Welcome to a hard-boiled and not without noir blog with news and reviews, occasional outbursts of maniacal Autograph Hound activity, plus archival records from the forty-five year run of The Dashiell Hammett Tour. 
The Dashiell Hammett Tour
1977-2022
Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973
Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
Willeford
The Book
Tag Archives: Jack the Ripper
Rediscovered: Mansfield
And Brian Leno wraps up today’s gallery of Ripperish autos, but you know, I bet he has lots more against the next time he notices an anniversary coming up: Richard Mansfield was a well respected actor during the time of … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Warren
Brian Leno offers another auto in the rogue’s gallery of Jack the Ripper: Charles Warren is not really a serious suspect for The Ripper, but in Stephen Knight’s very interesting Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution is presented as being … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Miles
And more “suspects,” courtesy the curiosity cabinets of Brian Leno: Frank Miles was an artist and shared a house with Oscar Wilde — at least they shared accommodations until they possibly got into a lover’s spat and Miles kicked Oscar … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Treves
Another Ripper suspect pool, per Brian Leno: Dr. Frederick Treves has only been lightly considered as a potential Ripper suspect, and even one of his patients has come under investigation. Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man. Now, only a bonehead would … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Stephen
Brian Leno brings out some of the myriad suspects in the Ripper annals: The book that really got my interest going with The Ripper was Michael Harrison’s Clarence, which stated James Kenneth Stephen and the Duke of Clarence were lovers. … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Autographs, Brian Leno, Jack the Ripper, James Kenneth Stephen, Virginia Wolfe
Rediscovered: Ripper
On These Mean Streets I’d think Brian Leno is best known in his role as a maniacal Autograph Hound, but his first appearance as a Guest Blogger back in 2011 featured a side hobby, dabbling in Ripperology. Of course he … Continue reading
Rediscovered: The Poet Jack
It’s been mentioned before on These Mean Streets, but among the numerous hobbies and preoccupations — Autograph Hound, Two-Gun Bob fan — of Brian Leno, he’s got an interest in Ripperology, and herewith marks a grim anniverary: On September 30, … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Brian Leno, Catherine Eddowes, E. T. Hoffmann, Elizabeth Stride, Francis Thompson, Jack the Ripper
Rediscovered: Frank Harris — His Own John Hancock
Last Autograph Hound weekend Kevin Cook dragged the Irish author Frank Harris into the foment via a book inscribed to the author of My Life and Loves from no less than Tod Robbins. The association interest was immense, for those … Continue reading
Posted in Boxing, Lit, REH
Tagged Autographs, Brian Leno, Frank harris, Jack the Ripper, Kevin Cook, Tod Robbins
Hammett: The Ripper
On the tour I sometimes use the 1929 story “Fly Paper” for a quick introduction to the Continental Op stories, always getting into the Op’s showdown with the gangster Babe McCloor. I always mention the fact of arsenic poisoning being a key … Continue reading
