Anthony Berkeley writes good Golden Age detective stories - and his survive - but does he have a strange view of what constitues an old lady? Does anyone have worse examples of writers describing people (mostly women) in their 50s, or even 40s, as old? clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/09/how-...

How Old is Old? The Anthony Berkeley Version

The Top Story Murder by Anthony Berkeley published 1931     I was in two minds on whether to do a blogpost on this one, and the main...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

"You must always take a stout tweed skirt, a pullover and a waterproof to Scotland, even when it seems very warm." A huge thank you to Clothes in Books for spotlighting Patricia Wentworth's classic standalone thriller, Fear by Night. She knew exactly how to spin a proper yarn!

Clothes in Books@clothesinbooks.bsky.social · 3d ago

Patricia Wentworth is famous for her Miss Silver mysteries - but she wrote fun standalones too. This one features a remote Scottish loch, a young heiress trapped, and who-knows-what swimming around clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/09/fear...

Patricia Wentworth is famous for her Miss Silver mysteries - but she wrote fun standalones too. This one features a remote Scottish loch, a young heiress trapped, and who-knows-what swimming around clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/09/fear...

Fear by Night by Patricia Wentworth

Fear by Night by Patricia Wentworth published 1934 [There has been a problem with comments, now resolved. Let me know if there are ever is...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

Happy birthday to George Lazenby, who turns 87 today. To celebrate, I am joined on the podcast by Mark Dillon to discuss our favourite James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Apple buff.ly/wDl4xnB Podbean buff.ly/wk2LnPK Spotify buff.ly/34bRrLu YouTube shorturl.at/Cj5rC

We're so flattered to have our own F1 keyboard shortcut on your blog—that might be the highest praise a publisher could ask for! We adore Henrietta Clandon and are so proud of the four titles we brought back into print. It’s always a treat to read your vintage crime reviews!

Clothes in Books@clothesinbooks.bsky.social · 5d ago

We are still looking at dower houses on the blog, and readers are still commenting and sending in suggestions, so here's a few more: Georgette Heyer, John Le Carre and a GA special ('the full bingo line') from - who else? - Dean St Press clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/09/we-h...

The Great Gladys!

Clothes in Books@clothesinbooks.bsky.social · last wk.

'An enjoyable farrago' could describe almost all Gladys Mitchell's Mrs Bradley books. This one is The Dancing Druids, and is great fun clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-...

We are still looking at dower houses on the blog, and readers are still commenting and sending in suggestions, so here's a few more: Georgette Heyer, John Le Carre and a GA special ('the full bingo line') from - who else? - Dean St Press clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/09/we-h...

We haven't finished with Dower Houses

- yet more of them....   I should’ve known the blog readers would do me proud. I thought Dower Houses might be too obscure even for th...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

'An enjoyable farrago' could describe almost all Gladys Mitchell's Mrs Bradley books. This one is The Dancing Druids, and is great fun clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-...

The Dancing Druids by Gladys Mitchell

The Dancing Druids by Gladys Mitchell published 1948   A most enjoyable farrago (words that can be used about most Mitchell books) b...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

after a recent post on dower houses, the ultimate book on the subject: Henry James' Spoils of Poynton, a huge delight and as exciting as any crime story clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-...

The ultimate dower house issue: The Spoils of Poynton

The Spoils of Poynton by Henry James published 1896/7   Fleda Vetch. How would you picture this character? In a Patricia Wentworth...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

The ever-wonderful @lissakevans.bsky.social has produced a new book for young adults, and it is hilarious, and too good to keep for teens. Post about her schoolboy hero, and about great fictional schools in general. My Name is Mackenzie Bly * No it Isn't clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/a-ne...

A New Favourite Schoolboy: not called MacKenzie Bly

Fictional schools: there’s a new one in town I recently did this post   LIVING A LIFE IN BOOKS: HOLIDAYS on fictional h...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

Indeed - lovely DSP publush Wentworth's Dower House Mystery, a kind of ur-text 😀

Dean Street Press@deanstpress.bsky.social · 2w ago

Many thanks for the mention, Moira. A very interesting read! 😍

Fabulous, as usual (and I’m not just saying that because one of my books gets a mention!) Truly, it’s the best, and the best-written, book blog I know of.

Clothes in Books@clothesinbooks.bsky.social · 2w ago

Sometimes I like to do a theme post on a topic you might not even know you were interested in. I will try to persuade you - Dower Houses, what they are and why they feature in books from Heyer to Drabble, Yonge to Henry James, Wentworth to Enid Blyton clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-y...

Sometimes I like to do a theme post on a topic you might not even know you were interested in. I will try to persuade you - Dower Houses, what they are and why they feature in books from Heyer to Drabble, Yonge to Henry James, Wentworth to Enid Blyton clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-y...

Do you even know what a Dower House is?

DOWER HOUSES IN LITERATURE  Sometimes when I do a theme post, I think 'will anyone else care?' But -  I can’t be the only person who is in...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

A solid 1950s crime story: a husband-and-wife team investigatig dirty deeds in a Fleet St picture agency.... Henrietta Hamilton's Answer in the Negative, part of a new series of reprints by Penguin clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/answ...

