Special Collections
Agatha Award
Description: Named for Agatha Christie, the Agatha Awards are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write in the cozy mystery subgenre. #award
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The Salaryman's Wife
by Sujata MasseyWinner of the Agatha Award."Sujata Massey blasts her way into fiction with The Salaryman's Wife, a cross-cultural mystery of manners with a decidedly sexy edge."-- Janet EvanonichJapanese-American Rei Shimura is a 27-year-old English teacher living in one of Tokyo's seediest neighborhoods. She doesn't make much money, but she wouldn't go back home to California even if she had a free ticket (which, thanks to her parents, she does.) She's determined to make it on her own. Her independence is threatened however, when a getaway to an ancient castle town is marred by murder.Rei is the first to find the beautiful wife of a high-powered businessman, dead in the snow. Taking charge, as usual, Rei searches for clues by crashing a funeral, posing as a bar-girl, and somehow ending up pursued by police and paparazzi alike. In the meantime, she attempts to piece together a strange, ever-changing puzzle—one that is built on lies and held together by years of sex and deception.The first installment in the Rei Shimura series, The Salaryman's Wife is a riveting tale of death, love, and sex, told in a unique cross-cultural voice.
The Doctor Digs A Grave (Dr. Fenimore Mysteries)
by Robin HathawayHathaway introduces sleuth cardiologist Dr. Andrew Fenimore, whose expert medical knowledge helps unravel the mysterious death of a Lenape woman. When Fenimore spots a street kid named Horatio unsuccessfully trying to bury his dead cat in a public park on Philadelphia's affluent Society Hill, he befriends the youth and offers to help him lay his pet to rest in what is rumored to be an ancient burial ground of the Lenape. Descendants of this East Coast tribe still live in the eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey area. While burying the animal, the doctor and Horatio stumble upon the body of a young girl who is buried in an upright position facing east as is traditional with the Lenape. From this curious discovery, Hathaway's novel weaves the forgotten culture of this tribe, the doctor's unconventional avocation as a P.I., and a cast of lovable but eccentric characters into a well-crafted tale of suspense. -Amazon.com
Murder with Peacocks
by Donna AndrewsMeg is given the difficult task of coordinating three of her friends' weddings. Her situation becomes more difficult when people begin to be murdered.
Death On A Silver Tray
by Rosemary StevensIn the days of Regency England, Beau Brummell stood as the uncrowned king of genteel society. The quintessential style-maker, trend-setter, and fashion-forger, Brummell was the last person one would expect to find in the middle of a murder mystery. But then, Beau Brummell was never one to do what was expected. When the Duchess of York begs for his help, Beau Brummell wouldn't think of refusing. The Countess of Wrayburn has been poisoned, and her paid companion is the prime suspect. Unfortunately, the Duchess is the one who arranged the young woman's employment with the late Countless, and the scandal could ruin the Duchess' good name.
Bubbles Unbound
by Sarah StrohmeyerBubbles, a hairdresser with Barbie-doll curves hot pants and a tube top. With an ex-hubby, a precocious daughter, and a shoplifting mother. What can add highlights to her life? Maybe a murder?
In The Bleak Midwinter
by Julia Spencer-FlemingHEAVY SNOW ... ICY DESIRES ... COLD-BLOODED MURDER Clare Fergusson, St. Alban's new priest, fits like a square peg in the conservative Episcopal parish at Millers Kill, New York. She is not just a "lady"; she's a tough ex-Army chopper pilot, and nobody's fool. Then a newborn infant left at the church door brings her together with the town's police chief, Russ Van Alstyne, who's also ex-Army and a cynical good shepherd for the stray sheep of his hometown. Their search for the baby's mother quickly leads them into the secrets that shadow Millers Kill like the ever-present Adirondacks. What they discover is a world of trouble, an attraction to each otherand murder. ...
