I hope everyone has a happy and healthy Memorial Day, and urge you to take a moment to consider the brave men and women who have dedicated their lives to the service of your country.
Thank you!
Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for June 2019
Here’s the upcoming list for TCM’s mysteries for June, plus a few of my own personal favorites! A few highlights of what I haven’t put on but people might still be interested in – June 3rd will have a number of movies highlighting divorce, Father’s Day (June 16) will have a number of movies featuring fathers, and the month overall seems to have a lot of war and cowboy movies.
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – June 1
9:08 AM
THE FALCON OUT WEST (1944)
A society sleuth turns cowboy to investigate a Texas murder.
Dir: William Clemens Cast: Tom Conway, Carole Gallagher, Barbara Hale.
BW- 64 mins, CC
11:45 PM
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)
A gang of small time crooks plots an elaborate jewel heist.
Dir: John Huston Cast: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen.
BW- 112 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – June 2
5:30 AM
THE WINDOW (1949)
A boy who always lies witnesses a murder but can’t get anyone but the killer to believe him.
Dir: Ted Tetzlaff Cast: Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart.
BW- 73 mins, CC
9:00 AM
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)
A gang of small time crooks plots an elaborate jewel heist.
Dir: John Huston Cast: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen.
BW- 112 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – June 4
1:15 AM
GILDA (1946)
A gambler discovers an old flame in South America, but she’s married to his new boss.
Dir: Charles Vidor Cast: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready.
BW- 110 mins, CC
6:30 AM
ZOU ZOU (1934)
A singing star tries to clear a childhood friend of murder charges.
Dir: Marc Allegret Cast: Josephine Baker, Jean Gabin, Pierre Larquey.
BW- 88 mins
8:15 AM
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)
A bogus preacher marries an outlaw’s widow in search of the man’s hidden loot.
Dir: Charles Laughton Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish.
BW- 93 mins, CC
*****Robert Mitchum is terrific as the creepy preacher…*****
3:00 PM
THE WOMAN IN WHITE (1948)
Classic mystery about the adventures of a young tutor sent to a ghostly country estate.
Dir: Peter Godfrey Cast: Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, Sydney Greenstreet.
BW- 109 mins, CC
*****Wilkie Collins is the author of the 1860 mystery novel on which this is based. This novel is on the Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time list by the Mystery Writers of America.*****
5:00 PM
THE HAUNTING (1963)
A team of psychic investigators moves into a haunted house that destroys all who live there.
Dir: Robert Wise Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson.
BW- 112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – June 5
7:00 AM
A WICKED WOMAN (1934)
A woman kills her drunken husband to defend her children.
Dir: Charles Brabin Cast: Mady Christians, Jean Parker, Charles Bickford.
BW- 73 mins, CC
8:15 AM
HIGH WALL (1947)
Psychiatry provides the key to proving a veteran flyer innocent of his wife’s murder.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt Cast: Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter, Herbert Marshall.
BW- 99 mins, CC
10:00 AM
CONSPIRATOR (1949)
A newlywed suspects her husband of being a Communist spy.
Dir: Victor Saville Cast: Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Flemyng.
BW- 87 mins, CC
11:30 AM
UNDERCURRENT (1946)
A sheltered woman realizes that either her husband or his mysterious brother is a psychopath.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Robert Taylor, Robert Mitchum.
BW- 116 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – June 7
8:00 AM
THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY (1937)
A chic jewel thief in England falls in love with one of her marks.
Dir: Richard Boleslawski Cast: Joan Crawford, William Powell, Robert Montgomery.
BW- 98 mins, CC
*****I’m not sure if this or the next movie are actually mysteries.*****
10:00 AM
THE LAW AND THE LADY (1951)
A society jewel thief falls for one of her marks.
Dir: Edwin H. Knopf Cast: Greer Garson, Michael Wilding, Fernando Lamas.
BW- 104 mins, CC
12:00 PM
SATAN MET A LADY (1936)
In the second screen version of The Maltese Falcon, a detective is caught between a lying seductress and a lady jewel thief.
