Death in the Tunnel (Noirvember?)

Since it is Noirvember, I was looking for crime books that would fit the event. And I remembered that I read ten years ago a whodunit set during November, which would be fitting enough in some way, but that I cannot recommend. So ten years ago, as Wolfie was a few months old and I was struggling to keep him asleep at night and stay awake during the day, I tried to read something unchallenging to get me through November. I didn't know about Noirvember then. So I bought and read Death in the Tunnel, a classic whodunit written by Cecil Street under the pseudonym of Miles Burton. Because I love trains, I tend to look favourably on thrillers and crime stories set in trains, I thought it would be a fun read. Big mistake. Why is this a classic is beyond me: the murder plot is ridiculously convoluted and the characters are all bland. To this day, I barely remember anything about it. But yeah, I mean the story is set in the month of November, so it is fitting for Noirvember in that way, otherwise I'd avoid it.

Rome, City of Espionage

I thought I would blog another entry in my City of Espionage series which I started earlier this year. And I thought of a city that is ancient, central to many, many, many dramatic stories, real or fictitious, but seldom seen in spy thrillers, as far as I know. I'm speaking of course of Rome. Ironic, since it used to be the centre of the world, the capital of the world in fact, at least the Western world. Ancient Rome had its informal spy network(s). Modern Rome, capital city of Italy, its largest city too, where state, must be, I'd imagine, an important focal point of espionage. I only remember seeing the city featured in Spectre. Tell me if other spy films, TV series or books have Rome as their setting. I guess we associate Italy with organised crime nowadays, not secret agents. Nevertheless, I think Rome deserves to be recognised as a modern City of Espionage.

Jouer aux Bouquinistes

Voici une autre nouvelle apprise sur la page Facebook des Bouquinistes: ils vont organiser une soirée jeux de rôles intitulée "Mousquetaire de l'ombre" lundi le 16 novembre à partir de 17h30. Tout le monde est bienvenue, même les novices, selon ce que je sais, c'est pour 18 ans et plus et pour quatre à cinq joueurs. Vous trouverez les détails sur leur page Facebook. Jouer un JDR dans une librairie, c'est pas mal idyllique.

South African Noirvember

During one of my latest visits to the small town of  Wallingford, I was happily surprised to see that they were selling Deon Meyer's crime novel Leo in the local bookshop. Now, I already had (and read) the novel, so I did not buy it, but I recommend anyone who loves crime fiction to read it, or indeed any of Meyer's books. I read Leo during Noirvember 2024. South Africa may have far hotter November months than in the Northern hemisphere, it's nevertheless a perfect setting for a gritty crime thriller.

Derek Strange's Wisdom

As you know, I have been reading The Blue Flame by George Pelecanos for Noirvember. So far, so great. I have been happy to renew with his protagonist, PI Derek Strange, who is now older and even wiser than he used to be. An old man, but he still has a sharp mind. One passage in particular struck me about his keen sense of character, and I wanted to share it here: So here it goes: "But Lennox had inadvertently told Strange something about himself. Anyone who read a newspaper, didn't have to be the New York Times, shoot, anyone who read anything these days, even a bad airport novel, was smarter than the average American." Nice observation, and nice subtle bit of meta too.

Bingo Bouquin

Petite nouvelle apprise sur la page Facebook des Bouquinistes: ils organisent un "Bingo Bouquin." Qu'est-ce que ça mange en hiver? C'est simple: vous demandez votre carte de bingo à la librairie, vous participez aux activités sur les cases, vous faites poinçonner la carte par un des libraires, puis vous la donnez à la fin de l'année pour un tirage final. Grosso modo. J'aimerais pouvoir y participer, juste parce que j'aime les activités ludiques et littéraires.

Bonfire Night

 "Remember, remember the fifth of November
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot."

So today (tonight, rather) is Bonfire Night. I always mention it on the blog. This year, to mark the date, I am sharing a picture from the Ladybird childhood classic Stories of Special Days and Customs. I found it a few weeks ago in a charity shop, and I regret nothing. It's a very dramatic image of the historical origins of the night, the (in)famous Gunpowder Plot. Otherwise, if you live in the UK, tell me if you celebrate.

The Night Agent Will Return

A bit of news for those who love spy thrillers. In recent years, I have increased my consumption of this particular genre, as you can witness if you have been reading this blog. Anyway, as you may know, I really enjoyed the Netflix series The Night Agent, based on a novel by Matthew Quirk, which I haven't read yet (but I have promised to get my hands on it). Anyway, while the TV series is far from perfect, it's still solid entertainment and it is quite suspenseful. And I'm a sucker for a good spy thriller, even when it gets a bit cliché at times. So I learned that the fourth and last season is in preparation, filming has started and will be released at some point in 2027. Something to look forward to next year.

