Hello good readers and welcome to a special edition of At the Scene of the Crime! Today, I’d
like to welcome back Sergio, who holds the current record for most appearances
on this blog (this is his third appearance). When I asked Sergio if he was
interested in a crossover review to commemorate my one-year anniversary, he was
enthusiastic about the idea. But what to review?
Well, to come up with an idea, I looked back at our previous
two collaborations. In our first, we read and discussed George Baxt’s The Alfred Hitchcock Murder Case. I had
written Baxt off as a hack after reading The
Affair at Royalties, but Sergio’s enthusiastic review of A Queer Kind of Death piqued my
interest, and that led to a re-evaluation of Baxt from my part. When Sergio
dropped in for a second time, we discussed Julian Symons and his book Bloody Murder, holding a long debate
about its merits and flaws. In both cases, Sergio helped to broaden my mystery
horizons as I learned to appreciate something I’d earlier dismissed.
So how could we keep this tradition going? Well, I started
thinking: Sergio has been reading and reviewing the work of Ed McBain,
specifically his 87th Precinct novels. I had never read a McBain
novel before, but I distinctly remember coming across some of his novels in a
box of books once. I deliberately ignored them, allowing them to be given away.
Naturally, I had to atone for my sins somehow
(especially due to my Catholicism). Suddenly, the idea dawned on me: I was far
more familiar with Craig Rice, Sergio was the man to see about Ed McBain. What
better place to begin acquainting myself with McBain than the novel he finished
for Craig Rice, The April Robin Murders?
Sergio, thanks for joining me today!