Dir: William Dieterle Cast: Bette Davis, Warren William, Alison Skipworth.
BW- 74 mins, CC
*****This movie and the next are based on the Maltese Falcon mystery books by Dashiell Hammett.*****
1:30 PM
THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade gets caught up in the murderous search for a priceless statue.
Dir: John Huston Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George.
BW- 100 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – June 8
9:08 AM
THE FALCON IN MEXICO (1944)
A society sleuth travels South of the border to investigate an art dealer’s murder.
Dir: William Berke Cast: Tom Conway, Mona Maris, Martha MacVicar.
BW- 70 mins, CC
1:00 PM
DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954)
A straying husband frames his wife for the murder of the man he’d hired to kill her.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings.
C- 105 mins, CC
*****I first saw this movie years ago so I decided not to watch it again. However, I watched it the second time two weeks ago and even though I could remember the plot, I enjoyed it a lot.*****
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – June 9
JULIE (1956)
A stewardess is stalked by her psychotic estranged husband.
Dir: Andrew L. Stone Cast: Doris Day, Louis Jourdan, Barry Sullivan.
BW- 97 mins, CC,
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – June 10
5:00 AM
IMPACT (1949)
After surviving a murder attempt, an auto magnate goes into hiding so his wife can pay for the crime.
Dir: Arthur Lubin Cast: Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Charles Coburn.
BW- 111 mins, CC
10:45 AM
HOLLOW TRIUMPH (1948)
A crook on the lam poses as a psychiatrist.
Dir: Steve Sekely Cast: Paul Henreid, Joan Bennett, Eduard Franz.
BW- 82 mins, CC
2:00 PM
THE STRANGER (1946)
A small-town schoolteacher suspects her new husband may be an escaped Nazi war criminal.
Dir: Orson Welles Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles.
BW- 95 mins, CC
3:45 PM
DETOUR (1945)
A hitchhiker takes on a dead man’s identity only to face blackmail by
an unscrupulous woman.
Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer Cast: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake.
BW- 68 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – June 15
9:08 AM
THE FALCON IN HOLLYWOOD (1944)
A society sleuth tours the movie capital, where he uncovers an actor’s murder.
Dir: Gordon Douglas Cast: Tom Conway, Barbara Hale, Veda Ann Borg.
BW- 67 mins, CC
1:15 PM
KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL (1952)
To commit the perfect crime, a former detective keeps his colleagues’ identities secret from each other.
Dir: Phil Karlson Cast: John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston Foster.
BW- 99 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – June 17
10:45 AM
FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK (1941)
An aspiring mystery writer stumbles on to a real murder.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon Cast: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Ralph Bellamy.
BW- 96 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – June 22
9:08 AM
THE FALCON IN SAN FRANCISCO (1945)
A society sleuth enlists a little girl’s help in nabbing a mob of silk smugglers.
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis Cast: Tom Conway, Rita Corday, Edward S. Brophy.
BW- 66 mins, CC
11:15 PM
SHADOW ON THE WALL (1950)
A child is left mute by the sight of her stepmother’s murder.
Dir: Patrick Jackson Cast: Ann Sothern, Zachary Scott, Gigi Perreau.
BW- 84 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – June 23
1:00 AM
THE BAD SEED (1956)
A woman suspects that her perfect little girl is a ruthless killer.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy Cast: Gage Clarke, Jesse White, Joan Croyden.
C- 129 mins, CC
3:15 AM
THE NANNY (1965)
A disturbed young man tries to prove his nanny is out to kill him.
Dir: Seth Holt Cast: Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett.
BW- 93 mins, CC
9:00 AM
SHADOW ON THE WALL (1950)
A child is left mute by the sight of her stepmother’s murder.
Dir: Patrick Jackson Cast: Ann Sothern, Zachary Scott, Gigi Perreau.
BW- 84 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – June 25
3:30 AM
SHAFT (1971)
A slick black detective enlists gangsters and African nationals to fight
the mob.
Dir: Gordon Parks Cast: Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles
Cioffi.
