News has come that Davy Jones of '60s pop sensation The Monkees has passed away at the age of 66. He suffered a heart attack.
When I was in the fifth grade, my classmates and I discovered The Monkees through the miracle of television reruns. So it was only natural a few of us would start a tribute band -- cleverly named "The Monkees II." Our one and only public performance, at the school's fifth grade talent show, was a spectacular disaster.
Farewell, Davy. You will be missed.
Monkees - Someday Man
THE MONKEES - A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You (1967) - excerpt from the TV show
Nero Wolfe's 1969 mystery Death of a Dude was repackaged in 1995 with a new introduction by western author Don Coldsmith (1926-2009):
"I used to feel sorry for Archie because he's frequently criticized and put down by his employer. But he's not really a second-class character. He's doing what he wants to do. He's not a yes-man. He argues, resents his employer sometimes, but basically loves his job. And after all, he gets to tell the story, like Sherlock Holmes's Dr. Watson. Archie is possibly a stronger character than Watson, though, in my humble opinion."
Judging from the explosion of blog visits this week, the two most powerful words in SEO (search engine optimization) are "Free" and "Batman." Apparently, I'll have to find more excuses to work those two words into my blog entries in the future. Meanwhile, there was other news in crime fiction this week—including bits about Sara Paretsky, a celebration of Jewish mystery writers, Elmore Leonard, and the late Donald Westlake.
This a completely biased list of five of the best fight scenes I ever saw on TV or DVD. If you got something to add, post a comment below!
01. Angel
Angel vs. Marcus Hamilton
("Not Fade Away," 5/19/04)
Actually, there were lots of great fight scenes on Angel—a spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which itself had a lot of great fight scenes. Buy Angel: Season Five on DVD
02. Department S Stewart Sullivan and Jason King vs. henchman
("The Pied Piper of Hambledown," 3/30/69)
I only discovered this '60s British spy-fi series fairly recently, and now it's one of my favorites. This fight isn't just brilliantly-choreographed, it demonstrates how cool Jason King is even when he loses.
03. Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin vs. The Robot
("Day of the Robot," 2/8/74)
This early episode of the Six Million Dollar Man starred John Saxon as Steve's old friend Major Frederick Sloan, who is replaced by a lookalike robot. When the switch is discovered, it leads to full on, slo-mo, bionics-on-robot action. The moment where Steve knocks off the robot's face, revealing the wires inside, is classic. (And a precursor to those great Fembot episodes coming up on both Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman.) Buy the Six Million Dollar Man: Season 1 on DVD
Steve fighting a robot, his friend
04. Star Trek
Kirk vs. Spock
("Amok Time," 9/15/67)
One of the most iconic sci-fi fights of all time. Two men go into the ring, but only one comes out alive... Buy Star Trek: Season Two on DVD
Star Trek: Kirk & Spock Fight to the Death
05. It Takes a Thief Robert Wagner vs. Bill Bixby
("To Steal a Battleship," 3/26/68)
Pro thief-turned-government agent Al Mundy (Robert Wagner) is assigned to recover NATO defense plans, and runs into an old rival thief, played by Bill Bixby. The fight scene is zowie, with two TV icons throwing punches, topped off with gorgeous Janis Hansen just sitting and watching while she eats an apple. Buy It Takes a Thief: The Complete Series on DVD
BONUS: Justice League Unlimited
Task Force X vs. Shining Knight, Vigilante, and Atom Smasher
("Task Force X," 5/21/2005)
This stand-out episode of Justice League Unlimited plays out like a caper movie, as the members of Task Force X—super villains forced into government work or face the death penalty—sneak onto the JL satellite to steal a magical suit of armor. They are careful to avoid all the big guns—Superman, Green Lantern, etc—but run into three also-ran superheroes who just happen to be passing by: Shining Knight, Vigilante, and Atom Smasher. One of the most brilliantly thought-out fight scenes in an American cartoon. Buy Justice League Unlimited: Season One on DVD
Get these two exclusive eBooks FREE when you sign up for my author newsletter! (I promise you'll only hear from me every few months.) Free downloads available for Kindle, Nook, iPad, Kobo, and more. Sign up now!
