I stumbled upon a paperback mystery recently in a bookstore. It's part of a series called "A Gilded Age Mystery". This one is titled "Murder in a Mill Town" and takes place in 1868 Boston. The author is P.B. Ryan, c. 2004, Berkley Prime Crime Mystery. Price: $6.50. I read it. It wasn't bad. I am used to reading modern-day mysteries, humorous ones if I can find them. So this was quite a switch. But it was interesting.
This was the second in the series.
The first one is called "Still Life With Murder". I put that on my Xmas list.
Inside the book they advertise another series called "The Gaslight Mysteries" by Victoria Thompson. Books listed are: "Murder on Astor Place", "Murder on St. Mark's Place", and "Murder on Gramercy Park" - all taking place in New York, I think, with a midwife as the main character. I'm gonna try one.
augusta @ Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:34 am wrote: I am used to reading modern-day mysteries, humorous ones if I can find them. So this was quite a switch. But it was interesting.
I imagine you've read Charlotte MacLeod. . .
And Joan Hess. . .
Rick Boyer has one of his Doc Adams mysteries set in Fairhaven (with a thank you to me in the acknowledgements!). I met Boyer when he was in town doing research. (And fortunately had read all of his previous books.)
And Spenser drives into Fairhaven briefly in one of Robert B. Parker's books, though I forget which one. (As a boy, Parker went to the Center School in neighboring Mattapoisett.)
I haven't read Charlotte M. Thanks for the tip. I'll check her books out on Amazon.
I asked for a bunch of Joan Hess's paperbacks for Xmas. Haven't read her yet, but it looks like I would enjoy her works.
Kat turned me on to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I think that's my favorite. I've read all of Anne George's "Southern Sisters" mysteries (unfortunately she passed away so there won't be any more). Most of the Mitford series by Jan Karon. A few Philip Gulley's. (Those last two are set in small towns and the main character is a minister in both. Not mysteries, but good entertaining fiction.) A book store clerk pointed out "This Pen for Hire" - a Jayne Austen mystery (forget the author). Highly recommend that - really hilarious. I'm starting Nancy Martin's "Blackbird Sisters" mysteries. And Selma Eichler's "Desiree Shapiro" series - a 'queen sized private eye'. I usually don't read the ones where the main character is a detective but I bought one of hers and liked it. Oh - Tamar Myers. Her Pennsylvania Dutch mysteries are soooo good. She does another series of an antique shop owner called "The Den of Antiquity" series. That's good, but not as good as the PA Dutch one. I like series reading because you get to know the characters. There is one series by Ann Ripley that I disliked. Wooden characters and stilted dialogue. I did buy a second one at a thrift shop and will give it another chance. It centers around gardening. But it doesn't have to be that dull ...
I read all of Ann Rule's books, and am several behind now but keep buying them. (And, yes, I used to read Nancy Drews as a kid...)
I tried "A is for Alibi" by Sue Grafton and surprisingly wasn't crazy about it. I bought another in the series and will give that another try. I gotta have the humor in there. (Fanny Flagg is a favorite of mine too)
Fairhaven Guy, what is the name of the book where Doc Adams comes to Fairhaven? Neat, getting mentioned in the acknowledgements! I haven't read a Doc Adams. I've heard of them before, tho. I'd like to get this one and give it a try.
The Doc Adams book set in Fairhaven is The Man Who Whispered by Rick Boyer, Ballantine Publishing Group, 1998.
I've been so busy the last few years that I've lost track of many of the mystery series I was reading. I read Sue Grafton through about L or M then lost interest.
I started out with the Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown, then graduated to Ellery Queen. Later I read several set in Massachusetts, which is where Robert B. Parker, Rick Boyer and Charlotte MacLeod came in.
There there were Patricia Cornwell, P.J. James, Sara Paretsky. . .
What's that series set in England with the place names in the titles that were written under a pen name, I think, by the "Beautiful Creatures" woman who killed her mother? Those were good, too.
I don't know the name of the series you're thinking of. I only read mysteries that are set in the U.S. - preferably a place I've been, but doesn't have to be.
Thanks for the name of that book, Fairhaven Guy. I will go a-searching after Christmas for it.
