Edited by Stout, this "is a collection of some of the silliest, stupidest, and most dangerous statements that have ever ben made by men laying claim to being leaders of the American people." Published in 1942.
Robin Agnew
@robinagnew.bsky.social
Love golden age, traditional & historical mysteries. Reviewer, reader. History mystery column in Deadly Pleasures. Love figure skating. Visit me at auntagathas.com
"I've always suspected debutantes' hidden capacity for violence." - THE PRISONER IN THE CASTLE, Susan Elia MacNeal
Happy Birthday to one of the GOATS, Dennis Lehane, 1965, Boston. He is the author of the Patrick Kenzie private eye novels as well as one of the all time classics of our genre, MYSTIC RIVER. He has been righteously showered with awards by the mystery community. Cake toast!
auntagathas.com/aa/donna-and... Happy pub day to Donna Andrews and her latest Meg Lanslow adventure! Review by Cathy Akers-Jordan.
“I sometimes think heaven is walking out into the sunshine with the day ahead of me and no idea what would happen. I'd probably spend most of it in the library, so I guess it don't matter if the sun shines or not.” ― Clare O'Donohue, Life Without Parole
Happy Birthday PD James, 1920, Oxford. Along with Ruth Rendell, she moved the golden age of British detective fiction into the present, deepening and darkening the form with her classic novels featuring Adam Dalgleish. Her career spanned from the early 60's to her last book in 2011.
auntagathas.com/aa/jennifer-... Love this series set in Victorian London which features a cook as the main character. Out August 11.
“That’s what friends are for,” I said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re old friends or new friends. They’re the kind of people who will listen as long as you need them to because, sometimes, telling the story and having someone listen is the only way to figure out how to move on.” ― J.A. Jance
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1959. Note the much longer dress in version 2, which is the original cover painting. I actually prefer the shortened version.
"Denial isn't a comfortable state in which to live. The taxes are high." -- SAME DIFFERENCE, E.J. Copperman
A little over half way through the year, these are my favorite reads so far. This is a great year for cozies, and Carol Goodman has created a new category all on her own: the "goth cozy"
This was published in 2009 by Aladdin books as the first in an "eco Trilogy" featuring an updated version of Nancy.
WELCOME, AUGUST: "The August morning, shining and scented, lured him outside." ~May Sinclair, A Cure of Souls (Artist: Pierre Bonnard, Dining Room in the Country, 1913)
The original story for this book was written by John Button in 1940 (as Franklin W. Dixon) for the Stratemeyer syndicate. A later work through of the titles saw this one revised in 1964 by James D. Lawrence, with a completely different story (last cover in this group).
auntagathas.com/aa/kathleen-... Our ace reviewer, Vicki Kondelik, is a GIANT fan of this series about an opera singer in turn of the century San Francisco. I'm a Kathleen Marple Kalb fan myself. Available now.
Love this TV tie in edition of this 1930 title. Roger Moore - so young!
“Stories aren’t the beauty of what did happen. They’re the beauty of what could happen.” ― Brad Meltzer
auntagathas.com/aa/rhys-bowe... Out next week! A new standalone from the prolific & gifted Rhys Bowen. Review by Cathy Akers-Jordan.
"If I'm at home with no chore at hand, and a package of books has come, the television set and the chess board and the unanswered mail will have to manage without me if one of the books is a detective story." - Rex Stout (Photo: Rex Stout, 1973)
Publisher's note inside a wartime paperback edition of The Frightened Stiff by Kelly Roos.
auntagathas.com/aa/jon-st-de... Interesting cozy-ish read that takes on AI art and its attendant issues. Out August 4.
"However, the mind has an amazing ability to continue worrying away at a problem all on its own, so that when the 'EUREKA' comes, it is as mysterious as if it were God speaking." -- THE BEEKEEPER'S APPRENTICE, Laurie R. King
“I remembered her once saying that life was like your shoes. You couldn't simply expect or imagine that your shoes would fit perfectly. Shoes that pinched your feet were a fact of life.” ― Henning Mankell, Italian Shoes
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1929. The earliest version has Tey's Gordon Daviot pen name.
“Take no heed of her.... She reads a lot of books.” ― Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair
Happy Birthday Josephine Tey, 1896, Inverness, Scotland. The concise Scot published far too few mystries but they are almost all classics, and THE DAUGHTER OF TIME (1951) is considered one of the greatest mysteries ever written.
"Every man should have aunts. They illustrate the triumph of guesswork over logic. It is reserved for aunts to know that Mr. A. is a rogue because he looks like a dishonest butler they once had...The old ladies are right every time." - MURDER IS EASY, Agatha Christie (1938)
