I saw Titanic on television the other night. While I’m not a big fan of the movie (watching hundreds of people drown for entertainment is not my thing) it always has one effect on me: always go to my bookcases and pull out my copy of Jacques Futrelle’s Thinking Machine tales.

Futrelle was a journalist and short story writer who was returning from Europe in 1912, when he and his wife decided to sail on the Titanic.

Futrelle’s most popular creation was the Thinking Machine, a scientist-sleuth who felt that the mind could conquer all. Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, Ph. D.,LL. D., F. R. S., M. D., M. D. S., to give his full name and most letters in the alphabet, was one of the sleuths of the early 1900s who seemed to know everything.

The Thinking Machine’s most celebrated case - and one of the best “locked room” mysteries ever written - is “The Problem of Cell 13.” In it, the Professor accepts a wager to escape from a seemingly impregnable prison cell on death row using nothing but his wits. Needles to say, the Thinking Machine triumphs.

Sadly, the mind could not conquer the icy North Atlantic on that April night. Futrelle secured his wife a seat in one of the few lifeboats; Futrelle and a new batch of Thinking Machine stories went down with the ship.

Jeffrey Marks is an award-winning biographer and novelist as well as a Contributing Editor to Mystery Scene. His newest book, Anthony Boucher: A Bio-bibliography, is a biography of the noted mystery writer, critic and editor. (McFarland, 2008). www.jeffreymarks.com

Birthdays, graduations, holidays — there are many occasions calling for gifts for the young mystery reader. Here are a few suggestions, currently on the shelves of your favorite bookstore:
Some of our favorite paperback series for children are available in boxed sets. James Preller’s Jigsaw Jones series is already on the scene, with books #1 through 5 in a handsome slipcase (Scholastic, $19.95).

And the beloved Boxcar Children Mysteries by Gertrude Chandler Warner, are being re-packaged in 3-in-1 omnibus paperbacks. Summer Special (The Mystery at the Ball Park, The Mystery of the Hidden Beach, The Summer Camp Mystery) and Winter Adventures (The Mystery at Snowflake Inn, The Mystery in the Snow, The Mystery on Blizzard Mountain) are already available, and just out is Spring Break Special (The Mystery in the Mall, The Mystery Cruise, The Black Pearl Mystery). These 3-in-1 collections are published by Alfred Whitman at $7.95 each.

Another old favorite, the Hardy Boys series, has been re-framed for today’s kids: The dauntless Frank and Joe are now undercover agents for ATAC (American Teens Against Crime). The first four books of the new series — Extreme Danger, Running on Fumes, Boardwalk Bust, and Thrill Ride — have been put into a slipcase as The Hardy Boys Spy Set (Aladdin, $19.95). New adventures continue to come out under the nom de plume of Franklin W. Dixon.

Interest in Nancy Drew has been escalating, particularly after the recent movie and the various new formats for paperback books. Now a young lady can get The Nancy Drew Pocketbook Mysteries: the first two of the original Nancy Drew hardcovers in a handsome carrying-case, cardboard overlaid with leatherette binding and canvas handles. (Simon and Schuster, $19.95)

For someone old or young who can’t get enough of the teenaged sleuth, there’s The Lost Files of Nancy Drew (Simon and Schuster, $19.95, 2007), a compendium of Nancy Drew lore in a album format, that contains everything you ever wanted to know about Nancy Drew, beginning with her very first cases in the 1930’s. Using illustrations from the original books, pull-out items, and other oddments, Nancy’s life and times are revealed. There are pictures of her friends and some of her opponents and scenes from the books. A final chapter explains how the books came to be written, some of the history of the Stratemeyer syndicate, and where Nancy is headed as she continues into the Twenty-First Century.

For the youngster who wants to put some of the stuff he or she is reading into practice, Christ Oxlade has put together a Detective Tool Kit (Running Press, $24,95, 2007). The shrink-wrapped box contains everything a young detective might need as he or she pursues the suspects: a magnifying glass, clue containers, fingerprint pad and paper, etc. The enclosed manual explains how all this equipment is used by working detectives.

Crime Scene Detective: Whodunit and How We Know Kit (DK Children, $15.99, 2007). Four crimes are examined carefully, with photos, facsimile notes of interviews, etc. A magnifying glass and fingerprint pad are included, but the real value in this kit is in the book that follows the police investigation step by step, as they solve cases of arson, forgery, theft and murder.

Roberta Rogow, the author of four mysteries, has been a Children’s Librarian since 1971 and has reviewed for School Library Journal and VOYA. She reviews mysteries for children and young adults in every issue of Mystery Scene.

In each issue of Mystery Scene we feature an interview with a writer who at one time wrote a successful series, but who has now stopped for one reason or another. It’s called What’s Happening With…

This department was started at a reader’s request, and all the writers interviewed are submitted by our readers. Sometimes tracking down a writer is as simple as looking in a trade directory, and sometimes it takes a little detective work. In one case we actually called the CIA!

Notables we’ve found and asked What’s Happening With include:

- Dorothy Simpson, who ended her series about Thanet and Lineham due to a severe case of RSI in her wrists;

- Paul Levine, who had taken time out for a Hollywood career but who has now come back to mystery novels with a vengeance;

- Maureen Tan, who started a new career with Silhouette Bombshell after her successful “Jane” books (AKA Jane, Run, Jane, Run);

But there have been a few writers you’ve asked about that we haven’t tracked down:

Jeff Jacks, who wrote two gritty novels for Gold Medal back in the 1970’s (Murder on the Wild Side and Find the Don’s Daughter) which received high praise. Murder on the Wild Side was made into the movie Black Eye in 1974, but no one seems to know who Jeff Jacks was.
One persistent rumor has been that Jacks was one of Lawrence Block’s many pseudonyms, but we can put that to rest right now: we asked Block, and he said emphatically it’s not him.

Karen Kijewski, who wrote nine mystery novels, all with Kat in the title, and all about Sacramento P.I. Kat Colorado. We have had more requests to know What’s Happening With Kijewski than for any other author to date, but we haven’t reached her yet.

We were asked to track down L.V. Slyke, who wrote Murder on the Rocks and Murder with a Twist in the mid-90’s, but when we reached this person, they politely agreed to an interview – entirely off the record! The only thing we can tell you is that this person also wrote as L.S. Riker, and maybe you’ll get the joke in that pseudonym, and maybe you won’t. We can tell you that Slyke has had continued success.

Another author we’ve had many requests for is Stephen Greenleaf, but there have been multiple interviews with him on this very topic, one of them available on the Thrilling Detective website, so we haven’t pursued this yet.

So there you have it. To date we’ve missed out on only three requests. There are other requests outstanding, but no others that we’ve given up on.
Please keep them coming.