Maisie Dobbs
by Jacqueline WinspearMaisie entered domestic service in 1910 at the age of thirteen, to work as a maid at the Belgravia mansion of Lady Rowan Compton. When her remarkable intelligence and innate love of learning are discovered by her employer, Maisie becomes the pupil of Maurice Blanche, a learned friend of the Comptons who is often retained by Europe's elite, and the police, to conduct discreet investigations. Eventually, Maisie enters Girton College at Cambridge University, but the escalation of World War I intervenes to change her plans. She serves as a nurse at the front and falls in love with a handsome young doctor, only to lose him. In 1929, following an apprenticeship assisting Blanche iin his work, Maissie hangs out her shingle: M. DOBBS, TRADE AND PERSONAL INVESTIGATIONS. She soon becomes enmeshed in a mystery suurrounding The Retreat, a reclusive community of veterans wounded in body and spirit. At first, Maisie only suspects foul play, but she must act quickly when Lady Rowan's son decides to sign away his fortune and take refuge at The Retreat. A coincidence? Maisie has learned that coincidences can lead to the truth, and hurriedly investigates The Retreat. She uncovers a disturbing mystery at its core which in an astonishing dénouement, gives Maisie the courage to confront the ghost that has haunted her for over ten years.
Dating Dead Men
by Harley Jane Kozak&“Dating Dead Men, Harley Jane Kozak&’s hilarious debut novel, proves that the search for love can be as funny as it is deadly.&”—Kris Neri, author of the Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Award-nominated Tracy Eaton mysteriesLos Angeles greeting-card artist Wollie Shelley is dating forty men in sixty days as research for a radio talk show host's upcoming book, How to Avoid Getting Dumped All the Time. Wollie is meeting plenty of eligible bachelors but not falling in love, not until she stumbles over a dead body en route to Rio Pescado--a state-run mental hospital--and is momentarily taken hostage by a charismatic "doctor" who is on the run from the Mob. Wollie fears that her beloved brother, a paranoid schizophrenic living at Rio Pescado, is involved in the murder, so rather than go to the authorities, she decides to solve the crime on her own. As she meets up with an array of small-time crooks and swaggering mobsters only slightly more sinister than the men she&’s been dating, Wollie realizes that "getting dumped" is the least of her problems. Finding true love, she discovers, sometimes means learning how to avoid getting killed . . . Dating Dead Men will keep readers guessing until the final bullet is shot--and cheering for the irresistible Wollie as she makes her way out of confusion and into the welcoming embrace of Mr. Right.
Better Off Wed
by Laura DurhamThe murder of a particularly difficult mother-of-the-bride has cast a pall on wedding planner Annabelle Archer's latest triumph -- and suspicion falls heavily on her sometime-business partner and friend Richard Gerard. Annabelle knows that even her trusted wedding emergency kit won't be able to salvage their careers if she and Richard can't find the real culprit. It's no easy task since the slain matron was perhaps the most hated socialite in D.C., but Annabelle navigates through the city's colorful wedding industry and powerful social scene on the deadly trail of a killer. Always the bridal consultant and never the bride, she's seen her fair share of bouquet tosses. But there's no telling what surprises a ruthless killer will throw her way if she gets too close.
The Heat of the Moon
by Sandra ParshallWinner of the 2007 Agatha Award for Best First NovelIf a door suddenly swings wide in your memory, what would you see?Young veterinarian Rachel Goddard's world begins to crumble when a client rushes into the animal hospital with a basset hound struck by a car during a thunderstorm. The dog owner's terrified tot, drenched with rain, loses sight of her mother in the flurry of activity and screams, "Mommy! I want Mommy!" Instantly Rachel is hurled back in time to a day in her own childhood when her baby sister Michelle uttered the same cry while thunder crashed and rain poured down on them. The unearthed memory feels like a fragment from a nightmare, and Rachel doesn't understand its meaning or the anguish it stirs up in her.When she seeks answers she learns nothing from Michelle or from Judith, their loving but manipulative mother. Judith is a psychologist who is only too happy to have her adult daughters still living in her elegant Tudor house outside Washington, DC. But their apparently serene home is a house of secrets where Judith's unspoken rules forbid questions about the family history or the daughters' long-dead father. As more baffling memories surface, Rachel begins to suspect that nothing about her family is what it seems. As her mother's attempts to control her accelerate, Rachel embarks on a quest that takes her deep into her own memory as well as halfway across the country. The heartbreaking truth she uncovers will shatter her world and force her to make an unthinkable choice.
