Kerrie over at Mysteries in Paradise is sponsoring The Alphabet in Crime Fiction community meme. Your post MUST be related to either the first letter of a book's title, the first letter of an author's first name, or the first letter of the author's surname. So you see you have lots of choice. You could write a review, or a bio of an author, so long as it fits the rules somehow. (It is ok too to skip a week.) Link your post for the week back to Kerrie's site.This week we are featuring the letter E. E is for Erskine. Margaret Erskine (1901-1984). This was the pseudonym of Margaret Wetherby Williams. Her mysteries feature Inspector (later Chief Inspector) Septimus Finch of London's Metropolitan Police. Although some editions of her books were packaged as gothic romance (scared looking, pale women running around in filmy looking nightgowns in front of forbidding houses), she wrote pretty straightforward British mysteries Not quite in the ranks of Christie, Sayers, Marsh or Tey, her mysteries are nonetheless entertaining. Sometimes horrible things happen in her stories, but they are definitely Golden Age in spirit and most of the horrible things happen off-scene. Her novels include: Old Mrs. Ommaney Is Dead, The Woman at Belguardo, No. 9. Belmont Square, and The Family at Tammerton. The last is most Agatha Christie-like in plot. Nurse Louise Morton is first summoned from London to the seaside Tammerton Hall. Then she is warned away by telegram. Like all good mystery heroines, she goes anyway and lands herself in the middle of murder and mayhem. Inspector Finch is also on hand to get to the bottom of things.
See what I mean about the gothic imagery?
I'm convinced I used to have a couple of her paperbacks Bev with similar gothic covers. Thanks for the reminder and for contributing to the CFA this week.
ReplyDeleteSeptimus Finch - great name.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can see what you mean about the cover. I am sure I have a Victoria Holt somewhere which looks almost like this one.
It does look like a Gothic book cover. I recognize that style, the fearful young woman with the mansion in the background. I didn't put an E this week. Just came by to visit.
ReplyDeleteBev - Nice choice for letter E.
ReplyDeleteBev - Thanks so much; this really is a fascinating choice for Letter E. Very cool :-). It's interesting, isn't it, how the book cover can be so different from the book itself...
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of Margaret Erskine's books. The covers would probably have put me off - it just shows that I shouldn't judge a book by its cover!
ReplyDeleteNew to me author!
ReplyDeleteHere is my Crime Fiction Alphabet: E post!