Robin Agnew
@robinagnew.bsky.social
Love golden age, traditional & historical mysteries. Reviewer, reader. History mystery column in Deadly Pleasures.
Love figure skating. Visit me at auntagathas.com
Love figure skating. Visit me at auntagathas.com
"Like most of those people whose personality has to be consciously expressed in the things they create, she was a little more of a person, a little more clear in outline than is usual. She had no suggestion of overemphasis, but she was a sharp, vivid entity..." THE FASHION IN SHROUDS, M. Allingham
December 10, 2025 at 11:37 AM
"Like most of those people whose personality has to be consciously expressed in the things they create, she was a little more of a person, a little more clear in outline than is usual. She had no suggestion of overemphasis, but she was a sharp, vivid entity..." THE FASHION IN SHROUDS, M. Allingham
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1940.
December 9, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1940.
"Shake your business up and pour it. I don't have all day." -- THE BIG SLEEP, Raymond Chandler
December 9, 2025 at 11:19 AM
"Shake your business up and pour it. I don't have all day." -- THE BIG SLEEP, Raymond Chandler
No lying to the librarian, people!
December 8, 2025 at 7:15 PM
No lying to the librarian, people!
"All art requires is courage and the commitment to eat lots of biscuits." -- David Ellis
December 8, 2025 at 11:08 AM
"All art requires is courage and the commitment to eat lots of biscuits." -- David Ellis
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1941.
December 7, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1941.
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date of Burke's classic, 1987.
December 6, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date of Burke's classic, 1987.
“The night landscape refused full dark in that magical way that only snow could provide, soaking in the starlight and moonlight and offering it back as a trapped blue iridescence." -- THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD, Michael Koryta
(Artist: David Langevin)
(Artist: David Langevin)
December 6, 2025 at 11:04 AM
“The night landscape refused full dark in that magical way that only snow could provide, soaking in the starlight and moonlight and offering it back as a trapped blue iridescence." -- THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD, Michael Koryta
(Artist: David Langevin)
(Artist: David Langevin)
Happy Birthday to one of the greatest living American writers, James Lee Burke, 1936, Houston, Texas. He is best know for his classic series featuring New Orleans P.I. Dave Robicheaux. He has won 3 Edgars for Best Novel as well as being named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.
December 5, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Happy Birthday to one of the greatest living American writers, James Lee Burke, 1936, Houston, Texas. He is best know for his classic series featuring New Orleans P.I. Dave Robicheaux. He has won 3 Edgars for Best Novel as well as being named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.
Happy Birthday Cornell Woolrich, 1903, New York City. Writing under his own name as well as pen names William Irish and George Hopley, he created some of the greatest of noir fiction. He may be best remembered today for his 1942 novella REAR WINDOW, which became the classic film in 1954.
December 4, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Happy Birthday Cornell Woolrich, 1903, New York City. Writing under his own name as well as pen names William Irish and George Hopley, he created some of the greatest of noir fiction. He may be best remembered today for his 1942 novella REAR WINDOW, which became the classic film in 1954.
"Do you think women can do anything that men can?" she asked.
"No," he replied. Her face fell. "I believe they can do more," he said. "And someday, the world may allow them to." -- FIRE MUST BURN, Allison Montclair (forthcoming, Jan. 2026)
"No," he replied. Her face fell. "I believe they can do more," he said. "And someday, the world may allow them to." -- FIRE MUST BURN, Allison Montclair (forthcoming, Jan. 2026)
December 4, 2025 at 11:17 AM
"Do you think women can do anything that men can?" she asked.
"No," he replied. Her face fell. "I believe they can do more," he said. "And someday, the world may allow them to." -- FIRE MUST BURN, Allison Montclair (forthcoming, Jan. 2026)
"No," he replied. Her face fell. "I believe they can do more," he said. "And someday, the world may allow them to." -- FIRE MUST BURN, Allison Montclair (forthcoming, Jan. 2026)
Loved this show, and this typical exchange between Phyrne and poor put upon Jack
December 3, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Loved this show, and this typical exchange between Phyrne and poor put upon Jack
"Books are like oxygen to a deep sea diver," she had once said. "Take them away and you might as well begin counting the bubbles." -- I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS, Alan Bradley
December 3, 2025 at 11:11 AM
"Books are like oxygen to a deep sea diver," she had once said. "Take them away and you might as well begin counting the bubbles." -- I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS, Alan Bradley
Farrar & Rinehart, 1939. Rare Stout stand alone novel.