Answer in the Negative by Henrietta Hamilton

Answer in the Negative  by Henrietta Hamilton published 1959   searching for secrets in the files.... The publishers Penguin Mi...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

The protagonists of LAURA, REBECCA, THE THIRD MAN & VERTIGO may be both alive & dead. A quantum dream fit for Schroedinger? Moira Redmond @clothesinbooks.bsky.social helps me separate fact from fantasy. Apple buff.ly/wDl4xnB Podbean buff.ly/wk2LnPK Spotify buff.ly/34bRrLu YouTube shorturl.at/Cj5rC

That beacon of sartorial intelligence, Moira Redmond of @clothesinbooks.bsky.social, joins me to look at some of the fashions of 1944 as displayed in the mystery classic, LAURA. Apple buff.ly/wDl4xnB Podbean buff.ly/wk2LnPK Spotify buff.ly/34bRrLu YouTube shorturl.at/Cj5rC

More pioneer activities - in Western Massachussets and out on the prairie. Daniel Mason's North Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter. And a seance and whiffletrees clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/more...

More on Pioneer Times: Daniel Mason & Laura Ingalls Wilder

North Woods by Daniel Mason published 2023 The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder published 1940   [ Excerpt from North Woods ] Ana...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

More on Anne Boleyn - and a surprising book from a nun. Norah Lofts and The Concubine clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/a-nu...

A Nun with a Book, and more on Anne Boleyn

The Concubine by Norah Lofts published 1963     Following on from this post earlier in the week: Anne Boleyn's Imaginary Stepmothe...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

More on Anne Boleyn - and a surprising book from a nun. Norah Lofts and The Concubine clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/a-nu...

A Nun with a Book, and more on Anne Boleyn

The Concubine by Norah Lofts published 1963     Following on from this post earlier in the week: Anne Boleyn's Imaginary Stepmothe...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

Did you know George Sanders played Waldo Lydecker in LAURA on TV in 1955 & again in 1968? shorturl.at/Iep2t Moira Redmond @clothesinbooks.bsky.social joins me for a bit of Fedora compare & contrast! Apple buff.ly/wDl4xnB Podbean buff.ly/wk2LnPK Spotify buff.ly/34bRrLu YouTube shorturl.at/Cj5rC

Did Anne Boleyn have a stepmother? No, so why did people conjure up this imgainary person, whom they then libelled as being scandalous and low-class? An investigation on the blog clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/when...

Anne Boleyn's Imaginary Stepmother (low class and scandalous)

Elizabeth Howard?   The Concubine by Norah Lofts   published  1963 The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy  published 1989 The Lives ...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

Given the scorching weather we're having, Moira Redmond of @clothesinbooks.bsky.social joins me in Waldo Lydecker's cool bath to find out what really happened to the eponymous New York socialite in LAURA Apple buff.ly/wDl4xnB Podbean buff.ly/wk2LnPK Spotify buff.ly/34bRrLu YouTube shorturl.at/Cj5rC

New substack newsletter, rounding up recent blogposts: ranging from noir film & podcast (h/t Sergio Angelini) to Ralph Lauren adverts, childhood reading, and what schoolgirls wore for PE clothesinbook.substack.com/p/a-tip-of-m...

Always a joy: I've been a guest on Sergio Angelini's podcast, Tipping My Fedora, to discuss Laura: the classic noir film based on the classic book by Vera Caspary clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/tipp...

Tipping My Fedora: Vera, a classic film and book....

Vera by Laura Caspary book published 1943 film released   1944   My old friend  Sergio Angelini  has a wonderful podcast called  Tippi...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

Sergio and I had a great time discussing this....

Tipping My Fedora@tippingmyfedora.bsky.social · last mo.

On the podcast today I am joined by the impeccably attired Moira Redmond, she of the awesone Clothes in Books blog, @clothesinbooks.bsky.social, to explore the 1944 Film Noir classic, LAURA. Apple buff.ly/wDl4xnB Podbean buff.ly/wk2LnPK Spotify buff.ly/34bRrLu YouTube shorturl.at/Cj5rC

On the podcast today I am joined by the impeccably attired Moira Redmond, she of the awesone Clothes in Books blog, @clothesinbooks.bsky.social, to explore the 1944 Film Noir classic, LAURA. Apple buff.ly/wDl4xnB Podbean buff.ly/wk2LnPK Spotify buff.ly/34bRrLu YouTube shorturl.at/Cj5rC

New York in the 1980s: it's been written about a lot, but this is one of the better versions. Story of My Life by Jay McInerney clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/stor...

Story of My Life by Jay McInerney

Story of My Life by Jay McInerney published 1988    *** After a blog outage this week, a reminder that this would be a good time to si...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

New York in the 1980s: it's been written about a lot, but this is one of the better versions. Story of My Life by Jay McInerney clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/stor...

Story of My Life by Jay McInerney

Story of My Life by Jay McInerney published 1988    *** After a blog outage this week, a reminder that this would be a good time to si...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

My blog, Clothes in Books, disappeared briefly, but is now BACK. More in my latest post, which is about a very obscure Gladys Mitchell book - a career novel about becoming a PE instructor. I take a look at the genre.... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/back...

Back from the brink, and choosing a career....

My blog disappeared from the web for close to 24 hours this week, which was a shock and a worry. Google removed it for breaking community ...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com

A look at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953, through the eyes of Angela Thirkell. So plenty of snobbery and plenty of jokes. clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/08/a-co...

A Coronation and a Question

What Did It Mean? by Angela Thirkell published 1954     This one was suggested when we were looking at books with question-marks in ...

clothesinbooks.blogspot.com