11/9/25 - nocturn

bring back the Wicker Man Corn Flakes

gonna tell my kid this is gertrude stein

Oh Beauty I Am Undone. Painted on 23 carat gold leaf laid on vintage Italian poplar wood panels.

DeLillo, in 1988, being interviewed about Libra, argues that fiction can provide some simple emotional closure and comforting rhythm to the senseless horror of history, then he says: "I see contemporary violence as a kind of sardonic response to the promise of consumer fulfillment in America."

more than 20 years on, i am still cross about the kaiser chiefs rhyming "watching the people get lairy" with "it's not very pretty, I tell thee"

We truly live in hell.

Neil at Glasto 2025

29/6/25 - nocturn

Tom Spencer has been a regular recently at The NewSouth Bookstore — we’ve had to call him back several times to sign additional copies of his new book, The Mystery of the Crooked Man. The orders keep coming in! We are pleased the book is enjoying such success!

Paula Rego, Hey Diddle Diddle, 1989 etching from the nursery rhymes series #WomensArt

This was a ton of fun. Twenty minutes’ gorgeousness for you. youtu.be/G_-DftINZKg?...

NBCC member Nell Beram reviewed "The Mystery of the Crooked Man" by Tom Spencer for Shelf Awareness:

Laura Boswell, contemporary printmaker based in Scotland specialising in wild landscape and coastal prints in linocut & woodblock

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope

“chicago pope” is one of the shows jack donaghy greenlit when he was tanking nbc

LAST CALL! Author Tom Spencer will be in conversation at the Haunted Bookshop, 9 S. Joachim St., Mobile. It all starts at 5:30pm. I'll be emceeing, followed by an audience Q&A, and book signing. Call the bookshop to reserve your place or visit online: www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/events-detai...

Need a last minute mother's day gift? THE MYSTERY OF THE CROOKED MAN by Tom Spencer @tellmelieslater.bsky.social is the perfect gift for moms who enjoy mysteries, according to @nytimes.com of course! 🔍🕵️ www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/b...

May is National Mystery Month. These are only a few of my favorite authors: * Agatha Christie (or course) * Dashiell Hammett (Thin Man series. Can't beat Nick and Nora) * Anna Elliot & Charles Veley * Kerry Underwood * M.C. Beaton * Carolyn Haines * Tom Spencer

7/5/25 - nocturn

greetings, pope pickers

A fun evening in store Thursday - the Haunted Bookshop in Mobile hosts a conversation with the author of “The Mystery of the Crooked Man,” Tom Spencer. I will be MC’ing the event. Make your reservation today. www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/events-detai...

5/5/25 - nocturn

The 2025 Pulitzer Prizes were announced Monday afternoon. Percival Everett won the award for fiction for his novel James, a powerful re-imagination of Huckleberry Finn.

Celt Flute, might delete later.

Can't wait to give this classic a rewatch this evening #WickerMan #CarryOn All credit for these goes to @daniel-mcgachey.bsky.social

MUPPET WICKER MAN (Brian Henson, 1993) Police Sergeant Kermie travels to the isolated town of Summerisle in search of a missing girl. He finds the locals to be a surly and suspicious lot, rustic practitioners of crude bawdiness and Celtic neo-paganism. Starring Vincent Price as Lord Summerisle.

Passage, 2007 by installation artist Cornelia Konrads #womensart #Beltane #May1st

New mystery just dropped, and it's full of twists more crooked than the titular man himself...Happy Publication Day to The Mystery of the Crooked Man by @tellmelieslater.bsky.social Perfect for fans of The Twyford Code, Magpie Murders, and Yellowface!

And speaking of "The Mystery of the Crooked Man," I will be MC'ing a conversation with author Tom Spencer May 8th at The Haunted Bookshop in Mobile. Get your tickets today. www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/events-detai...

When I was asked by the Alabama Writers Forum to review a new mystery by Tom Spencer, I jumped at the chance. I was not disappointed! I think the review that was just published this morning says it all. writersforum.org/the-mystery-...

Ian Hamilton Finlay, 'Ocean Stripe Series 3', Wild Hawthorn Press. 1965.

Coconut says that Barnes and Noble Premium and Rewards members can get 25% off The Mystery of the Crooked Man through Friday! #BNPreorder

Come see me in Mobile!

Mom just suggested that I march right up to the Vatican, introduce myself to the guy in charge, hand him a printed copy of my resume and tell him confidently and forcefully that I’m the right person for the job.

I will always repost Men-an-Tol

You can listen to me on the Bloody Scotland podcast if you’d like.

17/4/25 - nocturn

The Mystery of the Crooked Man has been long listed for the CWA Whodunit Dagger — I’m tremendously honored

'St Paul's' (1966) by Edward Bawden

#printpromptmonday #favouritepiece Inspired by a magical misty walk to the Men-an-Tol (past Coronation Farm) on Winter Solstice in Cornwall.

Oh! Peter Lovesey died :(

A great review for The Mystery of the Crooked Man in the New York Times: “Sometimes you know immediately that a book is going to get under your skin and stay there” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/b...

The US edition of The Mystery of the Crooked Man launches at the end of this month, and I’m doing a little regional tour.

The demise of WHSmith reminds me of when my friend queued for ages to buy a protractor, only to get to the front and discover that it was Jeffrey Archer doing a signing

Today someone was telling me about the domestic squalor Maggie Smith lived in, all smashed windows and broken doors, and wondering how his various wives put with it, and only afterwards did I realise they had been talking about Mark E Smith.

Scremerston, Spittal and Tweedmouth are surely a form of lawyers in a Gothic horror

Black Shuck (and Blythborough church) on a stamp!

Born #onthisday in 1799, the English botanist Anna Atkins. As well as being considered by many to be first woman to create a photograph, her stunning 1843 book of algae cyanotypes is thought to be first book illustrated with photographs: buff.ly/2HCCTc8 #OTD