Prime Time
by Hank Phillippi RyanIn the cutthroat world of television journalism, seasoned reporter Charlotte McNally knows that she'd better pull out all the stops or kiss her job goodbye. But it's her life that might be on the line when she learns that an innocent-looking e-mail offer resulted in murder, mayhem and a multimillion-dollar fraud ring.All too soon her investigation leads her straight to Josh Gelston, who is a little too helpful and a lot too handsome. Charlie might have a nose for news, but men are a whole other matter. Now she has to decide whether she can trust Josh...before she ends up as the next lead story.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
by Alan BradleyA delightfully dark English mystery, featuring precocious young sleuth Flavia de Luce and her eccentric family. The summer of 1950 hasn't offered up anything out of the ordinary for eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce: bicycle explorations around the village, keeping tabs on her neighbours, relentless battles with her older sisters, Ophelia and Daphne, and brewing up poisonous concoctions while plotting revenge in their home's abandoned Victorian chemistry lab, which Flavia has claimed for her own.
But then a series of mysterious events gets Flavia's attention: A dead bird is found on the doormat, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. A mysterious late-night visitor argues with her aloof father, Colonel de Luce, behind closed doors. And in the early morning Flavia finds a red-headed stranger lying in the cucumber patch and watches him take his dying breath.
For Flavia, the summer begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw: "I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn't. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life." Did the stranger die of poisoning? There was a piece missing from Mrs. Mullet's custard pie, and none of the de Luces would have dared to eat the awful thing. Or could he have been killed by the family's loyal handyman, Dogger... or by the Colonel himself?
At that moment, Flavia commits herself to solving the crime -- even if it means keeping information from the village police, in order to protect her family. But then her father confesses to the crime, for the same reason, and it's up to Flavia to free him of suspicion. Only she has the ingenuity to follow the clues that reveal the victim's identity, and a conspiracy that reaches back into the de Luces' murky past.
A thoroughly entertaining romp of a novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is inventive and quick-witted, with tongue-in-cheek humour that transcends the macabre seriousness of its subject.
Winner of the 2007 Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger.
The Long Quiche Goodbye
by Avery AamesWelcome to the grand opening of Fromagerie Bessette. Or as it's more commonly known by the residents of small-town Providence, Ohio-the Cheese Shop. Proprietor Charlotte Bessette has prepared a delightful sampling of bold Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, delicious tortes of Stilton and Mascarpone, and a taste of Sauvignon Blanc-but someone else has decided to make a little crime of passion the piece de resistance. Right outside the shop Charlotte finds a body, the victim stabbed to death with one of her prized olive-wood handled knives.Watch a Video
Learning to Swim
by Sara J. HenryWinner of the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, the Agatha Award for Best First Novel, and the Mary Higgins Clark Award When she sees what looks like a child tumbling from a ferry into frigid Lake Champlain, Troy Chance dives in without thinking. When she gets the child to shore she discovers that his name is Paul, he speaks only French--and no one seems to be looking for him. Her determination to protect Paul pulls Troy from her quiet life in a small Adirondack town into an unfamiliar world of wealth and privilege in Canada and then in Vermont. Her attachment to him--and the danger she faces when she tries to unravel the mystery of his abandonment--force her to evaluate everything she thought true about herself. Sara J. Henry's riveting, award-winning debut will keep readers engrossed right up to its shattering conclusion.From the Hardcover edition.s self-indulgence--a world in which the murder of a child is not unthinkable. She'll need skill and courage to survive and protect her charge and herself. Sara J. Henry's powerful and compelling Learning to Swim will move and disturb readers right up to its shattering conclusion.From the Hardcover edition.
Death Al Dente
by Leslie BudewitzFIRST IN A NEW SERIES! The town of Jewel Bay, Montana--known as a Food Lovers' Village--is obsessed with homegrown and homemade Montana fare. So when Erin Murphy takes over her family's century-old general store, she turns it into a boutique market filled with local delicacies. But Erin's freshly booming business might go rotten when a former employee turns up dead... Murphy's Mercantile, known as the Merc, has been a staple in Jewel Bay for over a hundred years. To celebrate their recent makeover as a gourmet food market, Erin has organized a town festival, Festa di Pasta, featuring the culinary goods of Jewel Bay's finest--including her mother Fresca's delicious Italian specialties. But Erin's sweet success is soured when the shop's former manager, Claudette, is found dead behind the Merc on the Festa's opening night. With rival chef James Angelo stirring up rumors that Fresca's sauce recipes were stolen from Claudette, Erin's mother is under close scrutiny. Now Erin will have to hunt down some new suspects, or both her family and her store might wind up in hot water... INCLUDES FRESH, DELICIOUS RECIPES!