C- 100 mins, CC
12:00 PM
OCEAN’S ELEVEN (1960)
A group of friends plot to rob a Las Vegas casino.
Dir: Lewis Milestone Cast: Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra.
C- 127 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
3:30 PM
MYSTERY IN MEXICO (1948)
An insurance agent searches Mexico for a missing colleague.
Dir: Robert Wise Cast: William Lundigan, Jacqueline White, Ricardo Cortez.
BW- 66 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – June 26
2:15 AM
EMIL AND THE DETECTIVES (1964)
Dir: Peter Tewksbury Cast: Walter Slezak, Bryan Russell, Roger Mobley.
BW- 99 mins, CC
4:00 AM
NEVER A DULL MOMENT (1968)
Dir: Jerry Paris Cast: Dick Van Dyke, Edward G. Robinson, Dorothy Provine.
BW- 100 mins, CC
7:45 AM
THE LAST RIDE (1944)
A detective suspects foul play in a series of accidental deaths.
Dir: D. Ross Lederman Cast: Richard Travis, Charles Lang, Eleanor Parker.
BW- 57 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – June 29
9:07 AM
THE FALCON’S ALIBI (1946)
A society sleuth sets out on the trail of a society matron’s lost jewels.
Dir: Ray McCarey Cast: Tom Conway, Rita Corday, Vince Barnett.
BW- 63 mins, CC
11:00 PM
ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1952)
A tough cop sent to help in a mountain manhunt falls for the quarry’s blind sister.
Dir: Nicholas Ray Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond.
BW- 82 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – June 30
9:00 AM
ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1952)
A tough cop sent to help in a mountain manhunt falls for the quarry’s blind sister.
Dir: Nicholas Ray Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond.
BW- 82 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in June, be sure to leave a comment below!
In case you’re interested in seeing the rest of this month’s television mystery movies, here’s the June 2019 television mystery movies schedule:
Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for April 2019 on Turner Classic Movies channel
And here is the page on my site with plenty of entries about movies and television shows you may enjoy:
Cozy Mystery List TV and Movie Section – all you have to do is click on the link to go to that page on my site.
(All of the movie descriptions were taken off their respective websites.)
Nine Soon to be Released Cozy Mystery Covers
Here are some of the upcoming Cozy Mystery covers that I’ve found recently!
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Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): The Book of Candlelight (This will be the 3rd in the Secret, Book & Scone Mystery Series.) |
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Lorraine Bartlett (aka L. L. Bartlett & Lorna Barrett) with Gayle Leeson (aka Gayle Trent & Amanda Lee): Murder Ink (This will be the 6th in the Victoria Square Mystery Series.) |
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Laura Durham: Irish Aisles are Smiling (This will be the 12th in the Annabelle Archer Wedding Planner Mystery Series.) |
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Susan Furlong (aka Lucy Arlington, Susan Furlong-Bolliger, & S. Furlong-Bolliger): Shattered Justice (This will be the 3rd in the Bone Gap Travellers Mystery Series.) |
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Sherry Harris: Sell Low, Sweet Harriet (This will be the 8th in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery Series.) |
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Catherine Lloyd: Death Comes to the Nursery (This will be the 7th in the Kurland St. Mary Mystery Series.) |
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T.C. LoTempio (aka Toni LoTempio): The Time for Murder is Meow (This will be the 1st in the NEW Purr N’ Bark Pet Shop Mystery Series.) |
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Leslie Meier: Invitation Only Murder (This will be the 26th in the Lucy Stone Mystery Series.) |
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Barbara Ross: Sealed Off (This will be the 9th in the Maine Clamback Mystery Series.) |
Paige Shelton: Scottish Bookshelf Mystery Series
Paige Shelton’s Scottish Bookshelf Mystery Series is the next of the most popular and recommended Cozy Mystery series that I will be highlighting. As I mentioned last month, I have read The Cracked Spine as part of my effort to cover some of the most popular Cozy Mystery series.
