck on Superior is the most famous, The Edumund Fitzgerald.

Posted by: EyeofSauron at January 04, 2026 10:38 AM (G6FGs)

262 How many years will The Curse of Oak Island be broadcast?
Posted by: Northernlurker , Maple Syrup MAGA at January 04, 2026 10:32 AM (8CIFn)

Let's see...2?

Posted by: Bigfoot At The Secret UFO Nazi Base On Oak Island at January 04, 2026 10:39 AM (R/m4+)

263 Wkll say there are many mysteries of actual events we may never really know.
Posted by: Skip

Wait, Dr. Wkll was the good one, right?

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 04, 2026 10:40 AM (mlg/3)

264 253 The two mysteries I want the true scoop is the Las Vegas mass shooting and Jo Benet Ramsey.
Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 10:32 AM (KDPiq)

The thing that should be told - and very seldom is - about the Jo Benet Ramsey murder is that the Boulder police totally wrecked the crime scene through incompetence in the first 48 hours. They let nearly 50 people wander through the house picking up and moving stuff, while not even maintaining a record of who was going in and out. (The killer could easily have been one of them) without a confession or some other bolt from the blue, that case can never be solved now.
(And there was one confession, but the guys parents said “he was with us in New Jersey when it happened, he confesses to everything just to get attention “

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 04, 2026 10:41 AM (RFd77)

265 The funny thing is the last major shipwreck on Superior is the most famous, The Edumund Fitzgerald.
Posted by: EyeofSauron at January 04, 2026 10:38 AM (G6FGs)

Sinking a boat for a song does not seem right!

Posted by: r hennigantx at January 04, 2026 10:41 AM (gbOdA)

266 I'm working on solving the mystery of Mephistopheles Trapezoid.

Posted by: Minuteman at January 04, 2026 10:44 AM (47/pr)

267 I was checking amazon for 36 Righteous Men, and one of the other suggestions was this:

The Grand Babylon Hotel is Arnold Bennett's classic, farcical mystery novel, originally published in 1902. Our story centers on two protagonists, the American millionaire Theodore Racksole and his daughter Nella, who are vacationing at the luxurious Grand Babylon Hotel, when staff and guests of the hotel -- including a mysterious German prince -- begin to go missing.

It's free on kindle today, if you're in the market for free kindle books. I downloaded. May be a while before I get to it, but it might be a fun read.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at January 04, 2026 10:46 AM (h7ZuX)

268 "Sinking a boat for a song does not seem right!"

But, hey, anything for art, right?

For some reason, any mention of the Fitzgerald always reminds me of an old SNL skit, advertising an album of Gordon Lightfoot singing the hits. "And she's climbing the stairway to heaven" comes out to the tune of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," as does everything else on the album.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 10:46 AM (q3u5l)

269 MH-370 -- it was the Captain.

Posted by: one hour sober at January 04, 2026 10:46 AM (Y1sOo)

270 She'd have made Whitefish Bay if she'd put 15 more miles behind her.

Posted by: The Searchers at January 04, 2026 10:47 AM (2Ez/1)

271 That asshole still holds the title of "most destructive and evil" president. He deserves to be erased.

-----

Perhaps. I could make an argument for that. But also for Buchanan, Wilson or Obama.

Maybe even """President""" Biden, but we need time to see how much of """his""" destruction can be fixed before figuring that out. But his cadre knifed us in the ribs repeatedly.

Of course there's a strong argument to be made that all of """his""" negative accomplishments can be laid at Obama/Jarrett's feet anyway.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 04, 2026 10:47 AM (BI5O2)

272 Hspp new year to all you morons. New Year, same old books. I must say I'm enjoying The Satanic Verses and Adam Bede but I think I like the George Elliot better than the Salman Rushdie. I long way to go in both, we'll see how I feel at the end. I did finish Plutarch's Parallel Lives last week (year!) and next up on the kindle is another Roman history - Appian's The Civil Wars. Now to read the comments and see if I'm compelled to respond to anything.

Posted by: who knew at January 04, 2026 10:47 AM (+ViXu)

273 217 ... " one of the ones I did not long ago was to note all the instances of faith/religion appearing. How often people are blessed, when holy names are spoken and so on. I also finally connected the "seen and unseen" reference to the Nicene Creed."

AHL,
That's the kind of thing I was thinking about and there are so many possibilities. The richness and 'applicable' (NOT allegory) aspects of the book leads to never ending considerations.

