A few years back we went to see the Rian Johnson film Knives Out which was a Agatha Christie modeled who-dun-it with flickers of comic touches a la Murder by Death and Clue. Everyone loves a good mystery and this is damn fine one. Plus, Michael Shannon is in it, so that makes any movie a must see. I noticed something about the name of the murder victim in the film, a chap named Harlan Thrombey.
Why did that ring a bell?
When in the 6th grade at Bose Elementary, my Mrs. Werner led class was really into the Choose Your Own Adventure series of books. I wasn't so much because I was already dipping my toes into the Stephen King pond. However, there was one particular Choose Your Own title that I was drawn to because a friend (who liked to talk shit behind your back) recommended it. It was an Edward Packer mystery with some diabolical turns called Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?
That's why it rang a bell. I just needed to know if there was a correlation.
It didn't take much sniffing around to find that Rian Johnson's film was inspired by Packer's entry in the series, particularly the name of his victim. It's amazing the way things find themselves working around into circles in life.
I like to occasionally visit Library Book Sales, you know the ones, a grocery bag for $10.00. I usually make a loop through the children's section before leaving as I'm aways on the lookout for a first printing of Don Freeman's Space Witch. It also would be quite slick to find any copy, (but particularly Godzilla as you have to take out a small loan and provide a DNA sample to purchase it on eBay) of the Crestwood Monster Series. I always strike out on those. But one time, lingering at the bottom of a box of oversized kids books was a paperback. Picking it up and holding it in my hand, I was smitten with a nostalgic soaked breath.
Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?
Of all the library book sales in all the world, this one member of the series just happens to pop up here. What are the odds?
Well, I'm about to write a Part II of a post about being fortunate with books and author autographs that show, that in this department?
I'm pretty fucking lucky.
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