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Mystery Authors (B)



minna bardon



Minna (Feibleman) Bardon (1900-1974), graduated from Hughes High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, and worked her way through college at the Jewish Settlement community center. She sold her first story when she was 12, and wrote a number of romance, detective, children’s, and science fiction tales before writing ten books (at least four of which are mysteries). She married Emanuel Bardon in 1931 and had twin daughters and a son. She worked in advertising, then for Writer’s Digest. She also wrote book reviews for the Cincinnati Enquirer. After her husband died in 1958 she became a social worker, helping women find jobs.



Murder Does Light Housekeeping



Murder follows murder in Mrs. Meyer’s light housekeeping apartments. Eighteen-year-old Jane Robbins tells the story, aided by comments from Inspector Burke, who developed a fondness for Jane’s coffee and a habit of using her as a ready listener—or is he just keeping an eye on a suspect? Another resident of the building, a young reporter named Riley, discovers an interest in crime detection and his pretty neighbor simultaneously. After the last murder, a checkup of the clues and suspects reveals a knotty problem. Jane’s kitchen experience may keep her out of the electric chair, but she might just end up as the killer’s next target . . .


Murder Does Light Housekeeping was published in 1941. This edition includes an introduction by detective fiction historian Curt Evans.


Amazon epub

The Case of the Advertised Murder



When a beautiful young woman was found brutally murdered in the advertising department of a great luxury store, a ghoulish Roman holiday began. A campaign was launched whereby the store might capitalize on whatever publicity the crime afforded. But the mills of justice began to grind swiftly, and bright taglines gave way to stark headlines which commanded: Who killed Mary Smith? And who was responsible for the three violent deaths which followed? Too many suspects, too many motives, innumerable clues, set the entire police force on edge. But the answer was found by the matchless Detective Inspector Hank Bemis, who declared that when bigger mysteries were uncovered, he’d be the one to solve them.


Amazon epub

Blood-Red Death



The atmosphere didn’t crackle with suspense. Nobody felt a shiver of apprehension. Rather, Flo Fenton laughed at the ludicrous sight of a 265-pound woman, in diamonds and a cotton sunsuit, standing precariously on a ladder and reaching for a ripe tomato. . . .


A minute later, the ladder had broken and the “Duchess” was dead. . . . By some trick of memory, Flo’s mind substituted for the scene before her another picture: herself as a young bride, a blood-smeared wedding dress, and a dead husband. Was there any connection? Was this, too, murder?


Haunted by the past, horrified by the present, Flo found herself once more pursued by fear—and violent death.


Amazon epub

Oliver Weld Bayer



Writer Eleanor Bayer (nee Rosenfeld) (1914-1981) and her husband, attorney Leo Grossfeld Bayer (n.d.-1950), collaborated on several crime novels under the pseudonym Oscar Weld Bayer. Eleanor later married film director Frank Perry.



Brutal Question



It was shortly after he started working as radio master of ceremonies for Martha and her curious coterie of Washington socialites that Alec Pike learned of the suicide in Italy of Harvey Benson, a news analyst and boyhood friend. Alec refused to believe Benson's death was suicide. Oddly enough, the people connected with the death in Italy began to appear on Martha’s broadcasting schedule. It couldn't be coincidence. Too many people were bought off, too many stories were killed when Alec came close to real information.


Alec’s suspicions of Martha grew stronger after an attack on his life, and he cleverly set the stage to find out just how guilty she was. From that point on, fast-moving events gave the answer to a brutal question.


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Arnold Bennett



Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) was a popular English novelist, but had a deft hand at short stories, also.



The Loot of Cities



What's a bored millionaire to do? Cecil Thorold solves some puzzles, rights some wrongs, investigates some crimes, and finds romance in six stories. In addition, there are seven additional tales of crime, mystery, romance, and the supernatural by Arnold Bennett.


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Anita Blackmon



Anita Blackmon (1892-1943) was born in Arkansas. She attended Ouachita College and the University of Chicago. She taught school until she married a railroad man, Harry Pugh Smith, and they moved to St. Louis. She became a writer and eventually published over a thousand short stories and several novels.



Murder a la Richelieu



Anita Blackmon wrote two mystery novels starring the elderly Adelaide Adams, a bit tongue-in-cheek over the Had-I-But-Known tradition of detective stories. As Adelaide notes in the first story, “Had I suspected the orgy of bloodshed upon which we were about to embark, I should then and there, in spite of my bulk and an arthritic knee, have taken shrieking to my heels.”


