Mystery

‘Deep Blue Good-by’ (1964) a confident, rollicking hello to Travis McGee

John D. MacDonald had already written dozens of novels when, at 47, he launched his only series and most famous character, Travis McGee. A lot

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Action gets heated in Grafton’s ‘H is for Homicide’ (1991)

Sue Grafton tried something different in “G is for Gumshoe,” pairing Kinsey with a temporary partner/love interest while she was being hunted. Because the author

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‘You’re Next’ (2011) puts Wingard, cheeky slashers on the map

“You’re Next” (2011) signaled that a new generation of millennial filmmakers were next, as the horror genre segued into a 2010s style to replace the

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‘G is for Gumshoe’ (1990) … and for good, but not great

Sue Grafton overlaps two high concepts in “G is for Gumshoe” (1990) but under-develops one of them, leading to a fizzle of an ending. In

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John’s top 10 TV shows of 2025

I found my TV habits changing in 2025. I met the fall season with a Gen-Z-style “meh,” and I was fine delaying viewings of even

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McGee series cleanses itself in ‘The Lonely Silver Rain’ (1985)

John D. MacDonald covered several themes in his Travis McGee series, but he most regularly returned to the Drug War. Appropriately, the 21st and final

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‘Terror Train’ (1980) keeps Curtis’ golden age on track

Jamie Lee Curtis became the first slasher Scream Queen thanks to a surprisingly small batch of films – “The Fog,” “Prom Night” and “Terror Train”

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‘Cinnamon Skin’ (1982) blows up into a good quest novel

By his 20th novel of out 21, “Cinnamon Skin” (1982), Travis McGee knows who he is and is starting to accept it. John D. MacDonald’s

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Fantastic ‘F is for Fugitive’ (1989) is far from a failure

Kinsey Millhone is tired, annoyed, criticized coming and going, and attacked by a tennis-racket wielding nutjob in “F is for Fugitive” (1989). In other words,

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A century of suspense: All 52 Alfred Hitchcock films, ranked

A century ago, Alfred Hitchcock quietly (indeed, soundlessly) started his career with throwaway rom-dram “The Pleasure Garden.” Fifty-two years and exactly 52 films later, he

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