In Part 21 of the Addenda to the Revised Crime Fiction IV is the following entry, which after I’ve expanded it a little, includes just about all that’s known about either the author or the publisher.

DAY, LULA M(ADELAINE). 1902?-1992?
      The Mystery of the Red Suitcase. Virginia: Hip Books, pb, February 1946. Add setting: Calumet, Indiana. Leading characters: Miss Lula Day, Squire Dunnett & Lt. Inspector Steve Badger. Note: Eleven other titles by this author were announced but none was published; all apparently were to have the same leading characters. [In Chapter One of this book, the man found shot in Miss Day’s garden turns out to be her ex-brother-in-law. Investigating the crime is Lt. Badger. Squire Dunnett is an aged attorney; as it happens, “Squire” is his first name.]

LULA M. DAY The Mystery of the Red Suitcase   The book is a regular paperback in size, although perhaps a trifle slimmer than others published in 1946 – thinner paper perhaps, as in all it’s 232 pages long, or in other words, a full-sized novel. This is the only book that Hip Books seems to have published, although as you will soon see, others were definitely in the planning stages. The only address given for Hip is Alexandria, Virginia, not exactly the publishing capital of the US, then or now.

   On the title page it says, under the Hip Books line, that the book was published “under arrangement with Owl Press, Inc.” Sherrie Tellier has followed up on this lead and reports back that “Owl Press is still in existence, but claims not to have any information on this book.”

   Not surprisingly, as it’s my feeling that Owl Press was hired to do the finished product only as an outside job, and they had nothing to do with the book from the editorial end.

   Oh, one more thing, before I get to the author herself, Lula M. Day. There’s nothing on the back cover but general information about Hip Books, and nothing about the story itself. You may have gotten the same impression about name of the company as I did, but no, the tagline for the one-book publishing firm is “They fit your hip.”

   It would seem as though tracking Lula Day down would be easy. How many Lula Day’s could there have been? The answer is another surprise. Lots of them, and believe it or not, she’s not the only Lula M. Day who shows up on Google. The dates as given above are extremely tentative, and come from this lady:

Lula M. DAY was born on 9 Nov 1902 in Ross Co., OH. She appeared in the census in Apr 1930 in Chillicothe, Ross, OH. She died on 11 Dec 1992 in Chillicothe, Ross, OH. Parents: Ellis Day and Ella Willison.

   The book takes place in Indiana, and Ohio is the next state over, making this my choice. Al Hubin has countered with:

   “If the publication of her book in Virginia is any clue, a Lula Day (no middle initial given) was born Oct 12 1899 in Virginia and died Nov 1 1988. And a Lula Day (no m.i.) was born April 18 1896, and her ss# was issued in Virginia (she died there in July 1984).”

   If you were to search online yourself, you’d come up with at least one other Lula M. Day, perhaps two. (It is not clear whether the two I just found are the same person or not.)

   This is all that various researchers, including Victor Berch, have come up with so far. We’ve all come to the same dead ends. Perhaps by posting even these incompleat results, someone will stop by, discover what we’ve found, and tell us more. That’s what we’re hoping.

   I’ve not read the book, but I’ve skimmed through the first couple of chapters, and at glance one and two, the story-telling appears solid enough. There are plenty of other reasons why there there were to be no more books from either Lula Day or Hip Books, but they did have plans, as I alluded to up above.

   What comes after THE END? [At the bottom of page 227.] Steve Badger has just proposed to Lula Day, upon which she “came unglued all at once.”

   And on the next page:

      AND SO THEY WERE MARRIED

      (More About Steve and Lula Badger)

2. “THE MYSTERY OF THE CAT THAT CAME BACK” …

Started on a motor honeymoon to California, McNulty’s wire reached them at Topeka, Kan. The wife of the city’s wealthiest manufacturer had fantastically vanished from her bed in the night; next night her frantic husband similarly disappeared; the third night it was their bachelor son. Was it kidnapping or the supernatural? Reluctantly the Badgers interrupted their wedding-trip. But the night they returned to Calumet to help solve the case, the missing woman’s huge Persian cat reappeared in the house. Lula writes in the first person how the clue of the Cat led to Chicago and Wisconsin and finally cracked the mystery wide open. . . .

