Tue 14 Aug 2007
The Compleat MARTHA TOOKE WEBB.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Crime Fiction IV , Obituaries / Deaths Noted[2] Comments
There is only one entry for Mrs. Webb in Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin:
WEBB, MARTHA TOOKE
* The Will and the Wilful (Dorrance, 1969, hc)
And that’s all there is for her, nothing more. Until this past week, that is, when Al Hubin discovered that she was born June 23, 1908, and died on November 23, 2001. This information will, of course, appear shortly in the Addenda to the Revised Edition of CFIV.
The book she wrote is not common, but neither is it terribly difficult to find. With the assistance of bookseller Jon Rieley-Goddard of Baldy Books in upstate New York, I have a scan of the front cover that I can show you, and from the back cover jacket flap, a lengthy profile of the author herself. I’ll get back to that shortly.
First, though, a short description of the book itself. From the blurb on the front flap:
“Sally Martin, a close friend and confidante of the two Rhodes girls, is the narrator of this tense and intricate thriller. She recoils with unbelieving horror at the news of the bizarre murders of three members of the Rhodes household and then barely escapes death, herself.
“Suspicion falls on the guardians assigned to the Rhodes girls in the unusual will left by Dr. Rhodes before he and his second wife are killed in a highway accident, and on the girls’ two suitors. For Sheroff Brandon and Private Eye Rob Cummings, it is a perplexing case.
“For Sally Martin and the frightened community, it is a nightmare.
“For the reader, it is a masterpiece of suspense and intrigue. It is a safe bet that even veteran devotees of the whodunnit will never guess the outcome!”
The last paragraph reveals the author’s intent with this book. In spite of the blurb’s early emphasis on bizarre deaths, this is a whodunnit of largely a cozy nature, with a little romantic suspense added in for good measure.
From the jacket flap inside the back cover, more on Martha Tooke Webb, who …
“The author and her husband now live on the beautiful Oneida Lake in central New York. She is proud of her flower garden, which abounds in many varieties of roses. …”
February 26th, 2024 at 3:25 pm
I discovered I have a signed by Martha, book in great condition – ‘the will and the wilful’
Is this rare? I almost want to read it – but it’s not ‘pages bent’
February 26th, 2024 at 10:15 pm
Wendy
That’s quite a find. Is it rare? I’d say it is. I’ve found only two copies of her book offered for sale online, one of them signed. The bad news is that the price asked for it is only $12, including postage.
There’s probably no demand for it at all.
If it looks like a book you might enjoy reading, I’d say go ahead and read it.