In Murder á la Richelieu, Adelaide ends up investigating murder at the Hotel Richelieu in an unnamed Southern city (but clearly based on Little Rock, AR).


Amazon epub

There is No Return



Anita Blackmon wrote two mystery novels starring the elderly Adelaide Adams, a bit tongue-in-cheek over the Had-I-But-Known tradition of detective stories.


There is No Return takes place at the Lebeau Inn, isolated in the Ozark mountains. There, guests are trapped at the inn with a murderer on the loose. Both are enjoyable, sometimes humorous, mysteries with a strong female protagonist who finds herself having to deal with strange characters and mysterious events.


The paperback editions include Golden-Age mystery historian Curt Evans' bibliographic introduction to author Anita Blackmon.


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eleanor blake



Eleanor Atkinson (1899-1952) was born in July 1899 in Hinsdale, Illinois. Eleanor was the daughter of journalists and authors Francis Blake Atkinson and Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson (most famed for the 1912 novel Greyfriars Bobby). Eleanor married advertising copywriter George Wallace Cox in 1922, and had two children, Eleanor and Wallace (but soon divorced after her son was born). During the 1930s, she remarried, to Benson K. Pratt. Her son was actor Wally Cox (1924 - 1973). Wally noted in one interview that his mother was nomadic, traveling around the country, and that he attended nine schools in twelve years. She wrote for a Chicago newspaper for ten years. As a journalist for a Detroit newspaper during prohibition, Eleanor wrote a feature story recounting her adventure first riding with a rum runner smuggling alcohol from Canada to Ohio, then joining the Coast Guard as they chased the smuggler. Eleanor died in West Nyack, New York, January 14, 1952



The Jade Green Cats



Here’s a story written in breezy journalese that has all the ingredients of a first-class thriller: crime, mystery, and love. Fresh and hot as “front page” stuff, it travels swiftly, keyed to the author’s enthusiasm for the setting—her own town, Chicago—her newspaper experience, her own obvious passion for life, its perpetual intrigue, plot and counterplot.


The whole story comes to the reader through the eyes of reporter Kym, and of Dawn Carson—“sob-sister-in-chief to Chicago’s most spectacular evening paper.” A story in which are involved an Evanston professor and his highly decorative wife; the police of that “snooty” suburb; Chicago’s Chief of Detectives; Annie Thompson—who raises delphiniums for a living; Karl Meisterburg, wearing a fur-collared coat in August; Dawn and Kym falling in love. And all revolving around a mysterious pair of jade green cats. Like the Sphinx they will guard their secret to the end.


Amazon epub

Death Down East



The summer that Alicia Richmond and her father rented the old Greene place started out just like any other season for the families who vacationed each year at Sidley’s Cove. But the pleasant, normal routine of that little Maine fishing village soon changed. Alicia, without even trying, knocked the men for a loop, and all the younger women, married and unmarried, were up in arms about it. Mr. Richmond hired Fred Mack, who for years had been the Herrod’s family retainer. And then Mark Crosby, the detective, came to stay with the Richmonds, ostensibly as a guest, but really to investigate a mysterious death which had occurred twenty-five years before. Still, life ran smoothly enough until the evening of the first clam-bake. That night Alicia Richmond fell into the ocean. When they got her back on the beach, she was dead. Dr. Carver said it was an accident. But both Mark Crosby and Dr. Carver knew that some one had committed a carefully planned murder.


Death Down East is a salty yarn, filled with suspense that will keep you on the edge of your chair till the last page is finished.


Amazon epub

Louis F. Booth



Louis F. Booth (1903-1996) was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He became a civil engineer with a firm in New Jersey, and wrote two mysteries.



The Bank Vault Mystery / Broker's End



The Bank Vault Mystery: Three engineers accompanied by the manager visited the vault of the Consolidated Bank. Shortly after they left, a bag containing $180,000 in cash was missing. And so commenced the famous bank vault case in which Maxwell Fenner, the casual, dapper detective, tracked six suspects through a maze of motives and murder to find a criminal genius.


Brokers' End: It was a clever set up. The Treasurer of the great bond concern of F. W. Strong lay across his elaborate mahogany desk with a bullet hole in his forehead. His revolver was at hand, the ejected shell gleamed from the carpet nearby. Motive? The House of Strong after forty years of business "without loss to any investor" had been declared insolvent by the Court and there were rumors of "irregularities" in the books. It was a clever set up, but then commenced the pursuit and detection of the most diabolically ingenious murders in the experience of the dapper, casual, and disconcertingly naive Maxwell Fenner.