3. “THE MYSTERY OF THE TALKING CARPET”

Arrived in Hollywood at the home of Lula’s relatives, Steven becomes embroiled in a different enigma. A waitress in a Drive-In Stand has been summoned home by plane to Arizona. Suddenly the plane veers over the Pacific and the girl is hurled out, falling so peculiarly that she lives to tell the story. Steven becomes interested. Quickly he develops a still greater mystery, involving well-known movie people, which he solves by a ruse of the girl’s bedroom carpet. Another inspirational detective mystery rich in the atmosphere of picturedom.


4. “THE MYSTERY OF THE WALKING SUSPENDERS” . . .

Returned to Calumet and ensconced in their new home in County Downe suburb, a wealthy Irish contractor is discovereddead in his skyscraper office with an arrow in his back and open window behind him. The contractor’s fine son is suspected of the killing. Steven follows the case to a night when rank upon rank of mysterious suspenders are seen “marching” in the darkness across the grounds of a country estate. In one of her most poignant and realistic stories, Miss Day tells the secret of the phenomena and the reconciliation that follows with the son’s wife when Steven – with Squire Dunnett’s aid – proves how the arrow reached the father’s back. , . .

5. “THE MYSTERY OF THE LAUGHING NUGGET” …

An eccentric old bank president is found frozen to death in his home in a town near Calumet. The coroner declares he has not died naturally and county authorities “borrow” Steven’s service. to determine the cause of death, and – if necessary- — apprehend his slayers. Steven and Lula find bloody tracks in an upper room that seem to disappear into a doorless wall. Finally a sizable gold nuggett is located on which is engraved a grinning face, opening an Alaskan chapter in the victim’s. life where the secret of his death is found, Squire Dunnett at his best in this volume. . .

6. “THE MYSTERY OF THE STRAWBERRY BLOUSE” …

An Indiana farmhand, cutting diagonally across a cornfield to catch a bus, notices a peculiar “cornstock” rising ten inches above the soil. Looking closer, he is horrified to recognize it as the hand of a woman. Presently the body of a girl is disinterred from her make-shift grave. Pinned to her “strawberry blouse” is an address in town for police to investigate. When the housewife at the address is summoned to identify the body at the morgue, she stuns authorities by screaming that the dead girl is herself at 23 years old. Furthermore, the dead girl’s clothes are identified as having been worn by the housewife at a party at the age she has indicated. Lula describes how Badger runs up against a wall in this one, but shrewd old Squire Dunnett traces the mystery to Chicago and developes an explanation that makes the case unique …

7. “THE MYSTERY OF THE MOON’S BREAKFAST” …

Six Scot brothers, reputable citizens of Calumet, die off a week apart by mysterious poisoning. With no hidden scandals in their lives that Badger can discover, the safe deposit box of the eldest is opened and a little bag of buttons comes to light, along with vague papers about “the moon’s breakfast.” In the midst of investigation into their deaths, Steven and Lula have a strange and bizarre guest at County Downe, their suburban home – apparently a foreign nobleman – who talks wildly of revolutions. Subsequently this personage is involved in Steve’s and Lula’s abductions while Squire Dunnett drops tragically from sight, and Lula, shut in an abandoned auto factory, almost loses her life. In the end the bag of buttons, the “nobleman” and the abductions, are uniquely tied together – and it isn’t a revolution. One of Miss Day’s best. . . .

8. “THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED COFFEE-CUP” …

Badger’s growing. reputation as a homicide sleuth causes him to be retained by a Chicago millionaire to investigate someone impersonating him back east. Steven and Lula journey to Vermont, find the “millionaire” as purported to have died and been buried the week before, but when the impersonator’s family vault is opened nothing is found within the casket but an old-fashioned moustache cup, with saucer. Convinced it has significance and is not a hoax, Steven follows the trail of the coffee-cup to Philadelphia and Florida, then back to Vermont. The reason the impersonation and the presence of the cup in the casket tie together one of the most poignant stories in the Lula Day series. . . .