Delaney Nichols, 29 years old, had just been laid off from her job working in a Wichita, Kansas museum when she spotted a quirky ad:
Wanted: A bold adventurer who would love to travel the world from a comfortable and safe spot behind a desk that has seen the likes of kings and queens, paupers and princes. A humble book and rare manuscript shop seeks a keenly intelligent investigator to assist us in our search for things thought lost, and in our quest to return lost items to their rightful owners. This multitasked position will take you places you can’t even imagine. Apply only if you’re ready for everything to change. Please note: the position is located in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Before she knew it, Delaney had the job. She had interviewed for an hour and a half over the phone with Edwin MacAlister, the owner of The Cracked Spine, a small bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland, specializing in rare books (and other rare things), and was immediately offered the job.
Delaney, who was seeking an adventure and a job that she could throw herself into, has a striking appearance:
I’d been afflicted with the brightest tones: the fieriest red hair, the palest skin dotted with orange freckles, and light green eyes. I’d long ago become used to people’s reactions when they first saw me back home in the small town close to my family’s farm. There was usually a double take, sometimes a small gasp, and then a big forced smile to cover their shock at all my … glow. However in Wichita and Scotland, it seemed, no one had so much as given me a second glance.
When she gets off the plane in Edinburgh, she meets Elias McKenna, a cab owner and small-time landlord, who, along with his wife Aggie, quickly become Delaney’s new friends.
In the bookshop, Delaney meets the other employees, Rosie (“old, probably closer to seventy than sixty”) and Hamlet, a young man who works in the bookstore part time while attending school. When she meets him, Hamlet is dressed like, well, “Hamlet”, since he is also engaged in acting in local theater.
Edwin, the shop owner, is very wealthy, and he has a many wealthy friends who become suspects in the murder investigation that inevitably ensues.
Delaney becomes engrossed, you might say obsessed, with solving the murder that happens soon after her arrival in Edinburgh. Through dogged persistence, she eventually discovers the killer.
Delaney meets a romantic interest, Tom Fletcher, the local pub owner, very soon after arrival. Tom of course is wearing a Kilt when they meet. Their mutual attraction is instant:
I didn’t realize we were still holding hands. He smiled—almost sheepishly—and pulled his hand away. I had a sense that something pushed me from behind and wanted me to step closer to him. I resisted but it wasn’t easy.
“I’m glad you’re real,” I said before I could stop the words from propelling out of my mouth.
He cocked his head and blinked and then smiled.
Silly American.
“I’m glad you’re real too, Delaney. Please come by the pub anytime. If you haven’t tried Scottish whisky, you must. At least a sip. On me.”
And, there is a touch of paranormal in the book. Delaney hears voices from books. She has done so since she was a child. These voices seem not to be the normal recollections of things she has read, but actual voices that speak to her. In this book, at least, the voices do not play much of a part. But, I guess they become more important as the series progresses.
One thing I like about the book is that there is not much time wasted trying to explain Delaney’s obsession with trying to solve the murder. She just seems to be the super curious type of person who becomes doggedly obsessed when she is presented a puzzle to solve.
I have to say, this Cozy has a number of elements that I ordinarily don’t find super attractive:
- I am ordinarily not a great fan of paranormal elements (there are exceptions, of course — see my discussion of Aunt Dimity’s Death for one notable exception!)
- The way Delaney discovers the killer is, shall I say, a little short of being due to logical deductions following from the clues in the book.
- Delaney’s new life, including an instant set of friends, love interest, great job, etc., seems a bit much — quite a bit closer to fantasy than I normally go for.
Nevertheless, I really loved this book! I think I can forgive Paige Shelton for these elements that I don’t ordinarily enjoy, because I love the characters, I love the setting, and the writing is so good that the fantasy and paranormal aspects of the story are carried off so well. I was swept up in the fantasy so quickly that, for me, the pages just flew by. I’m a new Paige Shelton fan.
What about you? Did you enjoy The Cracked Spine? What did you like about it?
Click here to read more posts about the most popular and recommended Cozy Mystery series.
Also, before I forget: People may post spoilers in their comments, so if this is a series you think you might enjoy starting, don’t read the comments!
