Pretty Sinister Books

Sheer chance led me to choose The Gilded Man as my final read for 2025. And waddya know? The book takes place on Dec 29-31, 1938 (even thou...

Theater Royal in Grafton is in trouble.  Just before opening night of Here Comes Harry , a variety revue starring Happy Harry Hemple, the co...

Supt. Ambrose Mahon comes to Corelia Bush Nursing Hospital to prevent a murder.  An anonymous note implies someone will die on night of May ...

Howard Stavey is tasked with creating a treatment for a TV program the subject of which will be Thomas Penry, a Welsh man known for his rese...

Something Special!  The exclamation mark in a circle on the bottom of the front flap of The Magic Grandfather 's hardcover 1st edition d...

Magic fans, impossible crime aficionados, and those interested in the parallels between mystery writers' use of misdirection and a mag...

THE STORY: Dudley Wolff accidentally kills a mysterious man who was attempting to blackmail him. His wife suggest they cover up the crime...

In preparation for my upcoming "In GAD We Trust" podcast with JJ (of The Invisible Event ) on stage magic, theatrical devices a...

THE STORY: Oliver Santley, portrait painter, is asked to travel to Beechcroft to make observations on Major Moncrieff who may be intent o...

THE STORY: Jess Milk is the newly hired front desk clerk at Hotel Bellevue which caters to second rate entertainers touring the music hal...

Detective Jason Jones and his tagalong partner Necessary Smith, a private eye, are confronted with the puzzling disappearance of the prime s...

Impossible crimes and locked room murders. An Agatha Christie homage. An alternative universe where monarchies rule all of Europe and the Ne...

I bought a book at the Printer's Book Fair earlier this year solely for the book plate firmly glued to the front endpaper.  It announces...