Margaret (Gail) Frazer, the author of the Dame Frevisse Mysteries and the Joliffe Player Mysteries (both set in medieval England), died last week at age 66, after a long fight with breast cancer. In honor of her legacy, here’s my post from 2011 (with some updating) about her amateur sleuth, Dame Frevisse. Enjoy! Be the(…)
Hi, all! While I’m in the final edits of my sequel, here’s a re-post you may enjoy – back when I was doing mystery quizzes along with my detective profiles! Welcome to Masters of Mystery, where we feature a fictional detective and examine his or her unique contribution to the mystery genre. You are invited(…)
As I labor to clean the Aegean Stables research a sticking point in the current draft of my second novel (hope you like to read about 19thc masquerade balls, because that’s what I’m working on), I’m sharing an earlier post of mine, about those boy super-sleuths, the Hardy Boys. Enjoy! ———————————————————- Welcome to Masters of Mystery,(…)
SPOILER ALERT: WE’RE REVEALING THE MURDERER… REALLY…STOP NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW!! Okay, I warned you… The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) This was the novel that established Agatha Christie’s mystery-writing reputation. As mentioned in my earlier post (part 1 – Product of a Golden Age), Christie had written five mystery novels before(…)
Welcome to Masters of Mystery, where we feature a classic detective. Today we’re turning to the Juvenile detective category, and looking at: Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat Some interesting facts about Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and the series: 1. Marjorie Sharmat has written over 130 children’s books since 1969, with the most popular being(…)
Today, we’re considering that mystery classic: Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon (1930) Of course, many of us are familiar with the 1941 film, starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade. However, the background and elements of Hammett’s original novel are fascinating, and worth a closer look. Hammett’s novel is considered part of the “hard-boiled” subgenre of(…)
Welcome to Masters of Mystery, an ongoing series which features a fictional detective and examines his or her unique contribution to mystery fiction. This month: Ellery Queen Some interesting facts about Ellery Queen and his creators: 1. Ellery Queen is both the name of the fictional detective and the nom de plume for the writing(…)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901-02) has been regarded by current and contemporary Sherlockians as the best of the four Sherlock Holmes novels. Since its publication, it has been adapted dozens of times for radio, film, and television. It’s a mystery classic that I hope you’ll try! Here’s some background(…)