The Bank Vault Mystery epub Amazon Brokers' End epub

Allan R. Bosworth



Captain Allan Rucker Bosworth (1901-1986) served in the US Navy and Navy Reserve for almost four decades. He was born in Texas, worked as a journalist in San Francisco, and lived in Roanoke, Virginia, for much of his life. He wrote several books, and numerous articles and short stories.



Full Crash Dive



The submarine Starfish makes a scheduled full crash dive, but disaster strikes and it doesn’t return to the surface. Half the crew drowns and the Navy scrambles to save the rest. Retired Admiral Wetherbee is laid up with a broken leg, but he begins his own investigation into the tragedy, which soon turns into a full-blown murder inquiry with a killer roaming the hospital ship. The author uses his extensive naval background to create an atmospheric thriller on, and under, the high seas.


Amazon epub

Anita Boutell



Anita Boutell (1895-1972) was born in Newark, New Jersey. She ran a dance studio in Philadelphia and performed on stage in Greenwich Village. In 1938 she published the first of several mystery and crime stories.



Death Brings a Storke / Cradled in Fear



Death Brings a Storke: Dr. Archie Storke investigates the death of a gunshot victim in a quaint English village.


Cradled in Fear: a young newlywed confronts her husband’s ancestral home complete with strange relatives and a dangerous cliff in a psychological thriller.


Cradled in Fear epub Amazon Death Brings a Storke epub

Jack Boyle



Jack Boyle (1881-1928) grew up in Chicago and became a newspaper reporter in San Francisco, but drug addiction led him to crime and he served time in San Quentin. While in prison, he created Boston Blackie.



Boston Blackie & Friends



Jack Boyle’s Boston Blackie is one of the best-known crooks in mystery and crime fiction. Making a gritty start in his earliest tales, he was transformed into a “gentleman thief” who lived by his own code, taking what he wanted, but always willing to help out a pal. These stories paint emotional backdrops for the criminal class, making no excuses for crimes committed, but pointing out flaws and corruption in the justice system and in society as a whole. Boyle brings his characters to life, and some are quite memorable. Blackie himself is one of the more likable antiheroes in the genre, which is probably why his character was later reformed into a detective for the movies and a radio program. This anthology includes the original 1914 American Magazine stories, the "reboot" from Cosmopolitan, and a 1925 Los Angeles Times serial.


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Mary Hastings bradley



Mary Hastings Bradley (1882-1976) was born in Highland Park, IL, graduated from Smith College, and studied at Oxford. She married lawyer Herbert Bradley, who was an avid big game hunter and explorer, and they traveled together, with daughter Alice, on expeditions. During WW2, she was a war correspondent for Colliers. She wrote several books on her adventures, as well as numerous fiction novels.



Murder in the Family /
Nice People Murder



Murder in the Family: A widow who has just lost a child to murder sends for an old beau when she suspects that someone is planning to kill her also. Lawyer Calvin Morse arrives at the old Tennessee manor house, landing in the middle of a deadly plot incited by a family inheritance.

Nice People Murder: A young lawyer and his friend are invited to a remote Maine mansion to quietly replace a wealthy man's will. The secret is out, however, and a murderer strikes before the will is changed. Some motives are obvious, but do the police have the right suspect?


Nice People Murder epub Murder in the Family epub Amazon

Nice People Poison /
Murder in Room 700



Nice People Poison: A cocktail party turns deadly when arsenic turns up in a highball. Attorney Nicholas Parry investigates on behalf of a client, following slender clues left by a clever killer. A police reenactment, though, gives the murderer another opportunity . . .


Murder in Room 700: Philip Darrow is murdered in a hotel room, checked in under an assumed name, and the police are in pursuit of the unknown woman who had met him there. Virginia Channing is desperate that her connection not be discovered, but Phil's friend Stephen Ryder, the Assistant District Attorney, has his own suspicions.


Nice People Poison epub Murder in Room 700 epub Amazon

Ernest Bramah



Ernest Bramah Smith (1868-1942) was an English author who published over 20 books and numerous short stories.



12 Cases for Max Carrados



Max Carrados had an accident, leaving him blind, but he doesn't let that stop him. Using his hyper-sensitive senses and keen mind, he becomes involved in a number of mysteries (many brought to him by his private detective friend, Carlyle), bringing justice to those wronged by criminal hands.


This collection includes the original 12 stories that were first published in a U.K. newspaper in 1913. (These were later collected in the first two Max Carrados books.)


