Chinatown

  I love detective stories and detective movies. 

There are far too many to mention. Many of my blog posts have to do with detective stories and movies. Some of my blogs have been about detective stories that I have written.

For this post I would like to talk about one particular detective movie and that is Chinatown (1974). This movie is also a favourite of my son, and many times, whether on the phone, or messaging or when we get together, we often quote lines from the movie.

The film was nominated for eleven Oscars, it won numerous awards, is one of the top ten mystery films, and often makes the list of top movies.

Chinatown is a very stylish film, well written, acted and directed. It is my favourite Jack Nicholson film (he plays Jake Gittes), my favourite Roman Polanski film, and best Robert Towne film for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. 

Nicholson and Towne would team up again for The Two Jakes, which pales by comparison. What was the difference? Roman Polanski. In Chinatown, Polanski has a small, but menacing role as Man with Knife.

John Huston (a great director) plays Noah Cross, one of the greatest cinematic villians who rivaled Shakespeare's bad guys, such as Iago and Richard III.

Noah Cross has two great lines in Chinatown that are pivatal. 

You may think you know what you're dealing with, but believe me you don't.

This is what the District Attorney used to tell Jake in Chinatown. This line is a blueprint of most detective stories. At the beginning of the story, the detective never knows what is going one. 

The other Noah Cross line is:

You see, Mr. Gittes, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything.

This speaks so much to human nature and the prospect of evil in our lives.

John Huston directed Humphrey Bogart in a pair of private detective movies in the 40s - The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep. 

Chinatown is a great private detective movie, and its ending and final line are perfect. 

Just as a sidenote, the same year Chinatown was release, Stephen J. Cannel produce The Rockford Files, a great detective TV series. Two years later, Cannel would produce City of Angels, a private detective series that took place in Los Angeles in the 1930s. The protaganist's name was also Jake. I cannot help but think the show was inspired by Chinatown.

Two years before Chinatown, Robert Forster starred in the TV series Banyon, also about a private detective in 30s LA.   

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The Enchanted Cross Stitch

 I seldom, if ever, post about new books (except my own) but I wanted to mention this one.

The book is The Enchanted Cross Stitch by Christine Holly. My wife is a cross-stitcher, and she likes women's stories, so I thought she would like it. She did. My wife liked it so much that she told me I should read it.

I read the book and I liked it. It was about a women's group of cross-stitchers, but there were a few surprises in it that I never suspected. Here is the blurb from the back of the book. 

Carol Crane loves to cross-stitch. She even belongs to a cross-stitch group in the small town of Bedford, New Hampshire. The group consists of Carol and four other women who get together once a month to talk, bond, and cross-stitch. More than anything, Carol wants to win a first-place ribbon at the next craft fair for the best cross-stitch.

Fate leads Carol to an out-of-the-way craft store in the country where she is given a cross-stitch kit guaranteed to get her a blue ribbon. It soon becomes evident to Carol that as she works on her cross-stitch, she opens a portal to another world that reflects the Gilded Age. With her world falling apart (a recent divorce, having to sell her home, and secretly causing an accident that puts a friend in the hospital) living a life in another world is starting to look pretty good to Carol. But could this enchanted cross-stitch be more than she bargained for?   

Christine Holly is a new independent writer and this is her first book. I wish her luck. 

The Enchanted Cross Stitch by Christine Holly can be found on Amazon!

Stephen Gaspar's books can be found on Amazon.

The Thames Torso Murders

 The Thames Torso Murders is one of the many adventures of Sherlock Holmes in my latest book, Holmes of Baker Street. In it, there is a character mentioned in one of the original stories by ACD. The story also has grisly elements (if you are into that sort of thing).

Here is the opening to The Thames Torso Murders.