December 2, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Farrar & Rinehart, 1939. Rare Stout stand alone novel.
auntagathas.com/aa/jennie-go... This came out in the UK last year, hits stateside the end of the month. One of the more interesting books I read all year, with an incredible 12 year old main character.
December 2, 2025 at 3:18 PM
auntagathas.com/aa/jennie-go... This came out in the UK last year, hits stateside the end of the month. One of the more interesting books I read all year, with an incredible 12 year old main character.
auntagathas.com/aa/best-of-2... Our reviewers - Margaret Agnew, Cathy Akers-Jordan, Vicki Kondelik and Carla Schantz have spoken! Here are their picks for favorite reads of 2025.
December 1, 2025 at 2:50 PM
auntagathas.com/aa/best-of-2... Our reviewers - Margaret Agnew, Cathy Akers-Jordan, Vicki Kondelik and Carla Schantz have spoken! Here are their picks for favorite reads of 2025.
WELCOME, DECEMBER: “The crisp path through the field in this December snow, in the deep dark, where we trod the buried grass like ghosts on dry toast.”
― Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning
(Artist: Kaoru Yamada)
― Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning
(Artist: Kaoru Yamada)
December 1, 2025 at 11:30 AM
WELCOME, DECEMBER: “The crisp path through the field in this December snow, in the deep dark, where we trod the buried grass like ghosts on dry toast.”
― Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning
(Artist: Kaoru Yamada)
― Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning
(Artist: Kaoru Yamada)
Happy Birthday to the master of the locked room mystery, John Dickson Carr, 1906, Pennsylvania. The prolific author also wrote as Carter Dickson, and was greatly influenced by G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown books.
November 30, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Happy Birthday to the master of the locked room mystery, John Dickson Carr, 1906, Pennsylvania. The prolific author also wrote as Carter Dickson, and was greatly influenced by G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown books.
“Men do, I've found, accept the most errant nonsense from a well dressed woman.”
― Laurie R. King, Justice Hall
― Laurie R. King, Justice Hall
November 30, 2025 at 11:33 AM
“Men do, I've found, accept the most errant nonsense from a well dressed woman.”
― Laurie R. King, Justice Hall
― Laurie R. King, Justice Hall
Pub date 1937. This features the most classic of murder weapons, a jeroboam of champagne.
November 29, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Pub date 1937. This features the most classic of murder weapons, a jeroboam of champagne.
“In his younger days, he had believed in the concept of certainty. It had been a chastening experience to feel the sand being sucked from under the shoes of that belief. The human condition was truly inscrutable, he now knew...”
― Vaseem Khan, Murder at the Grand Raj Palace
― Vaseem Khan, Murder at the Grand Raj Palace
November 29, 2025 at 12:44 PM
“In his younger days, he had believed in the concept of certainty. It had been a chastening experience to feel the sand being sucked from under the shoes of that belief. The human condition was truly inscrutable, he now knew...”
― Vaseem Khan, Murder at the Grand Raj Palace
― Vaseem Khan, Murder at the Grand Raj Palace
Originally published in 1954 in hardcover. This is the bargain $.35 paperback from Ace.
November 28, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Originally published in 1954 in hardcover. This is the bargain $.35 paperback from Ace.
“Perhaps the habit of intrigue is catching--in the air or the walls. Like secret passages, only in the mind.”
― Susan Kenney, Garden of Malice
― Susan Kenney, Garden of Malice
November 28, 2025 at 11:21 AM
“Perhaps the habit of intrigue is catching--in the air or the walls. Like secret passages, only in the mind.”
― Susan Kenney, Garden of Malice
― Susan Kenney, Garden of Malice
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 27, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Happy Thanksgiving!
That time in 2017 when this cute little girl didn't want to leave our event with the lovely Maureen Jennings (and who can blame her?)
November 26, 2025 at 7:52 PM
That time in 2017 when this cute little girl didn't want to leave our event with the lovely Maureen Jennings (and who can blame her?)