Archives
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Lay On, Mac Duff by Charlotte Armstrong
Charlotte Armstrong (1905-1969) was a U.S. author of novels, short stories, and plays. She also worked in the advertising section of the New York Times and as a fashion reporter. She’s most well known for domestic suspense novels, some of which were adapted for...
Murder Strikes Pink by Josephine Pullein-Thompson
Josephine Pullein-Thompson (1924-2014) was the daughter of author Joanna Cannan and the sister of playwright Denis Cannan and authors Diana and Christine Pullein-Thompson. Cannan and her three daughters were mostly known for their books about ponies and pony clubs....
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Bank Vault Mystery by Louis F. Booth
Louis F. Booth (1903-1996) was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He became a civil engineer with a firm in New Jersey, and he wrote two mysteries when he lost his job on a large construction project during the worst of the Depression. From the Family Search website:...
Stars for the Toff by John Creasey
John Creasey MBE (1908–1973) was an English author of crime, romance, and western novels, who wrote more than six hundred books using some twenty-eight different pseudonyms. Of his many series characters, the Toff, the sobriquet of the Honorable Richard Rollison,...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Printer’s Error by Gladys Mitchell
My new year launched with a hundred good resolutions, most of which will falter before long. But before they do, I wanted to tackle a book by Gladys Mitchell (1901-1983). I tried reading her work years ago and was left befuddled. Yet she was highly praised, then...
Persons Unknown by Gwen Moffat
Gwen Moffat (1924-???) was a British travel writer, mountain guide, and pioneering climber. Her nonfiction work covers travel destinations from Wales to the Himalayas, and she was the first woman to be appointed a mountain guide in UK. For her accomplishments, she...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Fancy Dress Ball by J. Jefferson Farjeon
I am squeezing in one more holiday read before we store the decorations for another year. J. Jefferson Farjeon (1883-1955) was an English author and playwright. He was part of a literary family, the son of journalist, playwright, and novelist Benjamin Leopold...
Favorite New Books from 2025
I gave up on trying to narrow my list of books I really liked in 2025. I read more than 200 books this past year. It is not reasonable to assume that I only really liked 10 of them. Following is my list of books published in 2025 that struck me as outstanding in...
Lullaby by Ed McBain
Ed McBain was the crime fiction pseudonym of Evan Hunter (1926-2005), a U.S. author who wrote extensively under both names. He was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1986 and was the first U.S. recipient of the Diamond Dagger from the British...
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Murders near Mapleton by Brian Flynn
Celebrating the Christmas season with a double murder! Nothing is more festive than a host who walks out during dinner, a maid screaming in the library, and Scotland Yard at the front door. Brian Flynn (1885-1958) was an English writer who worked in a range of jobs...
