Pretty Sinister Books

Merry Christmas , Happy Holidays , Blessed Solstice ...and all that jazz! I have an eclectic variety of Christmas and Winter Solstice ...

Here's some swinging holiday flavored jazz from the past and the present.  First, the great Ella Fitzgerald swings on an old standard ac...

A bit of holiday music for you as we near the end of 2021. The first is an original tune from Andrew Bird, one of my favorite offbeat musici...

Merry Christmas , Happy Holidays , Blessed Solstice ...and all that jazz! I'm feeling ridiculously nostalgic this year at Christ...

Winter is descending on this frigidly Windy City.  Just stumbled on this James Taylor cover of a Joni Mitchell song that is tangentially abo...

Merry Christmas , Happy Holidays , Blessed Solstice ...and all that jazz! In a shameless promotion for a local theater group -- the ...

Merry Christmas , Happy Holidays , Blessed Solstice ...and all that jazz! Every year the CTA, Chicago's bus and train service, d...

Just learned that crime writer Adrian McKinty finds inspiration in Tom Waits songs. Review of McKinty's excellent locked room myste...

Merry Christmas , Happy Holidays , Blessed Solstice ...and all that jazz! And speaking of jazz-- Here's some swingin' holida...

Nothing beats an original. Happy Halloween to all you wonderful people out there in the dark! Be safe.

Fog matters to you and me, but it can't touch Sherlock Holmes This song has been covered a couple times by other minor indie rock grou...

There's a body on the railings That I can't identify And I'd like to reassure you but I'm not that kind of guy This ...

I got this thing for Nancy Drew Her hair is blond, her eyes are blue Time to rejoin the 21st century. I love when someone takes a modern...

Infiltrate, investigate, interrogate until you get a clue Ingratiate, inebriate, infatuate your next ingénue How about a spy tune, gang!...

Check my reputation Check my pose First you ought to check my fee An all out tribute to Dashiell Hammett's nameless private eye. Ama...

Whodunit? Who stole my baby? Everyone in the room looks shady ...It's a bedside mystery! Ah, the disco era! Platforms shoes, bell b...

"I love her but she loves Agatha Christie." She sure does, me lad. What a great song! A girl obsessed with Agatha Christie...

A new feature every Saturday for a couple of weeks, gang. I'm calling this "Covering Their Tracks" since it has a perfect dual...

Sort of fed up with the world at large of late. Endless shootings all over the world, aggressive protests that do nothing but add to the div...

Merry Christmas , Happy Holidays , Blessed Solstice ...and all the rest of it, gang! In sympathy for all of you who will be travel...