IN MISS DAY’S STENOGRAPHIC BOOKS FOR FUTURE PUBLICATION

      “The Mystery of the Flying Elephant”
      “The Mystery of the Spinster’s Bedroom”
      “The Mystery of the Screaming Village”
      “The Mystery of the Thing Against the Moon”

   None of these, as far as can be determined, was ever printed. What would be interesting to discover is whether any or all of them were ever written.

   Another small-sized installment to the Addenda to the Revised Crime Fiction IV this time, uploaded this evening and online now as Part 23.

   Says author Allen J. Hubin:

    “You’ll notice a fair number of titles associated with Ireland, and they came out of my work with Gangsters or Guerrillas? by Patrick Magee (the last reference work I plan to go through).

    “I’m thinking that the bibliographic end is in sight. Maybe after #24 I’ll finish updating my manuscript of the print Revised CFIV and leave all the rest to exist only online. (I’m sure the flow of new and corrected information will continue.)”

   I’ve been absent from the blog for several days now, as you may have noticed. The explanation has nothing to do with mysteries or crime fiction or paperback covers, but I’d like to offer one anyway.

   It was a week ago that Evelyn Ahlberg died. She and my wife Judy taught math together at the University of Connecticut’s Hartford branch for over 30 years, and over that time she and her husband Don had become our very close friends.

   In her early 70s, Evelyn had retired but had come back to teach one course a semester.

   She died very suddenly, struck down by previously undiscovered heart problem while swimming. Judy and I received the news last Monday while eating dinner out. Since then we’ve been helping Don contact her friends and people she knew, which is redundant, because everyone she knew became a friend quickly.

   We’ll miss her tremendously. We already do.

Hi Steve,

Thought you might be interested in seeing the following:

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps

Everyone here frets about the British postal service but sometimes they do come up with some exciting things.

Best,

Tise

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hi Tise

I’d heard about these. They’re long stamps with four covers for each of the books used, one apparently the first British hardcover, the second an early Pan paperback, the third I’m not sure about, but the fourth ones are taken from the most recent set of trade paperbacks. Quite unusual, to say the least and, I’d be willing to wager, quite a money-maker for the postal service.

On the Yahoo FictionMags group, Phil Stephensen-Payne wonders if this is the first time that book or magazine covers have been featured on a series of stamps. Good question.

I used to collect stamps, so I’m tempted to purchase a set, but I long ago decided I’d better stick to one hobby, and collecting books it’s been ever since.

Steve

James Bond stamps
James Bond stamps



[UPDATE.] 01-09-08. Thanks, and a tip of the cap to Gordon Van Gelder, also from the FictionMags group:

Gone with the Wind



[UPDATE] 01-10-08. From Jamie Sturgeon:

Steve,

The Royal Mail issued on July 17 last year a set of Harry Potter stamps featuring all the covers of the books. On the James Bond issue, the 3rd set of covers you could not identify were, according to the Royal Mail website, designed by Barnett Plotkin (and were on p/bs published in the US by Jove in the 1980s).

Jamie

James Bond stamps



   Still working with some “A” authors tonight, alphabetically speaking, as I was a few days ago, but this time from Part 4. One of these authors is rather well-known, but if you are a reader of vintage western fiction, you will recognize the name of another far more readily.

ADAMS, LETA ZOE. 1900-1953. Correction of both dates. [Also see the comment from Victor Berch.] Author of a number of stories for the romance and western pulp magazines in the 1930s and 40s. Of five novels to her credit, two for Young Adults, one is a mystery included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Mirror Murder. Phoenix Press, hc, 1937. Setting: Washington state. Leading characters: Elsa Kent and Sheriff Alex Boone.

Leta Zoe Adams: Mirror Murder

ARCHER, JEFFREY (HOWARD)
      -Kane and Abel. TV movie [mini-series]: CBS, 1985 (scw: Robert W. Lenski; dir: Buzz Kulik)
      Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less. TV movie: USA, 1990 (scw: Sherman Yellen; dir: Clive Donner). [Archer’s first novel, said to have been inspired by his real-life experience of near-bankruptcy.]

Archer: Not a Penny More

ARRIGHI, MEL. 1933-1986. Born in San Francisco; a professional actor for many years before turning to writing. Author of three plays produced in New York City and 12 novels, nine of which are included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. A TV movie was adapted from one; see below.
      Alter Ego. Add TV movie: CBS, 1987, as Murder by the Book (scw: Michael Norell; dir; Mel Damski). Leading character: D. H. ‘Hank’ Mercer/Biff Deegan (Robert Hays). [A writer’s private eye creation appears to him as being real.]