What to Love in November

If you read old posts from this blog, I mean really old ones, like dating back to 2008 or 2010, you might be surprised to see that I did not like November one bit back then. Or at least I stated that I did not like the month. Too close after Halloween, to far away still from Christmas. Maybe it's maturity kicking in, maybe it's because I worked a lot on it, but I now love the month. Sure, I still have the blues early on, but even I learned to appreciate it. Anyway, here's a list of what to love in November:

• It's still autumn, and it might be the most autumnal month.
• November tends to be quieter than any other month of the year. It's time to slow down, to appreciate things more. It's the month of comfort.
• The smell of bonfire here. I'm not too keen on fireworks, but there's just something about bonfire in autumn, and the smell is everywhere this time of year.
• It's also Noirvember. Time to watch and read a lot of crime fiction. 
•  Even boredom and melancholy has its use. I tend to be melancholic all year round, but in November, it's a comfortable feeling.

Anyway, that's my list. Do you enjoy November? If so, why? 

The Blue Flame (#Noirvember)

One of the reasons why I manage to finally love November, a month I used to dread, is thanks to #Noirvember. It has its own Wikipedia entry now. If October is the month of horror, November is for me the month of crime fiction, whether it is in movies, TV series or books. And I am starting this literary November with The Blue Flame by George Pelecanos. It marks the return of his PI Derek Strange. About time. I think it should deliver: Pelecanos can be quite dark at times, although his characters have a warmth and humanity that you don't always see in crime fiction. Anyway, I encourage you to embrace #Noirvember. If you have any reading or viewing suggestions, let me know in the comments. I will of course blog more about it.

"Tarowean" (la Toussaint)

 

"Je suis l'océan Pacifique et je suis le plus grand. On m'appelle ainsi depuis très longtemps, mais ce n'est pas vrai que je suis toujours pacifique. Je me fâche parfois, et alors je donne une raclée à tous et à tout. Aujourd'hui par exemple, je viens de me calmer mais hier, je dois avoir tout raflé sur trois ou quatre îles et autant de coquilles de noix que les hommes appellent bateaux... Celle-ci... Oui, celle que vous voyez ici, je ne sais pas comment elle a pu s'en sortir. C'est peut-être parce que le capitaine Raspoutine connaît son métier et que ses marins viennent des îles Fidji. Ou bien parce qu'ils ont fait un pacte avec le Diable. Mais cela n'a pas d'importance, aujourd'hui c'est "Tarowean", le jour des surprises, le jour de tous les Saints, le 1er novemvre 1913."

 C'est une tradition chaque Toussaint, je cite l'incipit de La ballade de la mer salée d'Hugo Pratt. Avec la première illustration, absolument magnifique. C'est aussi la première apparition de Corto Maltese. Si vous cherchez de la grande lecture pour aujourd'hui, vous ne pouvez pas vous tromper avec Hugo Pratt.

Horrifically Good Books

Time is running, Halloween is almost here and I haven't had the time to mention some really important news for amateurs of horror fiction like myself. Now I have always loved the city of  York, allegedly the most haunted city in England. Now I have another reason to love it and another reason to want to go back to it: I learned through social media that the bookshop Criminally Good Books now has a sister bookshop exclusively selling horror books, called... Horrifically Good Books. It also has a Facebook page. As far as I am aware, it's the first bookshop of its kind, at least in the UK. Now I must go back to York and visit the bookshop. For my English readers, if you ever visit it before me, please let me know about your experience. Whenever I go there, I promise I will behave... like a vampire in a blood bank.

Pr. Henry Armitage (Hero Against the Forces of Darkness)

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I am blogging again about H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraft peopled his universe of many, many evil entities and nasty critters, as well as barking madmen, but he also sometimes gave us a few heroes who actually fought the forces of darkness. One of them is Professor Henry Armitage, from Miskatonic University, Arkham. Both university and city are fictitious of course. The portrait you see here is from the fifth edition of the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. Pr. Armitage is featured in The Dunwich Horror and he is a Van Helsing figure, an academic who figures out the presence of the supernatural and knows how to fight it. He is far more bland than Van Helsing (Lovecraft wasn't the best giving much character to his good guys), but he deserves a mention in this blog. Horror has plenty of villains, we must remember that the genre also has heroes.

