We’ve said it plenty of times before here on Bookmarks — who doesn’t love a good mystery?
Bill Amos, one of the playwrights involved in this weekend’s performances of “The Great Detectives” at Hazleton’s Pennsylvania Theatre of Performing Arts, can’t think of a time when he wasn’t enthralled by brilliant detectives and twist-filled mysteries.
“I always had a real strong interest in Sherlock Holmes. I like mysteries in general,” he said. “They were really stimulating to the imagination, and I always had a flair for the horror genre and the mystery genre and things like that.”
The cast and crew of “The Great Detectives” will explore some of the greatest mysteries this weekend with four newly adapted one-acts based on stories from Edgar Allen Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.
Amos adapted “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Doyle’s first short story featuring the iconic detective Holmes.
“It introduces one of what would be considered one of Sherlock Holmes's biggest adversaries,” Amos said. “One of his biggest foils, who is Irene Adler, who is famously, they say, the only woman who ever bested Sherlock Holmes in a crime.”
Holmes is only one of the “Great Detectives” that will be featured this weekend. Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple also will take the stage, along with Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin.
Miles Ledoux adapted one of the Christie stories, a Miss Marple tale called “The Thumb Mark of St. Peter.” He says he’s also loved the mystery genre since childhood and spent much of his time reading classics like “The Boxcar Children.”
He chose “The Thumb Mark of St. Peter,” to bring one of his favorite Miss Marple short stories to life onstage.
“They've adapted the Miss Marple novels into movies or film length TV episodes many many times, but the short stories largely remain untouched,” Ledoux said. “I have really wanted to see the short stories start getting some attention because they're just as well done as the novels. I think more people ought to know about them.”
“The Great Detectives” opened on Thursday night and runs until Sunday. Following the Sunday matinee at 2 p.m., WVIA’s Chis Norton will host a talkback discussing why we love mysteries. Tickets are available through the PTPA’s website.
In honor of the run, we also asked some of the cast and crew for their favorite mystery recommendations.
Adam Randis, Artistic Director, Pennsylvania Theatre of Performing Arts
Book: "The Quiet over Ashcombe: A Small-Town Mystery Thriller"
Author: Jessica Schafer
My book recommendation is a recent book by a local author, "The Quiet Over Ashcombe" by Jessica Schaffer. Jessica is a veteran of PTPA Productions, both on the stage and in production teams, and she has written a wonderful small-town mystery with some feelings of Carbon County and Luzerne County in its characterizations and its location.
And not for nothing, there is also a character that is named after me. It's now available on Amazon and all retailers, and Jessica will be at the PTPA on Monday, Oct. 12, for a meet-the-author event with a few more local authors called "Stories after Dark." So, if anyone is in the area and wants to come out to the PTPA in Hazletoon to meet Jessica and the other local authors, that'd be great.
Alison Scott, playing Miss Jane Marple in 'The Thumb Mark of St. Peter'
Book: "The Sundown Motel"
Author: Simone St. James
This follows the story of a girl in present time that is investigating the disappearance of her aunt in the '80s. It goes between dual timelines, which is one of my favorite things that authors do, and it sets the tone for a very spooky season.
It has haunted elements and just everything that you can want in a spooky book, and I can't recommend it enough. I am not somebody that scares very easily, and I did definitely jump a few times while reading this book.
Cole Hrusovsky, director of 'A Scandal in Bohemia' and 'The Wasp's Nest'
Book: "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
This is not a traditional pick for a mystery book, but I think if you've only watched movies and stuff about Jekyll and Hyde, and you've never read the original source material, you'd be surprised at how much the book is a traditional mystery.
The first two thirds of it are basically set-up, introducing these characters and situations. Then you have the twist, and then the last third is basically your traditional kind of "here's what happened" and "here's how everything fits together."
It's just a short read novella, it's a really good read, so if you have not read it, give it a go.
Dana Jackson Burke, Her Highness in 'The Purloined Letter' and Mabel Denman in 'The Thumb Mark of St. Peter'
Book: "Ninth House"
Author: Leigh Bardugo
This is actually the first book in a trilogy, but we won't hold that against it. "Ninth House" is a dark academia mystery set at Yale.
A young local has been murdered, and the secret society mentor of the main character Alex has gone missing. There are ghosts and magic drugs, and in the course of investigating the murder in the present, we also get wrapped up in solving another murder from the 1850s.
The last book came out just last month, and I'm excited to hopefully find time to read it soon.
Ciaran Burke, director of 'The Purloined Letter'
Book: "The Long Goodbye: A Philip Marlow Novel"
Author: Raymond Chandler
This is one of Chandler's later novels starring his hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe. It's longer and it's more intricate, and you can really feel the author reckoning with the genre, with concepts of authority, and with his own real-life demons after 20 years writing mysteries.
Emily Babula, director of 'The Thumb Mark of St. Peter'
Book: "The Country Under Heaven"
Author: Frederic S. Durbin
A mystery I would recommend is not really a traditional mystery, but it's called "The Country Under Heaven" by Frederic S. Durbin.
It's kind of a western that's imbued with some mystery elements as well as some supernatural, "Lovecraftian" horror, and that's all of my favorite words. So of course, I loved reading this book.
That's all for this edition of Bookmarks! Join us again on Oct. 17 for more recommendations and bookish happenings.