In recalling the numerous individuals I have encountered in the cases I have shared with my friend Sherlock Holmes, there have been some whose very appearance has betrayed their baleful intent. 
    Readers of my memoirs may remember Dr. Grimesby Roylott whom I described as having a large face seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion. He possessed deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and a high thin fleshless nose. Dr. Roylott succeeded in killing one of his stepdaughters and almost succeeded in murdering the other.
    Then there was the statue-smashing Beppo, who was absolutely simian in appearance and knifed a man on the street. 
    Who could forget the master blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton whom Sherlock Holmes described as a slithering venomous serpent, with deadly eyes and a wicked face?
    Only after his crime was uncovered did Josiah Amberley’s true features reveal themselves. If I recall, I compared him to a misshapen demon with a soul as distorted as his body.
     Culverton Smith who killed Victor Savage and attempted to murder my friend Sherlock Holmes looked every inch the villain he was with a great yellow face, coarse-grained and greasy, with a heavy double-chin, and two sullen, menacing grey eyes.
     Finally, a man whose name will forever live in infamy, the late Professor Moriarty whom Holmes himself described as extremely tall and thin, with deeply set puckered eyes. His pale and ascetic-looking face oscillated from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion.
    It is not always prudent to judge someone or something from its outward appearance, and so not all the characters we encountered lived up to their looks. Holmes once told me of the most winning woman he ever knew was hanged for poisoning three children for their insurance money.
    In our first encounter with Dr. Moore Agar, both Holmes and I believed he was some nefarious villain, for he looked the part, but of course, we were sorely mistaken.
    The same could be said for the aloof and taciturn Ian Murdoch of whom Holmes described as having some strange outlandish blood that was reflected in his coal-black eyes and in his ferocious temper, but he proved not to be the killer.
    Baron Gruner was a handsome man, with the ability to charm women, but both his good looks and charm hid the heart of an abuser and a murderer. 
    I recall it was in May 1887, when Holmes and I had finished our breakfast, and we heard a peal of the bell. This was followed by the light tread of footsteps on the stairs, a knock at our door, and Mrs. Hudson stepped into the room to announce a young lady was here to consult with Mr. Holmes.
    “What is your impression of the young lady, Mrs. Hudson?” Holmes asked, standing by the mantel, filling his after-breakfast pipe.
    “She appears to be a very fine and well-mannered young lady, Mr. Holmes.”
    “If she meets with your approval, please send the young lady right up, Mrs. Hudson.”
    In another minute, the woman was standing in our sitting room.
    She introduced herself to us as Miss Angela Moore. She struck me as a demur, attractive young woman, who could not have been more than two and twenty. Miss Moore had dark blue eyes, a delicate nose, a small mouth, and a lovely, unblemished porcelain complexion. She was impeccably dressed in a form-fitted, long-waisted purple dress with dark polka dots that displayed a fine figure. The dress had a modest bustle and not one of those fashionable bustles so large you could set a tea tray upon it. 
    I consider myself a particularly good judge of women, and even before getting acquainted with her, I had the strong feeling this young woman was the epitome of innocence that can be found in British womanhood. Her voice was the perfect pitch, not too high or low, and though she spoke softly, her every word carried gently to the ear. As she entered the room and stood before us, it was obvious the young woman was attempting to control some deep distress. 
    “Won’t you take a seat, Miss Moore,” Holmes said, motioning her to the basket chair.
    She sat and folded her hands upon her lap. Her lovely face reflected urgency, but she bore up under it with both a deep-rooted strength and a feminine vulnerability. “I have come to you, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, because I believe you are the only man in London, nay, the only man in all England who can help me, and I am sorely in need of your help.”
    Miss Angela Moore had spoken with sincere conviction. Her pleading was obvious, but not overstated. 
    “I am very willing to lend whatever help you desire, Miss Moore,” said Sherlock Holmes in a reassuring manner. “Pray, tell me your problem.”
    She took in two deep breaths and released them before she began her narrative. 
    “Have either of you gentlemen heard of the terrible, gruesome murders that the press has dubbed ‘The Thames Torso Murders’? Over the past several months, the bodies of both men and women have been found floating in the river. The bodies were discovered… with… without….” Here she brought a handkerchief to her mouth to stifle her anguish.
    “Calm yourself, Miss Moore,” said Holmes soothingly. “There is no reason to continue. I am well versed in the details as the newspapers have related them.” 
    Indeed, both Holmes and I had read with interest the news reports of these murders. The murder victims were found without heads, arms, or legs. The torsos were discovered in and around the Thames, some floating in the water, some at the water’s edge. Two amputated arms and one amputated leg were discovered about the same time; one arm had been buried on a construction site, the other two floating in the Thames. The murders, dating back over a year, were quite gruesome, and I shuddered to think of a fine young woman like Miss Moore even reading about them. She eventually regained her composure. 