Well Read, Then Dead
by Terrie Farley MoranFirst in a new series! Nestled in the barrier islands of Florida's Gulf Coast, Fort Myers Beach is home to Mary "Sassy" Cabot and Bridget Mayfield--owners of the bookstore café, Read 'Em and Eat. But when they're not dishing about books or serving up scones, Sassy and Bridgy are keeping tabs on hard-boiled murder. Read 'Em and Eat is known for its delicious breakfast and lunch treats, along with quite a colorful clientele. If it's not Rowena Gustavson loudly debating the merits of the current book club selection, it's Miss Augusta Maddox lecturing tourists on rumors of sunken treasure among the islands. It's no wonder Sassy's favorite is Delia Batson, a regular at the Emily Dickinson table. Augusta's cousin and best friend Delia is painfully shy--which makes the news of her murder all the more shocking. No one is more distraught than Augusta, and Sassy wants to help any way she can. But Augusta doesn't have time for sympathy. She wants Delia's killer found--and she's not taking no for an answer. Now Sassy is on the case, and she'd better act fast before there's any more trouble in paradise. Includes a buttermilk pie recipe!
The Semester of Our Discontent
by Cynthia KuhnAgatha Award Winner: “An engaging heroine, a college setting that will have you aching to go back to school, and a puzzler of a mystery.” —Laura DiSilverio, national bestselling author of the Readaholics Book Club Mysteries English professor Lila Maclean is thrilled about her new job at prestigious Stonedale University—until she finds one of her colleagues dead. When she herself is suspected of involvement—by everyone from the chancellor to the detective working the case—she has no choice but to assign herself the role of amateur detective. More attacks on professors follow, and the only connection is a curious symbol at each of the crime scenes. Putting her scholarly skills to the test, Lila gathers evidence, but her search is complicated by an unexpected nemesis, a suspicious investigator, and an ominous secret society. Rather than earning an “A” for effort, she receives a threat featuring the mysterious emblem and must act quickly to avoid failing . . . and becoming the next victim. This Agatha Award winner for Best First Novel is “a pitch-perfect portrayal of academic life with a beguiling cast of anxious newbies, tweedy old troublemakers and scholars as sharp as they’re wise” (Catriona McPherson, author of the Dandy Gilver series). “Kuhn is phenomenal at conveying the tension-filled atmosphere that inundates higher institutions, where one’s fate rests entirely on a few out-of-touch, pompous faculty members.” —Kings River Life Magazine “A very intricate, cool story featuring the depth of an institution where everyone is dying to climb the ladder of success.” —Suspense Magazine
A Great Deliverance
by Elizabeth GeorgeTo this day, the low, thin wail of an infant can be heard in Keldale's lush green valleys. Three hundred years ago, as legend goes, the frightened Yorkshire villagers smothered a crying babe in Keldale Abbey, where they'd hidden to escape the ravages of Cromwell's raiders. Now into Keldale's pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside. For fat, unlovely Roberta Teys has been found in her best dress, an axe in her lap, seated in the old stone barn beside her father's headless corpse. Her first and last words were "I did it. And I'm not sorry. " Yet as Lynley and Havers wind their way through Keldale's dark labyrinth of secret scandals and appalling crimes, they uncover a shattering series of revelations that will reverberate through this tranquil English valley--and in their own lives as well. From the Paperback edition.
Naughty In Nice
by Rhys BowenRoyalty has its privileges, even when you're thirty-fourth in line to the throne, as Lady Georgiana Rannoch discovers on the glamorous--and dangerous--French Riviera... Why should my clueless brother, Binky, and his decidedly disagreeable wife, Fig, be the only ones to enjoy the fun and sun of the French Riviera? Thankfully, Her Majesty the Queen has once again come to my rescue. She is sending me off to Nice with a secret assignment--recover her priceless, stolen snuff box from the disreputable Sir Toby Groper. Her Majesty's trust is an honor, but an even greater honor is bestowed upon me in Nice--none other than Coco Chanel herself asks me to model her latest fashion. Unfortunately, things go disastrously wrong on the catwalk and before I can snatch the snuff box, someone's life is snuffed out in a very dastardly way. With a murderer on the loose--and my dearest Darcy seen in the company of another woman--how's a girl to find any time to go to the casino?
Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for a Murder
by Catriona McPhersonA cosy Dandy Gilver mystery set in 1920s Scotland. For fans of PG Wodehouse, Alexander McCall Smith and Agatha Christie.'Dan Brown meets Barbara Pym . . . Dandy is brisk, baffled, heroic, kindly, scandalised and - above all - very funny.' Guardian 'One of several authors recreating the Golden Age of the British crime novel and a legion of fans adore the tongue-in-cheek cases that come the way of Dandy Gilver, a very Scottish middle class sleuth.' Northamptonshire Evening TelegraphFriday 3rd June, 1927Dear Alec,'Careful what you wish for, lest it come true' is my new motto, and here is why. I was summoned to Dunfermline, that old grey town, in the matter of a missing heiress.She had flounced off in a sulk over forbidden love and I, suspecting elopement, was loath to take the job of scouring guesthouses to find the little madam and her paramour. Before I could wriggle out of it, though, there was a murder in the mix - or was it suicide? I had hardly begun to decide when it happened again. Then I was sacked. Actually sacked! By two separate people, and both dismissals in writing. And that's not even the worst of it, darling: matters here are careering downwards much in the style of a runaway train.Please hurry - or who knows where it might end,Dandy xxCatriona McPherson's latest novel in the series, Dandy Gilver and a Spot of Toil and Trouble is now available for pre-order.
A Question of Honor
by Charles ToddIn the latest mystery from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd, World War I nurse and amateur sleuth Bess Crawford investigates an old murder that occurred during her childhood in India, a search for the truth that will transform her and leave her pondering a troubling question: How can facts lie?Bess Crawford enjoyed a wondrous childhood in India, where her father, a colonel in the British Army, was stationed on the Northwest Frontier. But an unforgettable incident darkened that happy time. In 1908, Colonel Crawfords regiment discovered that it had a murderer in its ranks, an officer who killed five people in India and England yet was never brought to trial. In the eyes of many of these soldiers, men defined by honor and duty, the crime was a stain on the regiments reputation and on the good name of Besss father, the Colonel Sahib, who had trained the killer. A decade later, tending to the wounded on the battlefields of France during World War I, Bess learns from a dying Indian sergeant that the supposed murderer, Lieutenant Wade, is alive--and serving at the Front. Bess cannot believe the shocking news. According to reliable reports, Wades body had been seen deep in the Khyber Pass, where he had died trying to reach Afghanistan. Soon, though, her mind is racing. How had he escaped from India? What had driven a good man to murder in cold blood?Wanting answers, she uses her leave to investigate. In the village where the first three killings took place, she discovers that the locals are certain that the British soldier was innocent. Yet the present owner of the house where the crime was committed believes otherwise, and is convinced that Besss father helped Wade flee. To settle the matter once and for all, Bess sets out to find Wade and let the courts decide. But when she stumbles on the horrific truth, something that even the famous writer Rudyard Kipling had kept secret all his life, she is shaken to her very core. The facts will damn Wade even as they reveal a brutal reality, a reality that could have been her own fate.
Queen of Hearts
by Rhys BowenDownton Abbey fans will rejoice for Lady Georgiana Rannoch, thirty-fifth in line for the British throne, who's off to Hollywood, where she must reprise her role as sleuth...
My mother, the glamorous and much-married actress, is hearing wedding bells once again--which is why she must hop across the pond for a quickie divorce in Reno. To offer my moral support, and since all expenses are paid by her new hubby-to-be, Max, I agree to make the voyage with her.Crossing the Atlantic, with adventure in the air and wealthy men aboard, Mother meets movie mogul Cy Goldman who insists on casting her in his next picture. Meanwhile, I find myself caught up in the secret investigation of a suspected jewel thief. Lucky for me, the lead investigator happens to be my dashing beau, Darcy!Mother's movie and Darcy's larceny lead everyone to Cy's Hollywood home, where the likes of Charlie Chaplin are hanging about and there's enough romantic intrigue to fill a double feature. But we hardly get a chance to work out the sleeping arrangements before Cy turns up dead. As if there wasn't enough drama already...