ARTHUR, BUDD. Add: Pseudonym of Herbert Arthur, Jr., 1928- , who may have been born Herbert Arthur Shapiro, Jr. He was the son of western writer Herbert Arthur Shapiro, 1899-1975, who changed his name to Herbert Arthur. Both Burt and Budd Arthur were prolific writers of western fiction; after Budd began writing, they often wrote in collaboration. Confusing the matter of what their names were when is that their original last name was often spelled Shappiro. See Steve Holland’s blog for more information on their careers and a checklist of their western fiction, which sometimes appeared as by Cliff Campbell. There are two entries for Budd Arthur in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, both apparently crime or gangster novels. See below.
      The Big Squeeze. Bouregy (Mystery House), hc, 1956. Phantom, Australia, pb, 1959. Add setting: Midwest; “Rock City.” Leading character: NYC cop David Ware.
      Swiftly to Evil. World Distributors, UK, pb, 1960. Setting: New York City.

AUERBACH, JESSICA (LYNN) (née SCHWARTZ). 1947- . Born in New Jersey; married Joshua Auerback, 1969. Author of four novels, two of which are included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Catch Your Breath. Putnam, hc, 1996. Headline, UK, 1996. [A young mother is accused of abusing her chronically ill two-year-old son.]
      Sleep, Baby, Sleep. Putnam, hc, 1994. Headline, UK, 1994. Setting: Connecticut. Add TV movie: ABC, 1995 (scw: John Gray; dir: Armand Mastroianni). [A woman leaves her six-week-old baby girl unattended for five minutes.] Shown is the US paperback edition from Fawcett Crest.

Auerbach: Sleep Baby Sleep

   Rightly or wrongly, this cover reminds me of the jackets of British adventure novels of the 1920s and 30s. The artwork was done by Winslow Pinney Pels, while the overall cover design was by Louise Fili. I’ve found no website for Mr. Pels, but his primary work seems to have been for children’s books. The cover at hand, while almost suitable for a boys’ aviation novel, appears to me to be just a little more “adult” than that.

   Perhaps I’m wrong.

   As for James McClure, I included a bibliography for him on the main Mystery*File website along with a short obituary I did for him when he died. I’ve obtained a sizable number of his books since then, but sad to say, I’ve not yet read any of them. This one, perhaps, after reading the back cover blurb below, may be the first.

McCLURE Blood of an Englishman

Pantheon. Paperback reprint, April 1982. British First Edition: Macmillan, 1980. US hardcover: Harper & Row, 1981.

      From the back cover:

Six days into their search for the man who put a .32-caliber bullet into a South African antique dealer, neither Kramer of the Murder Squad nor his Bantu assistant, Zondi, has a single lead in the case. On the seventh day, Mrs. Digby-Smith opens the trunk of her car and discovers the hideous, tied-up corpse of her younger brother. Two violent crimes — seemingly unconnected. But as Kramer and Zondi pursue their investigation, startling connections turn up in the sordid underworld of Trekkersburg and in the secret, unresolved enmities of World War II.

“An altogether superior piece of work … McClure’s ability to create convincing characters, a wry sense of humor, and the rather exotic locale [puts this series] at the top of its class.”     Newgate Callander, The New York Times

“The concluding scene is one rarely matched for slashing irony and sheer impact.”     Publishers Weekly

“This well-plotted, well-written murder mystery is exceptional … sometimes grim, sometimes sourly comic, always shocking.”     Atlantic Monthly

   I spent some time with Part 21 this afternoon, largely in the S’s. There’s a PI series of sorts that Kevin Burton Smith doesn’t know about, yet, but what I also came across Van Siller, a writer with a lengthy career and over 20 books to her credit. There’s very little to be discovered about her on the Internet, and I have the strong feeling that she’s very nearly been forgotten.

FARROW, MICHAEL DAVID. 1944- . Pseudonym: Tommy Sledge, q.v.

