Posts Tagged Pheobe Reads a Mystery

Cozy Reads (and Watches) for Mystery Lovers

Recently, Park Square’s Mystery Writers Producer’s Club had a virtual cocktail party with playwright Joe Goodrich (The Red Box, Might As Well Be Dead, Panic). Joe introduced his new book Unusual Suspects: Selected Nonfiction published by Perfect Crime Books. This scintillating collection runs the gamut from cozy to noir and celebrates the achievements and personalities of mystery writers working in print, film, television and radio. The collection concludes with a biographical study of Derek Marlowe, forgotten author of the 1960s espionage classic, A Dandy in Aspic.

Joseph Goodrich, pictured in a black fedora and thick glasses.

Mystery writer and playwright Joseph Goodrich.

Joe read a charming autobiographical piece from the book about himself as a young boy growing up in Marshall, MN working up the courage to call ALL THE WAY to New York City.  The call was to Dilys Winn, the owner of Murder Ink, the nation’s first bookstore dedicated to mysteries.

“‘She’d been impressed by expatriate bookseller Sylvia Beach, founder of the original Shakespeare & Co in Paris, and Beach’s example offered a way out of Madison Avenue. ‘I’ll open a bookstore, and call it Murder Ink,’ Winn said. ‘That was on a Wednesday. I found the store on Thursday, and signed the lease Friday. I opened six weeks later.'”

Cover of book titled Unusual Suspects: Selected Non-Fiction by Joseph Goodrich.Back in 1976 Murder Ink offered a “Magical Mystery Tour” to London for only $800 that included meetings with authors and “cocktails with firearms experts.” Alas, the packet of information she mailed to young Joe in Minnesota “went missing.”  (The chief suspects being Mr. and Mrs. Goodrich who most likely thought a London adventure was too much for a 13-year-old boy who’d never been further away than Sioux Falls.)

Before the Zoom call ended, club members did a “round robin” to share what everyone was reading or watching. The list below is mostly mysteries to read, watch or listen to, but there are also a couple of other topics thrown in for variety.

First on the list, of course, is Joe Goodrich’s Unusual Suspects: Selected Nonfiction which can be ordered from the Twin Cities’ own brick and mortar bookstore dedicated to mysteries: Once Upon a Crime, in Minneapolis.

As we all turn to art in all forms to weather the pandemic and continued shutdown of theatres, we hope you enjoy these recommendations from your fellow Park Square Theatre fans.

Cozy Recommendations from the Mystery Writers Producers’ Club

Happy reading, watching and listening!

Tickets

The box office is currently closed. Please email tickets@parksquaretheatre.org with any questions.

Stay in Touch!

Get the latest updates and offers from Park Square Theatre.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

    Park Square on Instagram  See Park Square Videos on Vimeo