Dreaming Spies
by Laurie R. KingLaurie R. King's New York Times bestselling novels of suspense featuring Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, are critically acclaimed and beloved by readers for the author's adept interplay of history and adventure. Now the intrepid duo is finally trying to take a little time for themselves--only to be swept up in a baffling case that will lead them from the idyllic panoramas of Japan to the depths of Oxford's most revered institution. After a lengthy case that had the couple traipsing all over India, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are on their way to California to deal with some family business that Russell has been neglecting for far too long. Along the way, they plan to break up the long voyage with a sojourn in southern Japan. The cruising steamer Thomas Carlyle is leaving Bombay, bound for Kobe. Though they're not the vacationing types, Russell is looking forward to a change of focus--not to mention a chance to travel to a location Holmes has not visited before. The idea of the pair being on equal footing is enticing to a woman who often must race to catch up with her older, highly skilled husband. Aboard the ship, intrigue stirs almost immediately. Holmes recognizes the famous clubman the Earl of Darley, whom he suspects of being an occasional blackmailer: not an unlikely career choice for a man richer in social connections than in pounds sterling. And then there's the lithe, surprisingly fluent young Japanese woman who befriends Russell and quotes haiku. She agrees to tutor the couple in Japanese language and customs, but Russell can't shake the feeling that Haruki Sato is not who she claims to be. Once in Japan, Russell's suspicions are confirmed in a most surprising way. From the glorious city of Tokyo to the cavernous library at Oxford, Russell and Holmes race to solve a mystery involving international extortion, espionage, and the shocking secrets that, if revealed, could spark revolution--and topple an empire. Praise for the award-winning novels of Laurie R. King "The great marvel of King's series is that she's managed to preserve the integrity of Holmes's character and yet somehow conjure up a woman astute, edgy, and compelling enough to be the partner of his mind as well as his heart."--The Washington Post Book World "The most sustained feat of imagination in mystery fiction today."--Lee Child "A lively adventure in the very best of intellectual company."--The New York Times "Erudite, fascinating . . . by all odds the most successful re-creation of the famous inhabitant of 221B Baker Street ever attempted."--Houston Chronicle "Intricate clockworks, wheels within wheels."--Booklist (starred review) "Imaginative and subtle."--The Seattle Times "Impossible to put down."--Romantic Times "Remarkably beguiling."--The Boston Globe
The Reek of Red Herrings
by Catriona McPhersonAgatha Award Winner for Best Historical Novel: Something fishy is going on in this clever mystery with “an exciting climax” set in a tiny Scottish village (Publishers Weekly).Winner, Lefty Award for Best Historical Mystery NovelFinalist, Macavity/Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical MysteryOn the rain-drenched, wind-battered Banffshire coast, dilapidated mansions cling to cliff tops and tiny fishing villages perch on ledges that would make a seagull think twice. It’s nowhere for Dandy Gilver, a child of gentle Northamptonshire, to spend Christmas.But when odd things start to turn up in barrels of fish—with a strong whiff of murder most foul—that’s exactly where she finds herself. Enlisted to investigate, Dandy and her trusty cohort, Alec Osborne, are soon swept up in the fisherfolks’ wedding season as well as the mystery. Between age-old traditions and brand-new horrors, Dandy must think the unthinkable to solve her most baffling case yet.“A host of colorful characters . . . the setting of this cozy thriller is vividly detailed and full of creeping menace.” —Kirkus Reviews“Not since Maisie Dobbs first surfaced has there been a pluckier or more winning heroine.” —Charles Finch, author of The Fleet Street Murders“A dandy series.” —The Boston Globe
The Mutual Admiration Society
by Mo MoultonA group biography of renowned crime novelist Dorothy L. Sayers and the Oxford women who stood at the vanguard of equal rights Dorothy L. Sayers is now famous for her Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane detective series, but she was equally well known during her life for an essay asking "Are Women Human?" Women's rights were expanding rapidly during Sayers's lifetime; she and her friends were some of the first women to receive degrees from Oxford. Yet, as historian Mo Moulton reveals, it was clear from the many professional and personal obstacles they faced that society was not ready to concede that women were indeed fully human. Dubbing themselves the Mutual Admiration Society, Sayers and her classmates remained lifelong friends and collaborators as they fought for a truly democratic culture that acknowledged their equal humanity. A celebration of feminism and female friendship, The Mutual Admiration Society offers crucial insight into Dorothy L. Sayers and her world.