Recent Posts
For Kicks by Dick Francis
For Kicks (Michael Joseph, 1965; Harper & Row, 1965) is an early stand-alone from former steeplechase jockey turned author Dick Francis (1920-2010) who wrote nearly 50 books and won multiple awards. It starts with Daniel Roke, a successful horse breeder and...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Dead Man Manor by Valentine Williams
Valentine George Williams (1883-1946) was a British journalist and author. His father was G. Douglas Williams, the chief editor of Reuters News Agency, giving Valentine exposure to writing, journalism, and literature from his cradle. As a Reuters journalist...
Death’s Bright Angel by Janet Neel
Death’s Bright Angel by Janet Neel (Constable, 1988), the first of seven books about Detective Chief Inspector John McLeish and Francesca Wilson, a civil servant in the Department of Trade and Industry Ministry, won the John Creasey New Blood Dagger for an...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Murder in the Moor by Thomas Kindon
Murder in the Moor by Thomas Kindon (Methuen, 1929; E.P. Dutton, 1929) is the only known mystery by Kindon, who himself is an enigma. The manuscript was entered in Methuen’s Prize Competition for Detective Fiction and achieved third place. Just who Kindon was and...
The James Joyce Murder by Amanda Cross
Why do we not talk about the Kate Fansler mysteries these days? Contemporary readers are missing out on a wonderful character, sound plots, and witty, literate writing. These books are positive gems. I read the series years ago and found a copy of the second one...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Padded Door by Brian Flynn
Brian Flynn (1885-1958) is another of those forgotten authors from the first part of the 20th century whose work has been resurrected after diligent effort on the part of a few people. It doesn’t help that books were rarely reprinted then and initial print runs...
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who still reads at every opportunity and loves to talk about what she is reading.