Archives
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude
Ernest Carpenter Elmore (1901–1957) was an English theatre producer and director who wrote more than 35 novels, 30 of which were crime fiction published under the pseudonym John Bude. The rest were released under his name. Writing as John Bude, most of the...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: There Came Both Mist and Snow by Michael Innes
There Came Both Mist and Snow by Michael Innes (Victor Gollancz, 1940) is the sixth mystery with Inspector John Appleby, who doesn’t appear in this mannered story of an upper class family until almost midway. The tale is told from the perspective of Arthur...
My Favorite Books of 2019
After some effort I managed to sort my reading in 2019 enough to identify 20 books that I really liked. Some of them reflect my renewed interest in Golden Age authors. In alphabetical order by the author's last name, here they are. The Shameless by Ace Atkins, 2019...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Murder on a Bad Hair Day by Anne George
Anne Carroll George (1927-2001) was best known to me as a cozy mystery writer, the creator of the eight Southern Sisters mysteries set in Birmingham, Alabama, released between 1996 and 2001. She was also short-listed for a Pulitzer, nominated in 1993 for her poetry...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Cry Guilty by Sara Woods
British author Lana Hutton Bowen-Judd (1922-1985) published 48 mysteries under the name of Sara Woods, three under the name Anne Burton, three under the name of Mary Challis, and three under the name Margaret Leek. Born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, she...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Pronto by Elmore Leonard
Pronto by Elmore Leonard (Delacorte Press, 1993) is the first appearance in print of Raylan Givens, the U.S. Marshal who featured in the FX series Justified from March 2010 to April 2015. The television series was based on Leonard’s short story “Fire...
Fridays Forgotten Book: The Perfect Murder by H.R.F. Keating
Henry Reymond Fitzwalter Keating (1926–2011) was an English journalist, book reviewer, and crime fiction writer, most well-known for his 26 mysteries featuring Inspector Ganesh Ghote of the Bombay (Mumbai) CID. Other novels included...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Coroner’s Pidgin by Margery Allingham
I was enthralled with Albert Campion when I first encountered him many years ago. His creator Margery Allingham wrote 17 books about him beginning in 1929. I’ve re-read them often and find that the earlier ones seem to wear better than the later ones. I have not...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Case of the Crumpled Knave by Anthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher to me these days means his namesake mystery conference, Bouchercon, which is one of the highlights of my year. Then of course I have read many of the anthologies of short mystery fiction he compiled and edited. Reading his own mystery fiction has...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker
More than 45 years ago a mononymous private investigator strolled onto the printed page and into the public consciousness, where he has remained, making him one of the most durable characters of contemporary fiction. He features in 40 novels written by his creator...