Glad your daughter enjoyed the Bakshi version. It's creative, colorful and doesn't actually contradict the book even if it is abbreviated. I don't have a problem with the LOTR films as long as I don't compare them to the depth of the book. Jackson made three exciting films and the moments of campy playfulness like the shield surfing and Legolas' reaction after killing the Mumakil are just fun grace notes. (The way Jackson and company butchered The three Hobbit movies, which should have been one long film, is another matter.)

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 10:48 AM (yTvNw)

274 "And she's climbing the stairway to heaven" comes out to the tune of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," as does everything else on the album.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 10:46 AM (q3u5l)

Oh say can you see be the dawns early light

Posted by: r hennigantx at January 04, 2026 10:48 AM (gbOdA)

275 Thanks for your insights on those two Ripper books, MP4. I'm a voracious reader of true crime, but haven't read either of those. They're going in my wish list.

Posted by: Lady in Black at January 04, 2026 10:49 AM (qBdHI)

276 Grounding is an improv comedy troupe/cash scam.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 04, 2026 10:49 AM (BI5O2)

277 Groundlings, autocorrect. GROUNDLINGS.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 04, 2026 10:50 AM (BI5O2)

278 @274 I think you mean "and she's buying a stairway to heaven."

Posted by: Chairman LMAO at January 04, 2026 10:50 AM (36PRH)

279 Six minutes of Miles at 78RPM tempo:
youtube.com/watch?v=DE2rlbTw5Ao

Posted by: gp at January 04, 2026 10:51 AM (GHIyr)

280 Chairman LMAO at 278 --

Could be. Never paid that much attention to the lyric.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 10:52 AM (q3u5l)

281 CBD was kind enough – or foolish enough, depending on your view – to ask me to host a Sunday Book Thread, and so here I am.

MP4, I've seen some comments indicating your discouragement because of the meteoric success of your friend, but look at it this way: you're hosting a Book Thread on AOS. That's a pinnacle of pinnacles in the word biz. To some of us. You're now a candidate for Hollywood's Thread of Books, the series.

Where's the squirrely guy? Guess I'll go read the post and comments and see if there's any clues to that mystery? (See that lame-ass thing I did there?)

Good morn, y'all. For once in time for the thread.

This morning, by dawn's early gleaming
Daisy Dog woke us barking and screaming
I leapt from the sack
And then couldn't go back
To whatever it was I'd been dreaming
—Muldoona Shave

Posted by: mindful webworker - what me read? at January 04, 2026 10:56 AM (dESj/)

282 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Matthew 5:6
Posted by: Marcus T at January 04, 2026 09:28 AM (zQLjY)

That's a long wait for a train that never arrives

Posted by: False promises never kept at January 04, 2026 11:00 AM (TbWk/)

283 The Vegas Mass Shooting was so like a James Ellroy novel that I thought James Ellroy likely wrote the VMS script.

Posted by: 13times at January 04, 2026 11:01 AM (fnZRl)

284 36 Despite all evidence to the contrary the Bermuda Triangle indeed is where the aliens have their base.

Thanks MPPPP
Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 04, 2026 09:14 AM (RIvkX)

*************

Whew!

Looks like they're not onto us!

Posted by: The Reptilians in Antarctica at January 04, 2026 11:02 AM (/mCq0)

285 I'll mention here the book:

The Scalpel of Scotland Yard: The Life of Sir Bernard Spilsbury is a 1952 biographical book by Douglas G. Browne and E.V. Tullett, chronicling the famous forensic pathologist, Sir Bernard Spilsbury, known for his pioneering work in criminal investigation, including solving notorious cases like Dr. Crippen and the "Brides in the Bath" murders. It's a popular true-crime book, often found as vintage or first-edition hardcovers, detailing Spilsbury's groundbreaking use of science (like microscopic analysis) to solve crimes for Scotland Yard.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 04, 2026 11:02 AM (XeU6L)

286 Thanks for the excellent and mysterious Book Thread, MP4!

Well done! Looking forward to your next appearance as a Cob.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at January 04, 2026 11:02 AM (kB9dk)

287 257 ... "Crap, yes I meant the Inklings! Thanks for correcting me. And challenge accepted! It's got to be tough being in a writing group with two men casting such a long shadow."