Les Bouquinistes: concours de l'Halloween

Petite annonce concernant l'Halloween prise sur la page Facebook des Bouquinistes: la librairie organise un concours de déguisements. Il y a quelques détails sur l'image ici. Jolie image par ailleurs. Mais il y a plus de détails sur la page Facebook. Quoique tout ne soit pas très clair, je crois comprendre que les adultes comme les enfants peuvent participer. Les résultats seront connus le 31 octobre, alors si vous avez le temps de passer à la librairie le 30 et/ou le 31, n'hésitez pas.

Ghostly Pig-Headed Bride

 For today's countdown to Halloween post, a little known ghostly legend. As you may know, I have been reading on and off Halloween Folklore and Ghost Stories. The book tells a few long forgotten pieces of English folklore, that deserves to be rediscovered and maybe developed into bona fide horror stories. Among them, the sighting of the Pig-Headed Bride from the village of Pipe and Lyde. I tried to find more about her (it?) online, but found zilch so far. That's how obscure it is. And that is tragic. I don't know for you, but I find pigs featured in horror stories to be particularly scary. Not sure why. But there is just something about their face. Especially on top of a human body, like here. A pig-headed woman is scary enough, a pig-headed bride even more, but a pig-headed ghost? It's the stuff of nightmare, pure Unheimliche. So yes, I don't know if I can find out more about this abomination, but Pipe and Lyde is now on my list of eerie pilgrimage destinations.

Dracula's Hot Wheels

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I thought I would blog about Dracula again. By the way, it struck me recently that I never formally recommended the novel, even though it's by far my favourite horror novel. Î will need to sort it out one day. Anyway, I have seen on other blogs, from other Cryptkeepers, that Hot Wheels has a special range of vehicles for Halloween. And I was happily surprised to find the Dracula "Kool Kompi" in the local toy shop. At £9.99, it's a bit pricey for a small toy car, but I could not resist. I did not take it off the packaging, because I think the image of Count Dracula is way cooler than the car. It's kind of funny, to think that Bram Stoker wrote a horror novel, one of the scariest ever written, and its antagonist now sells toys.

Mummy (Terror at the British Museum)

For today's countdown to Halloween, an old horror classic. It's not Halloween without at least one mummy. This one comes from the gamebook Terrors Out of Time, one of my go-to book for interactive horror stories. But truly, the creature comes from the British Museum and has been animated by Baron Ausbach to cover his escape from the hero (hero played of course by the reader). The mummy here is little more than a glorified zombie, an undead doing its master's bidding. Nevertheless, it's always cool to have a mummy in a horror story, especially in a cool setting like the British Museum. Tactical advice if you ever play the book: use the knobkerrie against it, not the sword-stick. Otherwise, the blade might get stuck in it and you end up weaponless.

"Ghosts And How to See Them"

Oh the treasures one can find in charity shops sometimes. For today's countdown to Halloween, I wanted to share one of these discoveries I made last weekend. Now a disclaimer: I am not a believer in the paranormal and I do not think ghosts exists. I wouldn't buy this kind of book new, because I have no intention of becoming a ghost hunter, a pointless activity for a skeptic if you'd ask me. That said, I love horror and ghost stories and I even try to write in the genre. As such, books like Ghosts And How to See Them can be an invaluable source of inspiration. This is why I bought it last Saturday, at £3.49, a bargain. Also, because I love the cover, worth the purchase in itself. It's eerie, it's atmospheric, it's absolutely perfect for Halloween.

"Bad Apples" (Five Slices of Halloween Horror)

For today's countdown to Halloween post, more literary horror, this time very topical one. As I have mentioned recently, I like to vary the types of horror I read come this time of year, mixing Gothic ghost stories with modern horror. I also like to read at least Halloween anthologies. As I had finished all my Halloween books and was eager to read new ones, I recently purchased Bad Apples, the first book of a series. I understand Evans Light edited it and I had really enjoyed Doorbells at Dusk, which he also edited. You can find my post on Doorbells here. I go back to it every year. So anyway, long story short, I started reading Bad Apples. It has five stories in it, a bit long to be short stories, more like novelettes or even novellas. And so far, it's a blast.

About Night Terrors

For today's countdown to Halloween, I wanted to blog about Night Terrors, the anthology E.F. Benson's ghost stories. I blogged about it briefly in Augtober last year. No, I haven't read it all yet, it's a solid 705 pages book. I think it has all his stories. That said, I have read some of them this month, because I like to have variety in the writers and the writing in my Halloween reading list, and every year I need a healthy those of Gothic horror. And some of his stories are really short, so they make for a quick read. Anyway, if you can get your hands on this book, you won't regret it. If not, you can find at least some of the ghost stories of Benson online. I might find them for you in future posts.