All of Stephen Gaspar's Sherlock Holmes books can be found on Amazon!

Sherlock Holmes and The Tired Captain

The Adventure of the Tired Captain is one of many stories referenced in the Sherlock Holmes canon. It is also one of the many stories in my latest book, Holmes of Baker Street. 

Here is the opening to The Adventure of the Tired Captain.  

In July of 1889, I was still settling into the role of being a husband to my bride Mary. Since my mid-thirties I had suspected that I just might remain a bachelor for life, for as Benedict stated in Much Ado About Nothing; ‘When I said I would die a bachelor, I just meant that I didn’t think I’d live  until I got married.’
  Married life was a considerable adjustment, especially for someone who had led a somewhat vagabond lifestyle. On the whole, I liked married life, and now for the first time, I was the master of my own home, which comes with its own obligations and responsibilities. It is a milestone in a man’s life when he begins to think of his legacy, how he plans to mark his life and considers what evidence he will leave behind to prove that he lived and accomplished something worthwhile. 
   Since my marriage, I had seen less of my friend Sherlock Holmes, who now usually contacted me only when a case came his way that he thought might interest me. 
    It was a rainy night in July. My wife and I were enjoying a quiet evening at home. After dinner, we retired to the sitting room as raindrops made pit-pat sounds on the window. I was reading by the lamp between our chairs. My wife was working on her petit point. A peal at the bell caused us to look at one another expectantly. The maid answered the door, I heard a familiar voice, then the sound of steps upon the linoleum. A moment later our maid, Mary Jane, ushered in Sherlock Holmes. We were both surprised and pleased to see him. He, in turn, greeted us warmly. 
   “Won’t you sit down, Mr. Holmes?” my wife offered. “Something to drink perhaps?”
  “No, thank you, Mrs. Watson, I am afraid I cannot stay,” he said with a hint of urgency. He cast me a sidelong glance. “I have a cab waiting.”
    My wife picked up on this immediately. 
   “I understand,” she said. “Well, John, you best put on your galoshes and take an umbrella from the stand.”
    At the door, she tied a cravat about my neck and kissed me goodnight. Holmes and I walked out into the rain and into his waiting cab. In the dim light of a streetlamp, I thought I saw a slight smile touch his lips. 
    “If it isn’t too presumptuous, may I ask where we are going?” I asked my friend.
    “Not at all. We are destined for the docks in the East End.”

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Sherlock Holmes & Cliff's Edge

 The Mystery of Cliff's Edge is one of the many adventures of Sherlock Holmes in my latest book, Holmes of Baker Street. In it, we see a very unexpected return of a character from one of the original stories by ACD.

Here is the opening to The Mystery of Cliff's Edge. 

On a lovely September day in 1903, Sherlock Holmes and I were sitting in our Baker Street sitting room. I had taken up a position by the window and was reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, while Holmes was rummaging through his files of past cases. We had been occupying the room for over an hour without saying a word, as befits two men of a long-standing friendship who were quite comfortable not having to spend every moment together filling the air with inestimable chatter. 

     I lowered the book in deep thought and gazed about the room.

   After several minutes, without any provocation of which I was aware, Sherlock Holmes said, “I certainly hope, Watson, that we have had a positive effect and or influence on the many clients and individuals with whom we have come in contact over the years on the cases we have shared.”