Complete list of cozy mysteries starring Ruth Budge: Take a fictional vacation through three novels to Finny, California, where at first glance it looks like any other coastal tourist village. But for resident Ruth Budge, the kaleidoscope of zany Finny citizens keeps her always on the lookout for trouble. Trouble finds her first, though, as she discovers a body in Finny's town-square fountain, uncovers secrets buried under the Finny fog, and stumbles unto another mystery under Finny's Nose. As Ruth battles to overcome evil with truth-and a healthy dose of common sense-she also learns to heal from her husband's death and to find hope for new love. Written by Dana Mentink:
It's the 150th anniversary of the wreck of the Triton, a ship that foundered off the coast of Finny, California. When a team of college students arrives to film a documentary, a pregnant Ruth stumbles across the body of one of the film’s crewman. Adding to the chaos, Ruth’s estranged son arrives and Monk’s niece faces heartbreak at the hands of Finny’s police detective...
* Buy for Kindle, PC, Mac, Blackberry, Android, or Apple device * Buy for Nook, iPad, Sony Reader, Kobo, and more
Hello! We've created a new-and-updated version of this post...and that is over at our new blog Comics Online. (With all this "New 52" business, we had to make a lot of changes!)
So "nomination" season seems to be upon us, as Malice Domestic has now presented us with a list of nominees for traditional mystery's Agatha Awards. (This following recent noms announced for 2012 Edgar Awards from Mystery Writers of America, 2012 Left Coast Crime Awards, and the 2012 Barry Awards from Bouchercon). The Malice Domestic convention honors traditional mysteries as typified by the works of Agatha Christie. The category, often referred to as "cozy mysteries," is defined here as "mysteries which contain no explicit sex or excessive gore or violence."
Get these two exclusive eBooks FREE when you sign up for my author newsletter! (I promise you'll only hear from me every few months.) Free downloads available for Kindle, Nook, iPad, Kobo, and more. Sign up now!
Ready to laugh? Swoon? And then put on your thinking cap? Spyglass Lane Mysteries is a collection of Christian cozy mysteries—modern-day whodunits with colorful characters and plenty of wholesome romance. Here's a handy list of the first volume of each mystery series—available for 99-cents for your Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Barnes & Noble Nook, and more!
Life is a bed of roses for landscape designer Paige Turner—until she finds the city manager served up on the blade of her favorite shovel mere hours after she’s threatened to have his head on a platter... Only 99-cents! Buy from Amazon Buy from Smashwords
LaTisha Barnhart's bunions tell her something's afoot as she delves deeper into the murder of her former employer Marion Peters. When LaTisha becomes a suspect, the ante is upped and she is determined to clear her name and find the real culprit. Only 99-cents! Buy from Amazon Buy from Barnes & Noble Buy from Diesel Buy from Kobo Buy from Smashwords
Complete list to date of books starring Tracy Eaton, mystery writer, detective wannabe, and the offspring of reality-challenged Hollywood stars. Written by Kris Neri:
In this week's crime fiction news, personal branding expert Dan Schawbel has a conversation with best-selling author Janet Evanovich about how her success in the publishing world has led to a family business, why she has turned to co-authoring as a means to getting more titles to the market, and more. (Unfortunately, he did not manage to ask many questions of her about "personal branding," which seems like a wasted opportunity.)
By a wide margin, the biggest traffic on The Thrill of it All this week was folks reading about the two-day Big Kindle Boogie with authors Lee Goldberg, J.A. Konrath, J. Carson Black, Scott Nicholson, and Blake Crouch. The event is over now—it's too late to get your free eBooks, and the prizes have all been divied out...but any authors who are trying to figure out the changing world of publishing would still do well to watch pretty much anything these five are doing.
Among the event's prizes, it should be noted, was a $500 donation to a one winner's local library. In fact, the topic of libraries turned up in a few times in the news below...
Complete list of cozy mysteries starring amateur sleuth Trish Cunningham. Trish wants nothing more than to be a loving wife and good mother, but whenever she leaves home to run her daily errands, trouble seems to stalk her. Ordinary tasks such as shopping or volunteering at her stepson's high school turn into murder investigations for Trish—much to her neurotic husband's chagrin. Written by Candice Speare Prentice:
A woman with a complicated past returns home to become the small town's new sheriff. Best Mann For The Job is by the writer/artist team of Chris and Erica Well. Read it from the beginning at StudioWell.com. Watch the trailer on YouTube.
News has come that Davy Jones of '60s pop sensation The Monkees has passed away at the age of 66. He suffered a heart attack.
was repackaged in 1995 with a new introduction by western author Don Coldsmith (1926-2009):
