Author Archives: susan

I am on a roll with these British ladies of crime. My latest discovery is Gladys Mitchell (1901-1983). From 1921 to 1961 she worked full-time as a teacher…and also wrote over 66 Mrs Bradley mysteries. Even more than Agatha Christie! … Continue reading →

More Allingham, more hot-weather reading pleasure. Mystery Mile (1930) is the second book featuring Albert Campion. In it we see an American judge arrive in England to escape repeated attempts on his life. Campion finds a safe haven for him … Continue reading →

Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight. Red sky at morning, shepherd’s warning… The camera in my phone can’t quite capture what the sky looked like at dawn on Wednesday last. It was really red, and quite ominous; the day was … Continue reading →

After a brief visit with two of the lesser-known (lesser-known today, I mean; they were famous in their time) female authors of the so-called Golden Age of Detective Fiction, I am back to familiar territory with the so-called Queens of … Continue reading →

Christianna Brand (1907-1988) published steadily for most of her writing life, from her debut novel Death in High Heels in 1941 to her last short stories for detective magazines like Ellery Queen’s in the early 1980’s. Her output spanned  detective … Continue reading →

What you see when you see a blank page is very much what you hear when you hear white noise; it’s the early shifting into gear of something not ready to happen – an echo of what you feel when … Continue reading →

I’m heading into 2026 with my usual summer fare – crime novels. There’s something about a hot day and a murder…they just go together. A bit like a G&T. I thought I’d do a little review of lesser known – … Continue reading →

I do love Kate Constable’s annual Reading Roundup – thank you, Kate! Each year I plan to be more committed to record keeping, and each year I fail. My husband has set me up with a Goodreads account so I … Continue reading →

Typing one-fingered is VERY slow. My punishment for over-enthusiastic close-pruning of a wayward geranium – I pruned my fingertip. So super-short posts until it heals. I have read and enjoyed Bookish and Call for the Dead. And as Bugs Bunny … Continue reading →

…Blake left the great wen of London for the freedom of the sea. It was as though he had been given a secret key. All the things you wish had never happened? AI and satellites playing pinball among the stars? … Continue reading →