HOWE, DORIS KATHLEEN. 1904-1994. Add as a new author entry. Ref: CA. English author of many works of romantic fiction under her own name and as Mary Munro & Kay Stewart. Joint pseudonym with sister Muriel Howe: Newlyn Nash, q.v.

HOWE, MURIEL. Maiden name and working byline of Muriel Howe Smithies, ca.1912-. Add tentative year of birth; also add joint pseudonym with sister Doris Kathleen Howe, 1904-1994: Newlyn Nash, qq.v. As Muriel Howe, the author of two mystery novels included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Affair at Falconers. Macdonald, UK, hc, 1957.
      Pendragon. Macdonald, UK, hc, 1958.

NASH, NEWLYN. Add as a new author entry. Joint pseudonym of sisters Doris Kathleen Howe, 1904-1994, and Muriel Howe [Muriel Howe Smithies] ca.1912- , qq.v. Under this pen name, the author of two romance novels with strong criminous content.
      The Affair at Claife Manor. John Gresham, UK, hc, 1963. [The disappearance of a woman is invesigated by her brother.]
      Wild Garlic. John Gresham, UK, hc, 1962. Setting: Mediterranean Island.

SILLER, VAN. Pseudonym of Hilda van Siller, 1911-1982, q.v. Under this pen name, an American writer and author of more than 20 crime and mystery novels published between 1943 and 1974, some only in the UK. Series characters: Richard Massey (2 books), Allan Stewart (3 books), and Pete Rector (2 books). Massey appears in her first book (Echo of a Bomb, Doubleday Crime Club, 1943), which was a wartime espionage affair taking place in New York City and Virginia; its cover is shown below.

Van Siller: Echo of a Bomb

      The Red Geranium. Hammond, UK, hc, 1966. Delete: not criminous.

SKINNER, MICHAEL. 1924- . Pseudonym: Nicholas Spain, q.v.; other pseudonyms: Alix De Marquand, Cynthia Hyde. Under his own name, the author of three crime thrillers included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. All three were published in the UK by Robert Hale between 1978 and 1983.

SLEDGE, TOMMY. Add as a new author entry. Pseudonym of Michael David Farrow, 1944- , q.v. Occupation, under this name: actor, “standup detective.” Besides his longtime stage routine – sample lines: “I just rolled into town. Boy, do my sides hurt.” – the author of two humorous private eye novels. SC: Tommy Sledge, in both titles. His short radio plays have also aired on stations across the country as Tommy Sledge’s Dime Novel.

Tommy Sledge, PI

      Eat Lead, Clown! Full Court Press, pb, 1987. “This is one gumshoe who’s in over his head – in hilarious hijinks and murderous mirth!”
      Kiss It or Die! Private Shadow Press, pb, 1995.

SMITHIES, MURIEL HOWE. ca.1912- . Working byline: Muriel Howe, q.v.

SPAIN, NICHOLAS. Pseudonym of Michael Skinner, 1924- , q.v. Under this pen name, the author of two crime novels included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV.
      Name Your Vice. Kozy Books, pb, 1963. Delete the dash previously assigned. Add setting: New York City.

Spain: Name Your Vice

      Wine, Women & Bullets. Kozy Books, pb, 1963.

van SILLER, HILDA. 1911-1982. Pseudonym: Van Siller, 1911-1982, q.v.

   In all honesty, only one of these authors was familiar to me before this evening, but now that I’ve met them, all of their books sound interesting. Not that I’m likely to come across the work of one of them, but then again, one never knows. These all came from Part 19, by the way, working at the top of the page, or needn’t I have mentioned that?

ABDOH, SALAR. 1965- . Confirm correct date of birth. Graduate of U. of Calif. and CCNY; born in Iran and living in NYC. Author of one work of fiction included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Poet Game. Picador, pb, 2000. Setting: New York City. [A young agent is sent by a top-secret Iranian government agency to infiltrate a group of Islamic extremists in New York and thwart a terrorist attack.]

Abdoh: Poet Game

ABEL, JOEL S. 1938- . Confirm correct date of birth. Author of one book included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Jonah Game. Curtis, pb, 1973.

