THE FUSE

Some things are just better older, and murder mysteries are certainly one of them. Agatha Christie’s fan base continues to grow, even though her final novel was published in 1975. Lord Peter Wimsey, the star of Dorothy Sayers’s books, had his best days before World War II, but his stories feel as fresh and timely as ever. There are, of course, wonderful modern mysteries being published today, but vintage titles like The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep fall into a category of their own.