Although Tolkien and Lewis are the best known now, the members were all accomplished scholars and authors. I haven't come across hints that one or two members overshadowed the others. They are an interesting group. Even the more tangential members like Dorothy Sayers and Nevill Coghill (he did my favorite verse translationare of Canterbury Tales) are worth your attention.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 11:02 AM (yTvNw)

288 Yes! In the Whitman TV adventures for young readers, Jeff Miller and Timmy Martin, on their bikes, both ranged all around their farms with Lassie at their sides and got into adventures. As long as they did their chores and were home for dinner, and didn't miss school, they had enormous freedom.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:55 AM (wzUl9)

That was how I grew up.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at January 04, 2026 11:03 AM (g8Ew8)

289 Thirdified!

Posted by: Weasel at January 04, 2026 10:18 AM (Ldgt5)

I did a ride-along with one of my drivers to check on some customers, and he listened to radio westerns for most of the night. They were actually quite fun!

And it was better than talking to him, because he was quite boring.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 04, 2026 11:04 AM (n9ltV)

290 Speaking of George Kennan, I read his first book about Siberia (the one about surveying the telegraph line), "Tent Life in Siberia", and thought it was excellent. Didn't know there was a second one.

Posted by: who knew at January 04, 2026 11:08 AM (+ViXu)

291 My Great Grandfather lived at the top of Castle Alley when one of the non-canonical victims of Jack the Ripper was found about 30ft from their front door.
One of the canonical victims was found on the other side of a wash house, a street over. He was about 15-16.

He had an interesting life.
His older brother died young and he was forced to marry the widow, I think it's called a levirate marriage. He ran away to Scotland a month later, joined the army, fought in the Boer war, was wounded at Magersfontein, sent home, got married again-bigamously, lived in a castle under croft where half of his 9 children were born, left the army because he didn't want to go to India, decided to rejoin when the WWI kicked off, fought in several battles before he was found to have lied about his age (he was too old) and was sent home for home service where he spent the rest of the war shooting at Zeppelins from Edinburgh castle.

Posted by: stv at January 04, 2026 11:09 AM (XMeSM)

292 I have to toss in here another endorsement for the Johnny Dollar radio shows. As a kid, I used to lie in bed at night and listen to the broadcasts on a Zenith tube radio inherited from my grandmother.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 04, 2026 11:13 AM (XeU6L)

293 stv - Wow! What a story.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 04, 2026 11:14 AM (XeU6L)

294 I just watched this episode a few days ago. My take is that the being was shown as being able to inhabit already dead people, so that Hengist was probably already dead.

Gotta be honest, though. Only his mother ever cares when that actor’s characters die.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at January 04, 2026

***
Yeah, but he (John Fiedler) was the voice of Pooh Bear for many years too!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 11:15 AM (wzUl9)

295 Eris, Wolfus, Dr Pork Chop --

The free childhood thing came up in one of last night's threads too. If you check out the available sample for Dan Simmons' novel Summer of Night in the Kindle store, he's got a nice intro to the novel talking about the freedom kids had once and don't have now. I was a city kid in Chicago, and I can remember the unsupervised days too.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 11:15 AM (q3u5l)

296 I’m waiting for the crime and murder mystery books to come out about the Clintons, Obamas and Bidens.

True crime is always more compelling.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at January 04, 2026 11:15 AM (nljXp)

297 267 ... "The Grand Babylon Hotel is Arnold Bennett's classic, farcical mystery novel, originally published in 1902."

DMLW,
Thanks for the heads up. I enjoy this kind of period reading now and then. I got the Kindle version with all his novels for 99 cents. This is the main value of a Kindle, the chance to get collections by writers I might be interested in really cheap.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 11:16 AM (yTvNw)

298 I got comic books for Christmas. Nice, since much of my collection is still in boxes in the catacombs.

A two-volume boxed set of Disney Duck comics by the great Carl Barks. That'll take some time to savor. I didn't know artists when I was a kid reading Disney comics, but it was easy to tell that one writer-artist stood out.

Also this prize: Christmas Spirit, collecting Will Eisner's Christmas stories of the Spirit. Always been a great fan of Eisner. As my son remarked, you know a guy was great when they name the award after him.

Posted by: mindful webworker - I need attention span repair at January 04, 2026 11:16 AM (dESj/)

299 OMG! Now he's done it!

Hollywood Celebs Demand Trump’s Impeachment After U.S. Apprehends Nicolás Maduro: “America Is a Terror State”

https://is.gd/9FjBfr
-
The usual suspects except Rob Reiner unavailable for comment.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 04, 2026 11:17 AM (L/fGl)

300 Yeah, but he (John Fiedler) was the voice of Pooh Bear for many years too!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 11:15 AM (wzUl9)

Oink!!

Posted by: Piglet at January 04, 2026 11:17 AM (uQesX)

301 I, Ripper. By Stephen hunter. Will blow your mind. Historical fiction, with a novel twist.

Posted by: Simplemind at January 04, 2026 11:17 AM (YrUlT)

302 That some mysteries solving seem to be squashed by the government agencies that should be the ones to solve them.
Double dipping maybe? Cause them then hide ghe evidence?