ABSHIRE, RICHARD K(YLE). 1945- . Add full middle name and year of birth. A former member of the Dallas Police Department; presently a reporter for The Dallas Morning News’ Garland bureau. Joint pseudonym with William R. Clair: Terry Marlow, q.v. Under his own name, the author of three cases for private eye Jack Kyle; and in collaboration with William R. Clair again, two adventures of a gent named Gants, a private eye whose cases took on supernatural overtones. Abshire also wrote one book in the men’s adventure series Talon Force under the house name Cliff Garnett. A paperback cover of one of the Jack Kyle books is shown below.

Abshire: Dallas Drop

ABSINTHE, PERE. Add as a new author’s entry. Pseudonym of George C. Kelly, 1849-1895; other pseudonym: Harold Payne, qq.v.
      Who Shot Chief Hennessy? Street & Smith, 1902. Setting: New Orleans. (Novelized true crime.)

Pere Absinthe

ADAMS, ERIC J. This combines two entries previously listed separately with the bylines now correctly identified. A producer, director, screenwriter, award-winner journalist, and novelist with three crime thrillers included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Birdland [as by Eric Adams]. Hodder & Stoughton, UK, hc, 1997. Setting: California. “Katie Jacobs travels to Bodega Bay, California, where Hitchcock filmed the movie The Birds, in search of her long-lost brother … [he] has come under the spell of Madame Charay, a wealthy eccentric obsessed with the Master of Suspense.”

Eric Adams: Birdland

      Loss of Innocence. Avon, US, pb, 1991. Setting: Colorado, 1983. [Novelized true crime: Two young girls are murdered by another child, a 13-year-old neighbor boy.]
      Plot Twist [as by Eric Adams]. St. Martin’s, US, pb, 1995. Hodder & Stoughton, UK, 1995. [When the son of a true crime writer is kidnapped, the kidnappers demand the writer’s severed hands as a ransom payment.]

Eric Adams: Plot Twist

KELLY, GEORGE C. Add pseudonym: Pere Absinthe; other pseudonym: Harold Payne, qq.v.

PAYNE, HAROLD. Pseudonym of George C. Kelly, 1849-1895; add new pseudonym: Pere Absinthe, qq.v. Under this name, the author of one title included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Gilded Fly. Price-McGill Co., hc, 1892. Described as “a political satire” by Publishers Weekly, 28 Jan 1893.

   The following author entries come from Part 19 except for the last one, which can be found in Part 3, where I combined two batches of information about Glenn Canary together.

   Most of the names in this post are minor ones, but they’re all interesting people, about whom we know more about than we do others. But one of them has a strong connection with an author included in the last post. There aren’t any prizes for naming him. All you need to do is read on…

CAMACHO, AUSTIN S. 1953- . Correction of birth date; born in New York City. Former US Army broadcast journalist; author of one private eye novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. Leading character: Hannibal Jones, a “troubleshooter [and] a self-styled knight errant in dark glasses.” Jones has appeared in three other books since 2000.
      Blood and Bone. Buy Books on the Web, pb, 1999. Add revised edition: Echelon Press, pb, 2006. [See comment below.] Add setting: Washington DC/Baltimore. [Jones is hired to track down a man whose son needs a bone-marrow transplant.]

Camacho: Blood and Bone


CAMERON, JULIA (B.) 1948- . Correction of birth date; born in Illinois. Artist, poet, filmmaker, composer, playwright and essayist; married to and divorced from movie director and producer Martin Scorsese. Of two works of fiction, one is included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Dark Room (Carroll & Graf, hc, 1998. Carroll & Graf, UK, hc, 1999. Setting: Chicago IL. Leading character: veteran Chicago homicide cop Elliott Mayo. “A gruesome murder lifts the lid on the sleazy underworld of child pornography.”

Cameron: The Dark Room


CAMERON, MONTGOMERY (F.) 1930- . Add middle initial and year of birth. Author of one book included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Ugly Woman. Vantage, US, hc, 1966. “A tale of passionate terror.”