    I regarded my friend with astonishment. “How could you know I was reflecting on past cases and clients? I have been silently reading my book all this while without a word.”

    Holmes smiled and continued organizing his papers.

    “You were reading Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, which is I recall a man’s journey down a river in Africa. Something made you think of Afghanistan, and you turned to the skin of the swamp adder pinned to the wall, and then to the thin stick I used on it. Your eyes then rested on Sir Henry Baskerville’s muddy boot I keep as a memento atop the bookcase. Just beneath, on the top shelf of the bookcase is the old volume on the writings of Brother Thomas of Worms I received in the service of his holiness, the Pope. Then your gaze came to rest on the gold snuff box given to me by the King of Bohemia. You were obviously thinking of all our past cases and the many memorable characters. So, I ask again: do you believe our clients are better off from their experience with us?”

    It was a thoughtful question and one that had caught me quite off guard. I laid aside my book and considered Holmes’s question.

    “To be totally honest, Holmes, I have thought little of the lives of the characters, clients, and villains that we have encountered. I have, as you well know, recorded the events, but afterward, once the case was over, I gave little or no thought to those people we had met. But if I interpret your meaning, I have no doubt that most, if not all the people we have met have had their lives changed by our intervention. I am sure that Jabez Wilson is much more careful with the employees he hires, and does not offer too little pay, whereas Violet Hunter is wary of being offered too much. You saved James McCarthy of Boscombe Valley from prison, allowing him to marry Miss Turner. They are, I trust, enjoying a happy union. You also kept John Hector McFarlane from being found guilty of murdering Jonas Oldacre. Neville St. Clair is, undoubtedly, more at ease not having to live a double life. Helen Stoner leads a less fearful existence after her maniacal stepfather met his end. My old school chum Percy Phelps faced ruin and disgrace but was vindicated after you recovered the stolen treaty. You were able to prevent doomed marriages for two Violets: Smith and de Merville. As for Irene Adler….”

    I paused not knowing what to say, as I knew Holmes still held the lady in high regard.

    “I need not say more,” I said.

    “So, it is your opinion that our delving into the lives of these people has had a positive result?” he asked.

    “Don’t you think it has?”

    “Sometimes one never knows if other’s lives are better for having known us.” Here Holmes fell silent in thought. “Not all my cases have been successes, I’m afraid. I failed John Openshaw and Hilton Cubitt. We were not able to bring Victor Hatherly’s mutilator to justice, nor were we ever to bring Mr. Blessington’s executioners to stand trial for their crime. Do you remember The Cornish Horror? In that case, I was not able to capture the killer of the three Tregennises, nor was the killer’s killer brought to justice.”

    “That is because you decided to let him go.”

    “I still believe it was the right thing to do.”

    “Of course, you do. You do not shy from elevating yourself above the law.”

    “Let us not have this discussion again.”    

    Our conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. 

    “Come in Mrs. Hudson,” Holmes called out. 

Stephen Gaspar's books can be found on Amazon.

Sherlock Holmes and The Abergavenny Murder

    In The Adventure of the Priory School (1904), Dr. Huxtable requests Holmes come to his school in Mackleton. Holmes shakes his head and says, “My colleague, Dr. Watson, could tell you that we are very busy at present. I am retained in this case of the Ferrers Documents, and the Abergavenny murder is coming up for trial.” 

Now fans can discover the mystery of The Abergavenny Murder in Holmes of Baker Street.

Here is the opening to The Abergavenny Murder.

If there was a man who had earned the reputation as the foremost expert on crime, that man was, indeed, Sherlock Holmes. The London detective would have been the first to admit that this distinction was only too true. It was not that Holmes was boastful or arrogant, it was simply that he  believed in his own talent and abilities, and to overestimate or underestimate either would not be truthful or accurate. He was often obsessed with truth and accuracy. 