Posted by: Skip at January 04, 2026 11:17 AM (Ia/+0)

303 I remember that part of Von Danikken's Nazca line nonsense that was since they were only visible from above they couldn't have been laid on by people. Halftime marching bands to the contrary.

Posted by: who knew at January 04, 2026 11:19 AM (+ViXu)

304 The usual suspects except Rob Reiner unavailable for comment.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 04, 2026 11:17 AM (L/fGl)

I love the drug addict King claiming it wasn't about drugs.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 11:21 AM (KDPiq)

305
I love the drug addict King claiming it wasn't about drugs.
Posted by: Opinion fact
-----
*?*
Hunter Biden?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 04, 2026 11:23 AM (XeU6L)

306 Posted by: who knew at January 04, 2026 11:19 AM (+ViXu)

When you build runways the construction supervisor has to manage the construction in a helicopter.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 11:23 AM (KDPiq)

307 MP4,
Just to let you know I'm looking forward to your next book, whenever it comes out. I've thoroughly enjoyed and have hardcover editions of your stories.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 11:24 AM (yTvNw)

308 Rikki Schlott: Colleges Are Coddling Gen Z With Easier Courses — and It’s Going to Backfire

-
A train leaves City A at 8:00 AM going 100 mph going to City B which is 500 miles away. Another train leaves City B at 10:00 AM going 45 mph toward City A. Draw a train.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 04, 2026 11:27 AM (L/fGl)

309 Thank you for posting this, MP4!

Unsolved mysteries are a big area of interest for me.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 04, 2026 11:27 AM (fd80v)

310 I'm thoroughly enjoying the "Killer in the Code" podcast by Michael Connelly profiling Alex Baber cracking the Zodiac and Black Dahlia cases.

Posted by: Little Larry Sellers at January 04, 2026 11:28 AM (xaNfJ)

311 I enjoyed Stephen Hunter's first novel, The Master Sniper (1980) -- particularly his use of short, even one-line scenes at the climax.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 11:28 AM (wzUl9)

312 Draw a train.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 04, 2026 11:27 AM (L/fGl)

I can imagine a smart ass college guy drawing a bunch of nekkid guys in line and one nekkid girl in a bed.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 11:29 AM (KDPiq)

313 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 11:28 AM (wzUl9)

He's a very easy read. First book I read of his was Dirty White Boys.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 11:30 AM (KDPiq)

314 Day late. Dollar short. But pure evil.

A Week Too Late: Sen. Schumer Vows Vote Next Week to Block Action in Venezuela

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 04, 2026 11:30 AM (L/fGl)

315 I remember that part of Von Danikken's Nazca line nonsense that was since they were only visible from above they couldn't have been laid on by people. Halftime marching bands to the contrary.
Posted by: who knew

The whole 'nO oNe CoUlD dO ThIs' shit is annoying. Makes me punchy.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 04, 2026 11:30 AM (mlg/3)

316 MP4,
I rarely bother with the book thread as it's usually heavy on SF and fantasy and those aren't my thing. Imagine my surprise and delight to pop in and find Poppins! And covering topics I do enjoy! Thank you, honey, for a nice change of pace. May have to find those books about the Ripper. And the Unsolved Mysteries.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at January 04, 2026 11:31 AM (2J/Lj)

317 The Dems always choose sides against the USA. They have been taken over by the commie American hating Left which started their operation soon after 1917.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 11:33 AM (KDPiq)

318 Errands to run and an annoyed (who can say why?) cat to placate here at Casa Some Guy.

MP4, thanks again for the thread.

Have fun recuperating from the New Year's weekend, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 11:33 AM (q3u5l)

319 A Week Too Late: Sen. Schumer Vows Vote Next Week to Block Action in Venezuela
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks
---------
It's the cheese on frozen burgers gambit.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 04, 2026 11:34 AM (XeU6L)

320 I loved the old radio shows like Johnny Dollar, The Shadow and others. Without the visual component the writing had to be concise and effective and the sound effects were wonderful. (I consider them to be reading adjacent.) I recall one sound effect where they used a soft wind chime to indicate sunlight coming in through an open window. Brilliant! Even the old Jack Benny radio shows were great.

I have some on cassette tapes and CDs. Glad they are available online these days.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 11:35 AM (yTvNw)

321 Helter Skelter is indeed creepy. Bugliosi wrote another true crime book about a murder on an uninhabited islet some hundreds of miles away from Hawaii that is a great read.

