Mysteries Come ‘Marching’ In And Tempting Food Recipes Follow

DETECTIVE STORIES

Edited By PETER WASHINGTON Everyman’s Pocket Classic from Knopf, $15

If you’re ever left waiting in airline terminals, doctor’s offices or for a spouse to get ready to go out, this solid, compact volume will make time pass fast. That is, if you’re a fan of detective stories – and who isn’t? Particularly when these short mysteries are written by the genre’s best writers; Edgar Allan Poe, Earl Stanley Gardner, Arthur Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Agatha Christie and 10 more.

You may find this little book so addictive you’ll take it everywhere.

TWO of the DEADLIEST

Edited By Elizabeth George Harper, $25.99

Here’s a delightful twist in detective stories; 23 clever mysteries all written by today’s top female crime authors, including editor Elizabeth George. The stories focus on two of the deadliest sins: greed and lust, resulting occasionally, and not surprisingly, in murder. Nancy Pickard cooks up a delicious crime in “Dark Chocolate,” where the culprit is the victim. In “Can You Hear Me Now?” Marcia Talley zaps cell phone abusers. The collection includes exciting new writers published here for the first time. All in all, there’s much to be enjoyed in these short and unpredictable tales.

HOMER & LANGLEY

Edited By E.L. Doctorow Random House, $26

If someone accuses you of being a “pack rat,” refer them to this fictional version of the real Collyer brothers, who were found dead in their Fifth Avenue Mansion, completely surrounded by newspaper bales, the guts of pianos, boxes of tools, paintings, stacks of books, a Ford Model T, piles of clothing, dislodged pieces of their parents’ furniture and too much else to describe here.

Homer, the younger brother who gradually goes blind, is the narrator. Brother Langley, who having returned home physically damaged by poison gas in WWI, scavenges for treasure in every junk pile.

Visits from gangsters, the FBI and hippies energize the narrative, but when their money runs out, the heat, lights and phones are turned off, leaving the brothers to their own devices and debris.

NOTES ON COOKING

By LAUREN BRAUN COSTELLO and RUSSELL REICH RDR Creative Press, $21.95

College-bound students, newlyweds and people who’ve always wanted to cook will find this a welcome introduction to the baffling vocabulary of tools and terms used by their mothers.

What’s really unusual about this book is that it contains no recipes. You can find those in thousands of other books. Here, in this brief volume, is a remarkable primer on everything from interpreting recipes to storage and food pairings that will turn the neophyte into a competent cook. It tells not what to cook but how, and concludes with this advice: “Stop reading and start cooking.”

THE P&J OYSTER COOKBOOK

By Kit Wohl and the Sunseri Family Pelican, $35

In this brilliant collection of oyster recipes, you’ll find 10, count ’em, 10, wonderful recipes for raw oysters, including a favorite of mine, “Oysters with Three Granites” from Stella restaurant’s Scott Boswell.

There are over 120 wonderful recipes from the Sunseri family as well as from such famous restaurants as Acme Oyster House, Commander’s Palace, Casamento’s and many others. Kit Wohl’s mouth-watering photos will have you stuffing Jalapeno peppers with oysters and trying the variety of barbequed, grilled and roasted recipes and, especially, Mom’s Oyster Gumbo. Umm Umm.

THE WHOLE FIVE FEET

By Christopher R. Beha Grove Press, $24

The “Five Feet” refers to the Harvard Classics assembled by Charles William Eliot, the president of Harvard University, with the idea of enabling ordinary people to earn a college degree at home.

Beha decides to read them all, one book a week, all 22,000 pages, in one year. The collection ranges from Plato to Dante to Darwin, Ben Franklin and St. Augustine as well.

Beha accomplishes his goal despite being frequently challenged by family illness and death.

MARDI GRAS PARADE OF POSTERS

By Andrea Mistretta Pelican, $19.95

Too late for this year’s celebration but not too late for the memories it will evoke over the years, this collection of all 25 posters by Mistretta dazzle the eye.

The illustrations seem to leap from the pages. And, the accompanying historical notes offer the added dimension of learning her inspirations for the colors and background of the posters, each of which has become a collector’s item and ideal gift for lovers of Mardi Gras.