We have given a lot of space here to the Queens of Crime. More and more, however I’ve been turning my attentions to the Duchesses of Domestic Suspense! To my great shame, I haven’t yet read anything by Patricia Highsmith, a troubled woman whose books focused on the abnormal and most frightening members of the human … Continue reading A FRENZY OF ENVY: Celia Fremlin’s The Jealous One
Domestic Suspense
GONE GIRL IN THE WINDOW, NO TRAIN: The Dead Friend Project
I think I’m growing tired of these covers of modern cozy mysteries, with their punny titles, cutesy illustrations, and snarky tag lines: The cover of The Dead Friend Project, Joanna Wallace’s second novel, is almost bland by comparison to others, but it gets the job done of informing you that this is a murder mystery. Note the … Continue reading GONE GIRL IN THE WINDOW, NO TRAIN: The Dead Friend Project
MILLAR’S CROSSING: Beast in View
Sometimes you have to look around at all the great authors you’ve added to your collection – and still never read – and just hang your head in shame. Among my unforgiveable omissions is a charming married couple, the Millars. (Sounds like “Miller.”) He (Kenneth) wrote primarily under the pseudonym of Ross MacDonald and created one of … Continue reading MILLAR’S CROSSING: Beast in View
CHARLOTTE’S WEB: An Object Lesson in Domestic Suspense
Let’s say A wants to kill B. (It’s a perfectly acceptable conversation starter around here.) If we’re in a whodunnit, A and B are hanging around with C, D, E, F, and G, who also want to kill B. (Popular fellow.) Once B is dead, the reader must decipher the clues, untangle the red herrings, and figure out … Continue reading CHARLOTTE’S WEB: An Object Lesson in Domestic Suspense
THE PLAY’S THE THING: Patricia McGerr’s Murder Is Absurd
One of my friend Kate Jackson’s most recent reviews at Cross Examining Crime was Death in a Million Living Rooms by Patricia McGerr. It reminded me that I have a couple of books by McGerr that have been languishing on my shelf, including Murder Is Absurd (1967), which seems to be the one book by this author that Kate … Continue reading THE PLAY’S THE THING: Patricia McGerr’s Murder Is Absurd
THIS CONSCIENCE INCARNATE: The Watcher
“He was watching. He passed judgment on me. He condemned me to some sort of hell. I sensed that, walking by. I’ve never felt so . . . so unclean, as just then!” Her name was Julia Clara Catherine Maria Dolores Robins Norton Birk Olsen Hitchens. She was born in Texas on Christmas Day, 1907, … Continue reading THIS CONSCIENCE INCARNATE: The Watcher
FRACTURED FAIRY TALE: The Better to Eat You
Every month, my Book Club selects a different classic mystery to read. Even with all the terrific books out there, it isn’t as easy a task as you might think. For one thing, most of us are bloggers, and we read a lot of this stuff. Then again, our tastes vary, and it’s well nigh impossible to … Continue reading FRACTURED FAIRY TALE: The Better to Eat You
Ah Sweet Mystery! 