Posted by: who knew at January 04, 2026 11:36 AM (+ViXu)

322 Day late. Dollar short. But pure evil.

A Week Too Late: Sen. Schumer Vows Vote Next Week to Block Action in Venezuela
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 04, 2026 11:30 AM (L/fGl)

They're pissed because it takes away a significant fraction of their campaign funds.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at January 04, 2026 11:37 AM (g8Ew8)

323 298 I got comic books for Christmas. Nice, since much of my collection is still in boxes in the catacombs.

A two-volume boxed set of Disney Duck comics by the great Carl Barks. That'll take some time to savor. I didn't know artists when I was a kid reading Disney comics, but it was easy to tell that one writer-artist stood out.

Posted by: mindful webworker - I need attention span repair at January 04, 2026 11:16 AM (dESj/)

Had I found them when I was younger (with Duck Tails and Darkwing Duck still fresh in my mind) I would probably have a substantial Carl Barks collection. Alas, nowadays my collection is too focused on other authors/creators, such as the solid 5 linear feet of shelf I've devoted solely to Conan the Barbarian and other Robert E Howard adaptations...

Posted by: Castle Guy at January 04, 2026 11:39 AM (Lhaco)

324 This Venezuela action is basically how I saw the start of Ukraine/Russia conflict.

Ukraine kept poking the bear.

Maduro kept poking the eagle

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 11:40 AM (KDPiq)

325 I loved the old radio shows like Johnny Dollar, The Shadow and others. Without the visual component the writing had to be concise and effective and the sound effects were wonderful. (I consider them to be reading adjacent.) I recall one sound effect where they used a soft wind chime to indicate sunlight coming in through an open window. Brilliant! Even the old Jack Benny radio shows were great.

I have some on cassette tapes and CDs. Glad they are available online these days.
Posted by: JTB

There are a million episodes on YT for free.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 04, 2026 11:41 AM (L/fGl)

326
BLEG:

Anyone know the AI that Sarah Hoyt is using to generate book covers, etc?

It seems to do a pretty good job.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 04, 2026 11:42 AM (iJfKG)

327 There are a million episodes on YT for free.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 04, 2026 11:41 AM (L/fGl)

The Shadow knows.. that

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 11:42 AM (KDPiq)

328 207 ... Castle Guy,

I believe Porthos dies in The Man in the Iron Mask, the third of the Musketeers books. I also heard that Dumas cried.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 11:43 AM (yTvNw)

329 Anyone know the AI that Sarah Hoyt is using to generate book covers, etc?

It seems to do a pretty good job.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 04, 2026 11:42 AM (iJfKG)

Yeah, but I can't remember. You could check her archives. Brain can't find word. Getting old. Fxxxtsssstt.

Wait. Midjourney?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 11:46 AM (uQesX)

330 Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 11:43 AM (yTvNw)

Le Beouf died in True Grit . No crying allowed in Westerns.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 11:46 AM (KDPiq)

331 The free childhood thing came up in one of last night's threads too. If you check out the available sample for Dan Simmons' novel Summer of Night in the Kindle store, he's got a nice intro to the novel talking about the freedom kids had once and don't have now. I was a city kid in Chicago, and I can remember the unsupervised days too.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 04, 2026 11:15 AM (q3u5l)
----

JSG, I was just thinking about this story and couldn't remember author or title. What a great story this was, and I just learned there were sequels continuing the characters' lives after the school incident. I need to read those too.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 11:46 AM (kpS4V)

332 The only comics I have -- aside from [/iThe Phoenix Saga, the bound collection of the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix/Hellfire Club epic -- are the Man From U.N.C.L.E. original comics. I'm not sure if the first ones were from Dell, or if they were all from Gold Key. The very first one had terrific art, making Solo look just like Robert Vaughn and containing a twisty story. The artist drew Illya as looking more like Tab Hunter than like David McCallum, true, but at that point Illya was only a minor character.