CAMP, (CHARLES) WADSWORTH. 1879-1936. Born in Philadelphia PA. A journalist, writer and foreign correspondent whose lungs were said to have been damaged by exposure to mustard gas during World War I. Father of writer Madeleine L’Engle, 1918-2007, q.v. Author of six titles included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below. [Films based on these books are omitted from this entry.]
      The Abandoned Room. Doubleday, hc, 1917. Jarrolds, UK, hc, 1919. “A murder is solved by Carlos Paredes, the Panamanian Sherlock Holmes.”
      The Communicating Door. Doubleday, hc, 1923. Story collection (ghost tales).
      -The Forbidden Years. Doubleday, hc, 1930.
      The Gray Mask. Doubleday, hc, 1920. SC: Jim Garth. Setting: New York. Collection of seven connected novelets, untitled. “Mystery novel of a detective who falls in love with the chief of police’s daughter.”

Camp: Grey Mask

      The House of Fear. Doubleday, hc, 1916. Hodder, UK, hc, 1917. Setting: New York; theatre. Also published as: Last Warning (Readers Library, 1929).
      _The Last Warning. Readers Library, UK, hc, 1929. See: The House of Fear (Doubleday, 1916)
      Sinister Island. Dodd Mead, hc, 1915. Setting: Louisiana.

CAMPBELL, ARMINE. 1949- . Add confirmed year of birth. Author of one mystery novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Getting Away with Murder. Vantage, US, hc, 1976.

Campbell: Getting Away with Murder


CAMPBELL, HARLEN (JOSEPH). 1945- . Correction of date of birth; delete previously suggested year of death. Add full middle name. Lives in Albuquerque; author of one book included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Monkey on a Chain. Doubleday, hc, 1993. Setting: New Mexico. Leading character: Rainbow Potter, throwback to the outlaw heroes of the Old West. “To his door comes lovely Eurasian April Bow, adopted daughter of one of his Vietnam buddies, to appeal for help.” The image shown is that of a recent trade paperback reprint edition (Poisoned Pen Press, 1999).

Campbell: Monkey on a Chain


CANARY, BRENDA BROWN. 1945- . Add year of birth. Author of one crime/horror novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Voice of the Clown. Avon, US, pb, 1982. [No hardcover edition.] Avon, UK, pb, 1983. “Little Laura is so adorable. Why is her mother so terrified?”

CANARY, (HILARY) GLENN. 1934- . Add first name and year of birth. One time news reporter for Massillon Evening Independent (Ohio); later worked in the Doubleday book club department. Besides a number of short stories that appeared in Manhunt and Alfred Hitchcock’s Magazine, the author of two paperback originals previously listed in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV plus the one indicated by an asterisk (*) below.
      The Prefect Plot. Pinnacle, pb, 1974. [Alan Prefect and his wife Ann, doing twenty years in prison, are offered a deal: infiltrate a Middle East terrorist group and walk away from their sentences.] A review appears on August West’s blog, Vintage Hardboiled Reads.

Canary: Prefect Plot

      * The Trailer Park Girls. Monarch, 1962. Setting: Ohio. [Three women meet three men who are planning a $30,000 robbery.]

Canary: Trailer Park Girls

      A Walk in the Jungle. Pinnacle, pb, 1975. “There was no question in his mind-his wife had been killed by a pro […] and Sam should know, since he was a pro himself.”

   During the past year, until I found myself squeezed for time, I often posted lengthy death notices for mystery writers who’d recently passed away. Two that I regret not being able to do at the time were James Leasor and Madeleine L’Engle, whose deaths are mentioned in Part 19 of the Addenda.

   You’ll find a much longer obituary for Mr. Leasor by Ali Karim on The Rap Sheet blog, which I highly recommend you go read. Madeleine L’Engle is, of course, hardly best known for her crime or mystery fiction. She was a major figure in literature, probably with a capital L, even if much of it was written for (and enjoyed by) Young Adults.

   Michael Z. Lewin is still with us, perhaps I should hasten to add. He’s here only because of alphabetical propinquity — that plus some updating of the series characters who have appeared in his many mystery novels.

LEASOR, (THOMAS) JAMES. 1923-2007. Pseudonym: Andrew MacAllan, q.v. Under his own name, the author of over 20 crime and espionage adventures included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. Called into service as a top British agent in nine of these novels and one story collection was Dr. Jason Love, otherwise an ordinary English country doctor. David Niven played the role in Where the Spies Are, a film based on Passport to Oblivion (Heineman, 1964). The unnamed owner of Aristo Autos narrated three of Leasor’s thrillers with racing car backgrounds, one of which Dr. Love also appeared. Another movie was based on The One That Got Away by Leasor and Kendal Burt (Collins/Michael Joseph, 1956), a non-fictional account of the only German who escaped a British POW camp.

