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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...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Madame Storey by Hulbert Footner
William Hulbert Footner (1879-1944) was born in Hamilton, Canada, and moved to New York before he was 20 years old. Eventually he settled his family in Calvert County, Maryland. He wrote books on travel and developed mysteries around two series detectives: one is...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Crime at the Noah’s Ark by Molly Thynne
The Crime at the Noah’s Ark is one of only six mysteries written by Molly Thynne and the first of three with the intriguing Dr. Constantine, a chess master. Originally published in 1931 by T. Nelson & Sons, this Golden Age classic was re-issued by Dean Street...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Dark Garden by E.R. Punshon
The Dark Garden by Ernest Robertson Punshon (Gollancz, 1941) is the sixteenth book in the saga of police detective Bobby Owen. Owen started out as a police constable in London and made his way up the ladder of Scotland Yard and then left London for the rural...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Hal’s Own Murder Case by Lee Martin
Anne Wingate (Martha Anne Guice Wingate) has written multiple mystery series, including one of my all-time favorites. Under the name Lee Martin, she created the memorable character of Deb Ralston, a detective on the Fort Worth police force, with three adopted...