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John Gordon Brandon



John Gordon Brandon was the pseudonym of John Gordon Joyce (1879-1941), an Australian-born writer with an incredible output of mysteries. He wrote over 120 novels and many short stories.



The One-Minute Murder



The Honourable A. S. Pennington, that hard-bitten, world-wandering scion of aristocracy whom some wit once christened ‘The Monocled Tramp’, investigates a murder that takes place onstage during a theater production. Aided by his man, Wibley, a reformed cracksman, Pennington races the police to solve the puzzle when he himself comes under suspicion.


The One-Minute Murder was published in 1934. Due to copyright restrictions, it is not available in the U.S.


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Dorothy Foster Brown



Dorothy Foster Brown (1901-2011) was an artist from Worcester, Massachusetts, with training from the School of the Worcester Art Museum. She specialized in Art Deco-style illustrations and paintings. She was a published poet and a well-respected button collector. She wrote Button Parade (1942, 1968) and The Big Book of Buttons (1981). Grimm Death (1946) was her only mystery.



Grimm Death



When Deacon Grimm was found dead in a neighbor’s barn, half the population of the New England village of Highbrook was suspect. The Deacon had not been a lovable character! Archer Brett, of the State Police, was no streamlined super-sleuth; he was only human, like the people and problems he had to contend with. Everyone, he found, had something to hide; seemingly innocent actions were twisted and darkened by suspicion until they emerged as perfect motives for murder, or positive signs of guilt. Archer did his best, but not before a second violent death complicated matters further.


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gelett burgess



Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) was an artist, author, poet, and critic, best known for his humorous verses and children's stories. He also coined the word, 'blurb.'



Ladies in Boxes



"Not one but three beautiful women are murder victims in this lively and logical yarn, whose hero is a young inspector of New York’s homicide squad. Burgess writes freshly, avoids most of the cliches of his craft and produces a story that contains both sense and excitement." (1942 review)


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Richard Burke



Richard Burke (1886-1962) was a newspaper typesetter, actor, photographer, and author of ten books (several featuring Broadway detective Quinny Hite).



Chinese Red / Here Lies the Body



The inimitable Quinny Hite is on the case—tough, cocky Quinny who invariably ends up in deeper waters of detection than he bargained for. Quinny's territory is Times Square, but he'll dig in wherever he is when murder appears.


Chinese Red: A wealthy playboy disappears from a dinner party at a Chinese restaurant, only to be found murdered. Quinny finds plenty of suspects, and one beautiful half-Chinese, half-Russian singer.


Here Lies the Body: A cold-hearted patriarch is found murdered in the family cemetery. Family secrets complicate Quinny’s investigation (not to mention a jarring ride on horseback).


Here Lies the Body epub Amazon Chinese Red epub

The Fourth Star / Sinister Street



The Fourth Star: Quinny investigates the mysterious death of a woman found in an empty home owned by her ex-husband.


Sinister Street: Quinny is hired to investigate a robbery, but murder soon exposes a more insidious plot.


The Fourth Star epub Amazon Sinister Street epub

Helen Burnham



Helen Burnham was born in California in June 1896. By the U.S. Census of 1900, her father, Milton, was widowed, and the family (including younger sister Florence) lived in Oakland, California. By 1920, Helen was a “successful writer of short stories and scenarios,” and by 1931 she had published her first mystery. At that time she was working as a stenographer at San Francisco’s Clift Hotel (owned by Helen’s uncle, Frederick Clift). The second mystery followed in 1932. Briefly married, then divorced, Helen continued her secretarial work at the Parker Ranch in Hawaii up through the mid-1940s. At the present time, no further details on her life are known.



The Murder of Lalla Lee /
The Telltale Telegram



In O. W. Wimble, Miss Burnham’s pleasant criminologist, we have a new type of detective, a philosopher who has found “that the better a chap ‘likes’ folks the more information he can get out of them.” His genuine liking for most people, even criminal, seems to be a factor in the remarkable success that has earned for him the cognomen of “One Week” Wimble—the maximum time for his solving of a crime puzzle.

Here are the two Wimble mysteries. In the first, an ex-chorus girl who has married an older wealthy man is found dead in her home, just as she was expected to meet with O. W. Wimble to pass along information for the District Attorney. In the second, a gigolo is found stabbed to death at a house party, just before the announcement of his engagement to the wealthy hostess. Both mysteries feature engaging characters and detailed plots.


Telegram epub Amazon Lalla Lee epub

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