Where the Spies Are

      Who Killed Sir Harry Oakes? Heinemann, UK, hc, 1983. Houghton Mifflin, US, hc, 1983. Setting: Bahamas, 1943. [Novelized true crime.] Add: TV movie [2-part mini-series]: Picture Base International, 1989, as Passion and Paradise (scw: Andrew Laskos; dir: Harvey Hart).

L’ENGLE, MADELEINE. 1918-2007. Name at birth: Madeleine L’Engle Camp. Married actor Hugh Franklin in 1946. While the author of many books, best known for her Young Adult fiction, often of a science-fictional or fantasy nature. Of primary note is A Wrinkle in Time, winner of a Newbery Award, and its several sequels. Two of her works of fiction are included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Arm of the Starfish. Ariel Books, hc, 1965. Setting: Portugal. [A young college student who has been chosen to assist the famous Doctor O’Keefe in his experiments off the coast of Portugal soon finds himself an unwitting pawn in a dangerous game.]

L'Engle: Arm of the Starfish

      -A Severed Wasp. Farrar Straus & Giroux, hc, 1982. Farrar Straus & Giroux, UK, hc, 1984. Setting: New York City; church.

LEWIN, MICHAEL Z(INN). 1942- . Author of many detective novels taking place in Indianapolis IN; the primary sleuth is often PI Albert Samson, but appearing in both his cases and ones of their own are Lt. Leroy Powder and probation office Adele Buffington, who is Samson’s girl friend in his first seven books, but by the time of her own solo outing she has broken up with him. Even with the additional SC appearances for Lt. Powder listed below, this may not yet include all of them. A review of Night Cover (Knopf, 1976) here on this blog also discusses these characters and their various appearances. Add SC: Lunghi family = L. [Three generations of an Anglo-Italian family who own and operate a private investigation firm.]
      And Baby Will Fall. Morrow, hc, 1988. British title: Childproof. Macmillan, UK, hc, 1988. Setting: Indianapolis. Add: Leading character: Adele Buffington, who appears in smaller roles in many earlier novels.
      Called by a Panther. Mysterious Press, hc, 1991. Macmillan, UK, hc, 1991. SC: Albert Samson; add SC: Lt. Leroy Powder (in a minor role).

Lewin: Called by a Panther

      _Childproof. Macmillan, UK, hc, 1988. See And Baby Will Fall.
      Family Business. Foul Play Press, US, hc, 1995. Constable, UK, hc, 1995. Setting: England. Add SC: L
      Family Planning. St. Martin’s, hc, 1999. Setting: Bath, England. Add SC: L

Lewin: Family Planning

      Missing Woman. Alfred A. Knopf, hc, 1981. Robert Hale, UK, hc, 1992. SC: Albert Samson; add SC: Lt. Leroy Powder (in a minor role).
      The Silent Salesman. Alfred A. Knopf, hc, 1978. H. Hamilton, UK, hc, 1978. SC: Albert Samson; add SC: Lt. Leroy Powder (in a minor role).
      Underdog. Mysterious Press, hc, 1993. No Exit Press, UK, pb, 1995. Add SC: Lt. Leroy Powder.

MacALLAN, ANDREW. Pseudonym of (Thomas) James Leasor, q.v. To the one title previously included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, add the five indicated by the dashes below as having only minimal crime content.
      -Diamond Hard. Headline, UK, 1991. Setting: South Africa.
      -Fanfare. Headline, UK, 1992. Setting: India, Afghanistan.
      Generation. Headline, UK, hc, 1990. Setting: Australia. “Only two voting shares stand between Trinity-Trio, one of the world’s greatest conglomerates, and a totally hostile takeover. The legendary tycoon they call The Australian will stop at nothing to secure them …”

MacAllan: Generation

      -Speculator. Headline, UK, 1993. Setting: Far East.
      -Succession. Headline, UK, 1989.
      -Traders. Headline, UK, 1994.

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