Three Vintage Mysteries

With little time to spare nowadays, here are brief reactions to reading of three mysteries. BATS IN THE BELFRY by E.C.R. LORAC (1937) The question that perplexed me after finishing Lorac's Bats in the Belfry was that how could a novel that began so promisingly, that had me gripped almost its entire length, end on …

The #1956 Club: The Diehard by Jean Potts

"You've had your cake and et it too, all these years." Lew Morgan is the undisputed king of Turk Ridge. Once a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, Lew has made it to the top, by his enterprise and industriousness, as well as by marrying Olive Whitt, whose father had owned everything in …

Short Notes: Death of a Stray Cat by Jean Potts (1955)

Marcella Eweing's body is found in the house of bookseller Alex Blair. As the chief of police, Ed Fuller, investigates he finds that Marcella had a string of lovers including Alex. This comes as a shock to Alex's wife Gen who leaves him while she tries to come to terms with Alex's infidelity. Meanwhile more …

Three Novels by Jean Potts

American author, Jean Potts (1910-1999), won an Edgar award for her first novel, Go, Lovely Rose (1954), but still fell into obscurity. Then sometime in 2018, John F. Norris reviewed a few of her books at his blog, Pretty Sinister Books. John’s admiration for the books so impressed a publishing house that they brought back …