I bought a couple of Patricia Cornwell's books but haven't gotten to them yet. I saw her doing a lecture on Book-TV and really liked her. She was promoting her Jack the Ripper book. Afterwards I bought her paperback version, but still haven't gotten to it. People really love her stuff, so I figure it must be good. Plus she was interesting to listen to, and I thought she's probably interesting to read, too.
The Hardy Boys. It should have been required reading. I never read one, but sure was into Nancy Drew and just loved them.
I think it's Anne Perry of which you speak.
She and her girlfriend killed her girlfriend's mother.
I think in Australia?
It's funny- but I used to read her until it became known about her prison sentence for murder, and then I stopped. I'm not sure why.
I would buy her hard-bound, too.
Now, you wanna talk British Mystery, I'm your person!
The basic modern greats are Dick Francis and Martha Grimes.
Anyone would like them.
The Queen Mum (GBHS) was a big fan of Dick Francis.
And then I can write a huge list of who to try in the British genre!
Nancy Drew: makes me remember how every
Christmas I would ask for a new one. sure wish I
had saved them all, as now I am buying the old
originals on Ebay (the blue cover with Nancy &spy
glass). How I loved those stories!
Omigawd, I love Nancy Drew, one of my favorite series of books as a girl! What a wonderful role model she is for girls of all ages, shes probably the reason I got so wrapped up in the whole Lizzie thing, trying to solve a mystery!
Sorry, it was New Zealand.
It was the case of Pauline Parker, 16, and Juliet Hulme, 15.
This picture is from The New Murderers' Who's Who, J.H.H. Gaute & Robin Odell, International Polygonics, LTD, NY, reprint, 1989.
Hulme is the Anne Perry person. She is on the right.
pleaseclickonpic
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Ah, Nancy Drew and Hannah Gruen, the housekeeper. And Carson Drew, her attorney-father. And her friends, George and plump Bess Marvin. Her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson. (How could we believe that was really a person's name...) I never knew she was called "Alice Roy". Was that before it was published? Or did some get published with her name as that? Neat photos! You know, I'll bet those did make us love a mystery.
I don't know how many times I read the backs of them, planning which one to get next. I actually enjoyed being sick from school, and I'd cuddle up under the covers with my latest Nancy Drew book. Remember "Chi Chi Soong" from The Mystery of the Fire Dragon? That was so good. On Xmas morning, if I unwrapped a new Nancy Drew I'd be so thrilled. Of course, like today, my favorite gifts are probably books. Yeah, Nancy's car. And she could handle the speedboat up at the lake, too. I told myself that if I ever had a boat, I'd be like her and take it out all by myself at times. Huh! I flunked 'safe boating classes'. (It was that longitude/latitude stuff... I didn't actually flunk, but would have if I hadn't have dropped out.) Turned out our boat is too heavy for me to handle anyway by myself. Rats. Nancy did it, tho. Her "titian" hair blowing back in the breeze. Remember that? They always called her hair "titian".
I wish they would have made a tv series set in the 1960's on her. The one done in the 1980's, or '70s, seemed too modern from the books I read as a kid.
I saved all my Nancy Drew books for my daughter, and she would not read one when she was growing up and wants nothing to do with them. Looks like I'll be on eBay some day, peddling my cherished mysteries.
I don't care for British books. I always gotta read American books. I can't relate to things in Britian well probably because I've never been there. I have read one or two Agatha Christies, tho. Have not heard of the case you refer to, Kat.
I started reading the Anne Perry books and became intrigued- the characters were created so well and the victorian element was so good that I really enjoyed the books. I decided to look up the author's bio on the internet and I was totally blown away by what I found . At the age of fifteen she and another girl bludgeoned the girl's mother to death. It was as sensational in New Zealand at that time (the 50's) as the O.J. thing was here. There was even a movie about it in the 90's with Kate Winslett called "Heavenly Creatures." Up until that time she had been incarcerated for five years, and then was let out and went on to college, different occupations and finally became a writer who is internationally known now as Anne Perry. She lives in Scotland or England now on a farm and has become a most established and honored person in her community. The film caused her past to be dug up and people were absolutely amazed that she had turned into a very productive and sensitive person. She talked openly about it to different interviewers and it is very interesting to read. Worth looking up. She definitely captures the feeling of Victorian times.
i loved your post Augusta, glad to see I'm not the
only Nancy Drew Nerd, I remember making little
snacks and going up to the attic to read my book so
my bullly-brother wouldn't tease me. The attic that
my Dad turned into my bedroom, just like Maggie's.