    He made it a point to study not only the history of crime but also recent criminal acts at home and abroad. Holmes personally stayed in contact with police detectives in several countries around the world—from Belgium to Brazil and from Cameroon to Canada. In his catalogue of crime, there were hundreds of modes of murder, robbery, kidnapping, confidence games, blackmail, forgery, and others. He went to great lengths to collect newspaper clippings of crimes and for each, he made comprehensive notes calling attention to certain details of the case. This would allow him to hear the features of a more recent crime, and make a conclusion based on the study of similar cases, not unlike a doctor who listens to the symptoms of a patient and accurately diagnoses the illness. But Holmes was not a doctor, nor was he a private detective; he was a consulting detective, perhaps the only one in the world. He was the man that detectives went to see when they were in a fog, or over their heads regarding a case. 

    To aid him in his work, Holmes studied human beings and was very aware of human foibles and vices, and things that motivated people. I would not classify Holmes as a lover, but he knew that love was a strong emotion that could easily lead a man or woman to perform acts they would not normally do if that emotion was not involved. Though he seldom demonstrated them himself, Holmes understood human emotions such as fear, vengefulness, hatred, and greed, and how these emotions led to criminal acts.

    He continually acquired vast amounts of specialized knowledge. Holmes would sometimes say; A man should keep his little brain-attic stocked with the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.   

    However, Holmes had also once said that it was not possible for a man to possess all knowledge, so he endeavoured to store up a great deal of knowledge that aided him in his work. He was well up on human anatomy, chemistry, and psychology. He made a comprehensive study of tobacco ash, bicycle tires, printed type, handwriting, tattoos, old documents, and secret codes.

    But of course, he fell short of possessing all knowledge. Even the Encyclopedia Britannica did not possess all knowledge.

    It was early in May 1901 and Holmes, and I had just finished our lunch. It was a beautiful spring day, but the weather was of little interest to Holmes, who sat around restlessly in his mouse-coloured dressing gown, his gray eyes mere slits, and his chin sunk upon his chest. For months on end, the great detective had had little with which to scintillate his brilliant mind. ‘Trivialities and stagnation’ was the phrase he uttered almost daily. 

    “Nothing in the papers, Watson?” he said, his gaze fixed upon the ceiling. 

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A Study in Scarlet

 This November will be the 136th anniversary of the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes in Print. A Study in Scarlet was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887. It is now a rare collectible and considered the most expensive magazine in the world, with 

a Beeton's 1887 selling for $156,000 at Sotheby's in 2007. 

 Beeton's Christmas Annual was a paperback magazine published from 1860 (volume 1) through 1898 (volume 39).  Each issue also carried a distinctive title reflecting that season's contents.  The 1887 edition, entitled "A Study in Scarlet," was approximately 8.5" x 5.5" and had color pictorial wrappers (cover).  It was issued in November at a price of one shilling and sold out before Christmas.

A Study in Scarlet was the first Sherlock Holmes story, written in 1887 by 27-year-old Conan Doyle. 
Though Conan Doyle would go on to write 56 short stories of Holmes, A Study in Scarlet was the first of only four full-length novels the author would write.
Though not perhaps the most popular Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet was the first and so deserves considerable consideration.
The story is divided into two parts. The first part introduces the reader to Holmes and Watson and a couple of murders. The second part tells the tale of what led to the murders. This formula would be repeated in The Sign of Four and The Valley of Fear, two other full-length stories. Most of Conan Doyle's short stories of Sherlock Holmes would also use this same formula to some extent.

My second Sherlock Holmes mystery, Cold-Hearted Murder is an homage to A Study in Scarlet; the first half of the story has Holmes and Watson investigating a series of bizarre murders in London, and the second half tells the remarkable story of what led up to these crimes. In A Study in Scarlet the backstory takes place in the American West, while in Cold-Hearted Murder the backstory is set during the Great Klondike Gold Rush in the Canadian North-West.

All of Stephen Gaspar's books can be found on Amazon! click here!