The second issue had both of them really resembling the actors. After that, I suspect the artists were from the guys who drew DC's The Justice League of America comics around that time or a little earlier. There are some poses the artists have Solo and Illya in which look much like the ones for Superman and the other costumed heroes in the DC books.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 11:46 AM (wzUl9)

333 Damn smart ass government agencies!

https://is.gd/2AKgDI

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 04, 2026 11:48 AM (L/fGl)

334
Le Beouf died in True Grit . No crying allowed in Westerns.
Posted by: Opinion
------

Well, so did Cogburn, in the end.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 04, 2026 11:49 AM (XeU6L)

335 Le Beouf died in True Grit . No crying allowed in Westerns.
Posted by: Opinion
------

Well, so did Cogburn, in the end.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 04, 2026

***
The tragedy is when the lead or supporting character dies *during the adventure*. When he/she passes away many years later, it's sad, but just part of the way of things.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 11:51 AM (wzUl9)

336 Concerning the Great Pyramid, Thompson's *Secrets of the Great Pyramid* is a good overview of the subject.

Concerning the making of granite and other ignatius rock items,
a French expert in concrete posited that rather than being tooled, the stone was pulverized, mixed with chemicals, cast in molds and then polished. The chemicals to do this were obtained through trade, and the practice ended when the supply failed.

Posted by: capercaillie4901 at January 04, 2026 11:51 AM (f1WVr)

337 About using helicopters to build runways. Planes came first and they managed to build runways for them. Using an available tool to help build something isn't evidence that it couldn't be built without the tool.

Posted by: who knew at January 04, 2026 11:51 AM (+ViXu)

338 S'pose it's time for me to shuffle off and do some chores, folk. Enjoy your Sunday! MP4, thanks for a solid entry in the Book Thread!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 11:52 AM (wzUl9)

339 I had a collection of sci fi hardboiled detective parodies on tape called "Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe" years ago. Wonder if they're available somewhere.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 11:52 AM (kpS4V)

340 By the way, MP4, if you're still here: Where is the top illustration from?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 11:52 AM (wzUl9)

341 Reading adjacent. Pipe smoking is an element in the LOTR books and movies. I learned the movies used Stokkebye Nougat blend, a rather mild aromatic. Finally tried some and it is a really pleasant tobacco. I'll be smoking some in a copy of Aragorn's pipe shown in the Prancing Pony scenes while I read the book.

A totally unimportant factoid but fun.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 11:53 AM (yTvNw)

342 Posted by: who knew at January 04, 2026 11:51 AM (+ViXu

I was being sarcastic.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 11:53 AM (KDPiq)

343 Anyone know the AI that Sarah Hoyt is using to generate book covers, etc?

It seems to do a pretty good job.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 04, 2026 11:42 AM (iJfKG)

Yeah, but I can't remember. You could check her archives. Brain can't find word. Getting old. Fxxxtsssstt.

Wait. Midjourney?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 11:46 AM (uQesX)

Thanks, OrangeEnt.

Midjourney looks similar but the pages are different than I remember. Might be another one.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 04, 2026 11:54 AM (iJfKG)

344 ***
The tragedy is when the lead or supporting character dies *during the adventure*. When he/she passes away many years later, it's sad, but just part of the way of things.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
-------

Ah. The movie 'The Cowboys' comes to mind.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 04, 2026 11:54 AM (XeU6L)

345 Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 11:53 AM (yTvNw)

You need to hang out with this guy:

https://youtu.be/_ica_BvRI0o

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at January 04, 2026 11:56 AM (tkRKM)

346 Speaking of MH370, U.S. exploration company Ocean Infinity resumed it's search for the aircraft a few days ago.

Posted by: one hour sober at January 04, 2026 11:57 AM (Y1sOo)

347 Ah. The movie 'The Cowboys' comes to mind.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 04, 2026 11:54 AM (XeU6L)

Continues to be my favorite John Wayne movie.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 11:57 AM (KDPiq)

348 *its, dammit

Posted by: one hour sober at January 04, 2026 11:57 AM (Y1sOo)

349 Midjourney looks similar but the pages are different than I remember. Might be another one.
Posted by: naturalfake at January 04, 2026 11:54 AM (iJfKG)

Last one I read, she mentioned it. Look for the "clankers" posts, that's where she talks about the software.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 11:57 AM (uQesX)

350 The tragedy is when the lead or supporting character dies *during the adventure*. When he/she passes away many years later, it's sad, but just part of the way of things.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
-------

Ah. The movie 'The Cowboys' comes to mind.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 04, 2026

***
Yes. We have to *see* it happen for it to be classed as tragedy. If we're told that "Lieutenant So-and-So didn't make it," that's "War Is Hell." But if we watch Robert Jordan set himself up to die but also to take as many opponents as he can with him, that's tragedy.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 11:58 AM (wzUl9)

351 Looks like time to teach the wife to drive again. So, who's slated for next week's book thread?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 11:59 AM (uQesX)

352 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 11:58 AM (wzUl9)

I think I have a theme going. My second favorite John Wayne movie is Sands of Iwo Jima.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 04, 2026 11:59 AM (KDPiq)

353 WE HAZ A NOOD

Posted by: Skip at January 04, 2026 12:01 PM (Ia/+0)

354
Oops.

You're right, OrangeEnt, it does appear to be Midjourney.