Thanks, Diana!
I haven't been to a video store in 5 years! I hope I can find these.
I saved up my allowence and every month it seems I would walk to the drug store in Cocoa Beach and sit down and read the Nancy Drews before buying. They taught me to save my money to spend on something I really wanted!
I saved them all, went away to college and my family sold them in a garage sale.
Why didn't they have Nancy Drew go to Fall River? Maybe our little minds couldn't have taken all that violence. I don't think any of them were about murders - or at least not one happening right then and describing it.
I saved all mine (not a complete collection) for my daughter, who doesn't want them. She would not read one as a teen. I bought some of the blue denim covers at garage sales. But the bulk of mine were published in the early 1970's. To this day I'll walk by a Nancy Drew part in a book store and am tempted ... just to check out the newer titles ...
Definitely a sweet, sweet memory of what seems like not so long ago.
I sure wish I'd saved my old ones too. The new
Nancy Drew is too hip for me! I have been buying
the old ones on Ebay, I doubt my granddaughter will want them but ya never know!
Susan @ Thu Dec 23, 2004 9:05 pm wrote:Omigawd, I love Nancy Drew, one of my favorite series of books as a girl! What a wonderful role model she is for girls of all ages, shes probably the reason I got so wrapped up in the whole Lizzie thing, trying to solve a mystery!
Great minds think alike Susan, I just love those books,
I have them all now but my "Secret of the Old Clock" looks much different than yours
I always told my mom I wanted to quit school and BE Nancy Drew. Reading her ysteries are like taking a trip without leaving the farm ! I would just get lost in Nancy books...and not want to "came back".
That's funny, Tracy - quit school and be Nancy Drew.
They made a couple of Nancy Drew movies in the 1930's, with Bonita Granville as Nancy Drew. I never saw them. My mother said they were good. In the '70s, there was a tv series I just couldn't get into. (They tried to make Hardy Boys out of Shawn Cassidy and Kirstie Alley's ex every other week.)
So she is "Alice Roy" in French??? I wonder why. Is "Nancy" not a French name? Is "Roy" more of a French name than "Drew"?
Gee, how did they update Nancy Drew??? Let me guess ... They better not have made her a lesbian. ha ha (Nothing bad about lesbians - it would just be shocking if Nancy was one.) She smoked pot but didn't inhale in college?
I'll bet she has a computer now. She must have a different car: Mustang convertible? I'll bet they don't still say her hair is "titian". Does she still have Ned Nickerson as her boyfriend? And the same girlfriends? (I always liked Bess Marvin.)
Wasn't she in junior college? I'm not sure about that. It always seemed like it was always the summer after she graduated high school. Does she go to college now? Did Carson Drew remarry?
Thanks for the great website, Audrey! When last I left Nancy, she was involved in the Double Jinx mystery. It was a lot of fun reading thru those old titles - so many I've forgotten! And their translation in French was really cool.
Last year when at my local library I looked for the
Nancy Drew books and was shocked at the new books and the covers. Looked like my neices with
the short tight skirts, very modern Nancy now. This
old Nancy is with Tracy in the good old fashioned stories, I was the same way, just devoured those books and wanted to BE Nancy Drew!
They speculated that we French would have problems pronouncing her name... I think they were more than likely right!
For a young (stunningly beautiful) French girl living in Paris-- A girl with a convertible and a papa who let her run about getting into danger was very exciting! She came to France in "The Mystery of the 99 steps"
After I posted my question about why did they change ND to "Alice Roy" in French I read on the website you gave us, Audrey, and it said what you did. It'd be probably harder for French speaking persons to pronounce.
If I ever meet you in person, I'm gonna ask you to say "Nancy Drew".
