Author Archives: mcbruce56

The Parachute Test

“Muslims are trying to take over this country and destroy it. Nothing you can say will convince me otherwise.” My brother, who calls himself a conservative, told me this on the telephone. “Glenn, Muslims in America have the same religious rights as anyone. That pesky first Amendment thing,” I said. “I don’t care. They don’tContinue reading “The Parachute Test”

A Pearl of a Comic

Seventy Percent of lawyers don’t want to be lawyers. I’m sure I’m underestimating. There’s something about being a lawyer that makes you long to be doing something else. In my experience, that “something” usually is other lawyers. Your humble servant, for instance, has been toiling in the vineyards of the law for lo, these fortyContinue reading “A Pearl of a Comic”

Waiting for Word

There’s a scene in the movie Elizabeth where we see the young princess standing in a large courtyard where she’s being held captive. A lone horseman gallops toward her and she thinks he’s coming to tell her that she’s going to be sent to the Tower of London. Instead, he jumps off his horse andContinue reading “Waiting for Word”

Stumbling Onto a Solution

Okay, it’s not easy to write mysteries. You have to have a compelling lead character. You have to set the scene. You have to plant clues all over the place. And you have to have a satisfying solution. This seems to be a problem. I recall once reading a mystery by a very famous author,Continue reading “Stumbling Onto a Solution”

Award-Winning…Yes, It’s True

Oh, me of little faith. If you are a regular reader of this little blog (and if you’re not, what’s the problem? Aren’t I pretty enough? Don’t I make you laugh? Am I a clown?), you know that I have entered into Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award four years in a row. It’s an award forContinue reading “Award-Winning…Yes, It’s True”

Don’t Get Into the Car

I was reading a thriller from the early part of the 21st century, “The Accident Man.” It’s a pretty good thriller, and the beginning seems to keep going for pages without taking a breath. A handsome British hit man teams up with a beautiful Russian spy to find out who hired them to kill PrincessContinue reading “Don’t Get Into the Car”

Probable Cause?

I was watching Rizzolli and Isles on Netflix last week. It’s a very good show, good characters, good plots, well-written. Set in Boston. It aired in the 2010’s. But on this particular episode, they captured a very bad person, a person who killed indiscriminately, a person who set fire to Rizzolli’s apartment, a person whoContinue reading “Probable Cause?”