Thanks again!

Posted by: naturalfake at January 04, 2026 12:01 PM (iJfKG)

355 Highlights of the darts championship coming on. Gotta go.

Posted by: From about That Time at January 04, 2026 12:01 PM (sl73Y)

356 345 ... "You need to hang out with this guy:

https://youtu.be/_ica_BvRI0o"

Mapes, you know me too well. I have watched every Malcolm Guite YT video and own all his books. The man is a living, breathing delight to listen to and reignited my love for poetry

BTW, the first volume of his Arthuriad epic poems come out this March. I've already preordered the fancy dition from Rabbit Room Press.

Posted by: JTB at January 04, 2026 12:02 PM (yTvNw)

357 No prob, NF.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 12:03 PM (uQesX)

358 54 Also this week, I finished James Burrows's memoir, Directed by James Burrows, written with one Eddy Friedfeld.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 04, 2026 09:19AM

They have that book at the library. I just added it to my checkout list.

Separately, I read Preston and Child's "White Fire". I think it's my favorite of the series so far.

Posted by: Moonbeam at January 04, 2026 12:03 PM (rbKZ6)

359 Nood something or other.

Posted by: From about That Time at January 04, 2026 12:03 PM (sl73Y)

360 Trump’s damn fault!

The Lincoln Project
@ProjectLincoln
While we're fighting for democracy at home, let's remember foreign dictators are following Trump's example.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 04, 2026 12:03 PM (L/fGl)

361 The Nazca lines are fascinating. Go check them out on Google Earth. The spider and the spiral are cool. Some of the lines run in a perfectly straight line for 5 and 6 miles on a perfectly flat plain. WHF? The mystery is in the "Why?"

I'm on the last of the Murderbot diaries. I'm about done (as in exhausted) with that whole oeuvre.

Posted by: pawn at January 04, 2026 12:06 PM (Rmqfl)

362 I had a book about the Adolph Luetgert Trial.

My wife's great grandmother, Amanda Tosh, gave testimony in the trial.

The guy dissolved the body of his wife in a vat of lye.

The gold rings were discovered at the bottom of the vat.

Posted by: No one at January 04, 2026 12:07 PM (qFwJc)

363 "Alchemy of Bones:..."

Posted by: No one at January 04, 2026 12:08 PM (qFwJc)

364 I see there's a NOOD now, so, good night book thread.

I only read comments up to #150, and then stopped to search for "Trek" to see if anyone had bothered to mention the ST-TOS episode where Scotty is possessed by the alien spirit that was Jack the Ripper (something like that; been a while since I watched it). I see "Guy who relates everything to Star Trek" took care of that in #156. So, good, all is in balance.

Posted by: mindful webworker - On with the blog at January 04, 2026 12:09 PM (dESj/)

365 RE: Jack the Ripper. Patricia Cornwell solved it in her book "Portrait of a Killer, Jack the Ripper, Case Closed." (2002). Did I miss something? Seems as though Brits were so angry an American solved it that her research was not widely disseminated.

Larry McMurtry is a fabulous storyteller -- like Mark Helprin and Bernard Cornwell -- I read him for his 'laugh out loud' characters.

Posted by: AccentuateThePositive at January 04, 2026 12:15 PM (jYVXj)

366 I've been re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. As mysteries, they're not very good; but as character studies, they're excellent reading.

Also, the first of the Nancy Drew mysteries, "The Secret of the Hidden Staircase" is now in the public domain, and can be downloaded from gutenburg.org. This is vintage Nancy Drew, with her baby-blue roadster and her lawyer-father who is never around to interfere with the sleuthing. For anyone who read it as a youngster, especially among the 'ettes, it's a trip down memory lane.

Posted by: Nemo at January 04, 2026 12:19 PM (4RPgu)

367 >>> 205 The only true crime book I've read is Helter Skelter. Creeped me out, partly because Manson in the 1950s (pre-beard and long hair) looked like the dude my wife dated briefly before I met her. She may have dodged a bullet there.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, First of his name at January 04, 2026 10:09 AM (0aYVJ)

I still find it amazing that Angela Lansbury uprooted her troubled daughter from America and moved her to the UK, worried she was getting in too deep with a dangerous cult. And the cult her daughter was obsessed with turned out to be Manson's. Lansbury's own kid possibly involved with the Tate murder, had they not moved, would been another tragedy stacked on top of a multitude of tragedies.

