|
IN THIS
ISSUE...
It’s an accepted fact
that whenever I travel or vacation the chances
I’ll arrive home on schedule are less than five
percent. The chances that I will have a cheerful
flight are zero. I usually end up sitting in front
of the bickering couple. Or worse still, as on a
flight to Madison last October, sitting next to a
man wearing bedroom slippers who pulled out a
stack of print-outs about nuclear energy to read,
stopping only to talk to himself every now and
then. My vacation last November was no different.
I had spent a week in Athens, and planned to break
up my trip with two days in London before flying
back to the United States. The day before the
flight to London, I was bitten on the ankle by a
mosquito. When you’re on vacation you’re
constantly walking so every step was painful
because the bite kept rubbing against my shoe. The
next morning I awoke and was off to London. I’d
had a bad feeling about the bite, and after I
arrived and limped off the plane, I knew this was
going to be another interesting vacation.
I called the hotel doctor who
asked a few questions and offered to take a look
at it for $500. The price quote made me feel much
better and the bite, very quickly, became less
painful. I spent the first evening in London with
my leg propped up in anticipation of the hectic
day to follow. A production company had the idea
that I was an expert on the criminal
rogue-turned-detective Eugene Vidocq, and had
requested an interview for a documentary. In
addition I had arranged to see a number of friends
and acquaintances during my two days in London.
The next morning I limped to the hotel where the
interview was to take place and answered all sorts
of questions about the rogue which ranged from the
risqué to the mundane and everything in between.
Ninety minutes later, feeling as if I’d been
micro-waved by the bright lights, I hobbled out of
the hotel to the Garrick Club to see John
Mortimer. After that I had tea with Michael Bond
and his wife, then dinner with Peter James. During
dessert, while Peter and I were in one of those
deep philosophical discussions, I felt a strange
sort of itch on my calf muscle. The swelling had
climbed up my lower leg. I was forced to hurry
back to my hotel where once again I called the
doctor. He glanced at the bite and reassuringly
announced that it was a serious allergic reaction
to the mosquito’s venom, and that I must stay in
London for five more days, as he thought flying a
bad idea. He then brought up the issue of
payment—I was lucky to get sick on a weekday; it
would cost me only $400! Had I called the doctor
the day before I would have paid full rate. So, my
advice is never get sick over weekends. It is more
cost effective to call up the doctor on a
weeknight, even if it is at 12:30 in the
morning!
Over the next day or so, my leg
did improve. But it took some time for the
swelling to decrease. The hotel was near a design
center and, on my last afternoon, I went to see
what the place was all about. I decided to visit
the second floor of the building. I came upon the
elevator just as the doors were closing and tried
to stop them with my foot. The trouble was that
the elevator had only one sensor, about four feet
from the ground. And you guessed it: the swollen
foot was in danger of being crushed. I quickly
pulled my foot out of my shoe—the shoe remained
between the closed doors—and stood outside the
elevator. I couldn’t very well walk around the
place with only one shoe on, so I just stood there
waiting for the doors to open, while amused people
walked past me. After ten minutes the elevator
doors finally opened and the shoe dropped. The
lady inside was complaining that she had been
stuck inside a stalled elevator for ten minutes. I
quickly put on my shoe and fled. Nevertheless I
enjoyed London. My only recommendations are to
shop around for medical care and to ensure that
small children never enter elevators
unattended!
Now to the business of this
issue. Colin Dexter comes out of retirement with a
witty story about a retired police
inspector-turned-private-eye in "The Other Half."
(While in London I had a lovely time going down to
Oxford and seeing Colin and his wife Dorothy.) Ken
Bruen pens a darkly tragic, yet slightly humorous
tale in "Beige"; Rhys Bowen weaves a story about a
very unique cat in "Please Watch Your Step"; while
Barrie Roberts has Holmes on the trail of
gentleman thief A.J. Raffles with "The Honour of a
Sportsman," and Lorenzo Carcaterra, in his first
story for The Strand, spins a complex
psychological tale in "The Girl in the Park." We
also have interviews with three of my favorite
authors, Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini, or the
"Mulzinis" as friends call them, and Jonathan
Santlofer. Mike Nevins profiles Rex Stout’s Nero
Wolfe for our Great Detectives series, while Mike
Ashley writes about Brother Cadfael’s creator
Ellis Peters in "The Mysterious History of Ellis
Peters." I hope you enjoy the magazine.
Andrew F. Gulli
Managing
Editor
|
|
