Archives
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Fugitive Pigeon by Donald Westlake
The Fugitive Pigeon by Donald Westlake (Random House, 1965) is one of the MWA Grand Master’s comic mysteries. I’ve read Westlake’s Parker books, written under the name Richard Stark, and loved them, but never got around to his capers, of which there are many. This...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Cursing Stones Murder by George Bellairs
I continued my investigation into the works of George Bellairs and his detective Chief Inspector Littlejohn by reading The Cursing Stones Murder (Gifford, 1954), the book immediately following the one I reviewed a few weeks ago, and found it more to my liking, as...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Cat Screams by Todd Downing
Todd Downing (1902-1974) published nine detective novels between 1933 and 1941 before abruptly abandoning writing altogether. Most of his books were set in Mexico; his series detective is U. S. Customs Agent Hugh Rennert. See more about Downing on the Golden Age of...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: I Start Counting by Audrey Erskine Lindop
Audrey Erskine Lindop (26 December 1920 – 7 November 1986) wrote about eight novels, lists of her works vary. I Start Counting (Doubleday, 1966) seems to have been the most well-known of them, based on the success of the film adaptation with Jenny Agutter in her...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Emperor’s Snuffbox by John Dickson Carr
The Emperor’s Snuffbox by John Dickson Carr (Harper, 1942) is a dazzling display of plotting pyrotechnics. No locked room but a puzzle so tightly woven I had to read the explication twice before I fully understood all of the moving parts. Eve Neill has finally...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: She Came Back by Patricia Wentworth
She Came Back by Patricia Wentworth (J.B. Lippincott, 1945) is the ninth mystery featuring Miss Silver, former governess and now modestly successful private investigator. The family of Lady Anne Jocelyn is stunned when Anne appears unexpectedly in her country home,...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Corpses in Enderby by George Bellairs
George Bellairs is a byword in the world of classic British crime fiction. The pseudonym of Harold Blundell (1902-1982), a Manchester bank manager as well as a freelance journalist, he published 57 popular classic police procedural mysteries featuring Inspector...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Through the Wall by Patricia Wentworth
Through the Wall by Patricia Wentworth (Lippincott, 1950) is the 17th (according to www.stopyourekillingme.com and Wikipedia) or 19th (Amazon and GoodReads) mystery featuring Miss Maud Silver, former governess and current successful private investigator. While...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Hunt with the Hounds by Mignon G. Eberhart
Mignon G. Eberhart, 1899-1996, was a prolific author of mysteries and romantic suspense. Her long career began in 1929 with a mystery featuring Sara/Sally Keate, a nurse in New York, who was Eberhart’s only series character. Keate featured in seven books. The...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth
The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth (Viking, 1974) is the third of 18 thrillers from this reliable author of political intrigue and quite possibly my favorite. It is easy to forget about Forsyth’s earlier books because his stories are always set in the present or...