Bless her for putting her daughter first. Jessica fletcher approves.

Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 12:20 PM (gWBY1)

368 186
' "The Woman They Could Not Silence," by Kate Moore. '

Now that sounds like a true nightmare.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 04, 2026 12:22 PM (fd80v)

369 Reading P.D. James & Thomas Critchley's true crime book, "The Ratcliffe Highway Murders, 1811". It is very compelling. I hope the authors will tell me who did it because at the time, crime investigation was pretty amateurish.

Posted by: microcosme at January 04, 2026 12:35 PM (Xx9uC)

370 Late to the thread- I finished the Father Brown mysteries last week and am about to finish Art Thief by Michael Finkel. Everyone loves Fr. Brown (for good reason); the Art Thief is an interesting story about an extremely prolific art thief. It's well written and compelling but the main guy is so odd it makes it somewhat tough go.

For those who love mysteries, solved and unsolved, I definitely recommend Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World podcast. He covers mysteries from both a faith and a reason perspective. He's super-thorough and his podcast is well produced.

Posted by: LASue at January 04, 2026 12:44 PM (/DBoU)

371 >>> 264
==
The thing that should be told - and very seldom is - about the Jo Benet Ramsey murder is that the Boulder police totally wrecked the crime scene through incompetence in the first 48 hours. They let nearly 50 people wander through the house picking up and moving stuff, while not even maintaining a record of who was going in and out. (The killer could easily have been one of them) without a confession or some other bolt from the blue, that case can never be solved now.
==
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 04, 2026 10:41 AM (RFd77)

When an agency shows that level of incompetence, you have to wonder who was paid to fck things up and by whom.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at January 04, 2026 12:53 PM (ULPxl)

372 >>> 343 Anyone know the AI that Sarah Hoyt is using to generate book covers, etc?

It seems to do a pretty good job.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 04, 2026 11:42 AM (iJfKG)

Yeah, but I can't remember. You could check her archives. Brain can't find word. Getting old. Fxxxtsssstt.

Wait. Midjourney?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at January 04, 2026 11:46 AM (uQesX)

Thanks, OrangeEnt.

Midjourney looks similar but the pages are different than I remember. Might be another one.
Posted by: naturalfake at January 04, 2026 11:54 AM (iJfKG)

She has mentioned Midjourney a couple times and shortens it to midje (?) occasionally. Don't recall any others being mentioned.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at January 04, 2026 12:59 PM (ULPxl)

373 144-Also there's a FASCINATING documentary on Mark Hoffman! Called "Murder Among the Mormons." It was co-directed by Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess, and his contributions really added to the cinematic, gripping quality of the narrative. My husband doesn't like true crime docs, and even he got sucked into watching it with me.

Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 09:47 AM

Thanks! I added it to my Netflix watchlist.

Posted by: Moonbeam at January 04, 2026 01:07 PM (rbKZ6)

374 7 The Perfessor is missing!

Whodunnit?????
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 04, 2026 09:05 AM (Ippjd)

; )

Posted by: m at January 04, 2026 02:11 PM (RuTUS)

375 Pookette got "I Got This" by Frederick Key, a Moron author, for her birthday. I've asked her to give me her opinion when she's done.
Posted by: pookysgirl
------
Good idea. Sent the same off to great a grandson #1. I'll ask him for a short book report, and I'll summarize it here whenever he gets back. It may be awhile, I can't nag very effectively from 1500 miles away.

Posted by: buddhaha at January 04, 2026 02:16 PM (M5t5H)

376 343 Anyone know the AI that Sarah Hoyt is using to generate book covers, etc?

Is it the same AI that's used for magazine covers?

https://covers.aesty.ai

Turn your top tweets into magazine covers

Posted by: m at January 04, 2026 02:17 PM (RuTUS)

377 @298 --

Ducks and the Spirit? That's a double score!

Posted by: Weak Geek at January 04, 2026 03:08 PM (p/isN)

378 Judge Crater and D.B Coober walk into a bar...

Posted by: Lance McCormick at January 04, 2026 03:18 PM (iMNqL)

379 I forgot to mention an oddball SF novel which I haven't read but has a great premise, "West of Eden" by Harry Harrison.

In an alternate Earth, that big asteroid strike 65 million years ago never happened, there was no mass extinction, and dinosaurs evolved into the dominant intelligent species, at least in that hemisphere. In the western hemisphere, new world monkeys developed into intelligent hominids.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_of_Eden

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 04, 2026 03:33 PM (kpS4V)

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