NEW YORK (AP) — Two of crime fiction's most famous storytellers, Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie, also knew how to get a laugh.
Chandler, beyond the terse and cynical narratives of...
“Eight Perfect Murders,” William Morrow, by Peter Swanson
It’s a cold, snowy winter in Boston, where Malcolm Kershaw, five years a widower, runs the Old Devils Bookstore, a well-ordered...
Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” unravels not just a good old-fashioned murder mystery but the very fabric of the whodunit, pulling at loose threads until it has intricately, devilishly woven together...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ana de Armas is fumbling with a packet of sugar and talking about her breakneck schedule on a recent afternoon in Los Angeles when her already enormous almond eyes widen even...
TORONTO (AP) — The whodunit, with its puffy armchairs, missing murder weapons and meandering trail of clues, never exactly went out of favor. But in "Knives Out," Rian Johnson has revived the...
"They All Fall Down" (Forge) by Rachel Howzell Hall
After four well-received novels about LAPD homicide cop Elouise "Lou" Norton, Rachel Howzell Hall confidently delivers a highly...
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Lionsgate's motion picture group chairman Joe Drake says the sky is not falling in Hollywood and the feature film business is not dead. It's certainly a message that the audience...
There are few more seductive things to watch onscreen than a big, wine-soaked, multi-generational family wedding like the one that happens early in "Everybody Knows," Asghar Farhadi's new thriller set in a picturesque Spanish village.
Today in History for January 12th

Today in History for September 15th

ABOARD THE ORIENT EXPRESS (AP) — Luxury travel meets murder.
During his first voyage aboard the Orient Express, Agatha Christie's great-grandson reminisced on what first enamored the Queen of Crime with the fabled locomotive that has recently been restored by the French state.
The storied train and its voyages to the exotic east not only inspired one of Christie's most famous mysteries, "Murder on the Orient Express," but defined her.
Inside Christie’s world: Postcard from the Orient Express
Today in History for January 12th
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kenneth Branagh is teasing the return of "old friends" in his planned sequel to "Murder on the Orient Express."
Branagh is expected to both direct and reprise his role as the fancifully mustachioed lead character Detective Hercule Poirot in "Death on the Nile," another mystery based on an Agatha Christie novel, which screenwriter Michael Green will return to adapt.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Thor: Ragnarok" topped the box office again in its second weekend, adding $57.1 million from North American theaters. The superhero sequel, the third in the franchise, has grossed $212.1 million domestically to date.
It beat out newcomers like the comedy sequel "Daddy's Home 2," which opened in second with a solid $29.7 million, and Kenneth Branagh's lush adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express," which debuted in third with $28.7 million.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The God of Thunder isn't ready to relinquish his box office throne yet.
Studios estimated Sunday that "Thor: Ragnarok" added $56.6 million from North American theaters in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to $211.6 million.
The film, from Disney and Marvel and directed by Taika Waititi, out-grossed each of its two predecessors domestically in just two weeks, not accounting for inflation.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The God of Thunder isn't ready to relinquish his box office throne yet.
Studios estimated Sunday that "Thor: Ragnarok" added $56.6 million from North American theaters in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to $211.6 million.
The film, from Disney and Marvel and directed by Taika Waititi, out-grossed each of its two predecessors domestically in just two weeks, not accounting for inflation.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on sexual harassment and abuse allegations against men in the entertainment and media industries (all times local):
11 p.m.
A spokesman for a producer accused of molesting Anthony Edwards is denying the "ER" actor's claims.
Sam Singer is a spokesman for producer and director Gary Goddard. He says in a statement issued Friday night that the producer unequivocally denies Edwards' claims that were published in a post on the website Medium earlier in the day.
NEW YORK (AP) — With his career imploding over allegations of sexual misconduct, comedian Louis C.K. confessed Friday to masturbating in front of women and expressed remorse for wielding his influence "irresponsibly."
The comedian said in a statement that the harassment claims by five women detailed in a New York Times report published Thursday "are true."
"I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them," he said.
Kenneth Branagh's "Murder on the Orient Express " is a visual feast, bursting with movie stars, glamour and production value so high, you might just exit the theater experiencing some time-warp whiplash. Certainly no studio would make a straightforward, classical whodunit with a budget the size of a modest superhero pic (and no superheroes to speak of) nowadays, you think. What year is this anyway?
Today in History for September 15th
Today in History for January 12th
NIMRUD, Iraq (AP) — Her diligence and face cream cleaned Nimrud's most famous ivory. She captured the archaeological dig in Iraq on celluloid and Kodak film, developing the prints in water painstakingly filtered from the nearby Tigris River.
And every day, after she balanced the books and arranged for the next day's meals, Agatha Christie sat down to write.
NIMRUD, Iraq (AP) — Her diligence and face cream cleaned Nimrud's most famous ivory. She captured the archaeological dig on celluloid and Kodak film, developing the prints in water painstakingly filtered from the nearby Tigris River.
And every day, after she balanced the books and arranged for the next day's meals, Agatha Christie sat down to write.