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
Happy Birthday Charlotte MacLeod, 1922, New Brunswick, Canada. She moved to the US and became a citizen in the 1950's, turning her hand to writing in 1964. Her first Peter Shandy novel, REST YOU MERRY (1978) is, to me, one of the most perfect cozies ever written.
November 12, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Happy Birthday Charlotte MacLeod, 1922, New Brunswick, Canada. She moved to the US and became a citizen in the 1950's, turning her hand to writing in 1964. Her first Peter Shandy novel, REST YOU MERRY (1978) is, to me, one of the most perfect cozies ever written.
auntagathas.com/aa/s-j-benne... LOVE this series SO much. This outing, which takes place in 1961, is set on the Royal Yacht. Available now, readers!
November 12, 2025 at 2:43 PM
auntagathas.com/aa/s-j-benne... LOVE this series SO much. This outing, which takes place in 1961, is set on the Royal Yacht. Available now, readers!
GREAT DESCRIPTION DEPT: "Edgar and Max sat side by side on the sofa. It was covered by a fabric so fiercely floral that Edgar felt as if the tendrils were about to wrap themselves round his legs, imprisoning him in a deadly chintz embrace." -- THE ZIG ZAG GIRL, Elly Griffiths
November 12, 2025 at 12:29 PM
GREAT DESCRIPTION DEPT: "Edgar and Max sat side by side on the sofa. It was covered by a fabric so fiercely floral that Edgar felt as if the tendrils were about to wrap themselves round his legs, imprisoning him in a deadly chintz embrace." -- THE ZIG ZAG GIRL, Elly Griffiths
Cover Contrast dept. Original pub date 1945.
November 11, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Cover Contrast dept. Original pub date 1945.
"Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them." -- Arnold Lobel
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them." -- Arnold Lobel
November 11, 2025 at 1:02 PM
"Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them." -- Arnold Lobel
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them." -- Arnold Lobel
Happy Birthday to one of my very favorite authors, Patricia Wentworth, born Dora Amy Elles, 1877, India. She created Miss Silver, the knitting fiend slash former governess turned detective. Christie's Marple debuted in 1927, Miss Silver hit the street in 1928, with 30 books to her credit.
November 10, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Happy Birthday to one of my very favorite authors, Patricia Wentworth, born Dora Amy Elles, 1877, India. She created Miss Silver, the knitting fiend slash former governess turned detective. Christie's Marple debuted in 1927, Miss Silver hit the street in 1928, with 30 books to her credit.
"We are all ordinary. We are all boring. We are all spectacular. We are all shy. We are all bold. We are all heroes. We are all helpless. It just depends on the day." -- Brad Meltzer
(Photo: Margaret Hamilton, with her handwritten computer code that enabled the 1969 moon walk).
(Photo: Margaret Hamilton, with her handwritten computer code that enabled the 1969 moon walk).
November 10, 2025 at 11:38 AM
"We are all ordinary. We are all boring. We are all spectacular. We are all shy. We are all bold. We are all heroes. We are all helpless. It just depends on the day." -- Brad Meltzer
(Photo: Margaret Hamilton, with her handwritten computer code that enabled the 1969 moon walk).
(Photo: Margaret Hamilton, with her handwritten computer code that enabled the 1969 moon walk).
Happy Birthday C.J. Box, 1958, Caspar, Wyoming. Box is the creator of the popular Joe Pickett novels, and has won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Barry and Gumshoe awards for his work.
November 9, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Happy Birthday C.J. Box, 1958, Caspar, Wyoming. Box is the creator of the popular Joe Pickett novels, and has won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Barry and Gumshoe awards for his work.
“No furniture is so charming as books, even if you never open them or read a single word.”
― Simon Brett, So Much Blood
― Simon Brett, So Much Blood
November 9, 2025 at 11:29 AM
“No furniture is so charming as books, even if you never open them or read a single word.”
― Simon Brett, So Much Blood
― Simon Brett, So Much Blood
I love this old LIFE magazine cover. It looks like she might be preserving damaged books, and she looks pretty stern about it.
November 8, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I love this old LIFE magazine cover. It looks like she might be preserving damaged books, and she looks pretty stern about it.
“I had learned by personal experience that grumblers are deaf to any voices but their own.”
― Alan Bradley, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
― Alan Bradley, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
November 8, 2025 at 11:15 AM
“I had learned by personal experience that grumblers are deaf to any voices but their own.”
― Alan Bradley, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
― Alan Bradley, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1951. The kick ass paperback cover (#1) is by Vic Kalin, 1967.
November 7, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1951. The kick ass paperback cover (#1) is by Vic Kalin, 1967.
“Like most readers, she felt nervous without a stack of novels at her disposal. In fact, she sometimes wondered: What did people do if they couldn’t read? On the other hand, maybe without those hours lost to novels she would have become a championship knitter, or a rock climber.”
― Juliet Blackwell
― Juliet Blackwell
November 7, 2025 at 11:10 AM
“Like most readers, she felt nervous without a stack of novels at her disposal. In fact, she sometimes wondered: What did people do if they couldn’t read? On the other hand, maybe without those hours lost to novels she would have become a championship knitter, or a rock climber.”
― Juliet Blackwell
― Juliet Blackwell
An assortment of Rudi Nappi's covers for Nancy Drew. I especially love the hair color in his version of Nancy - it seemed so unattainable and unusual.
November 6, 2025 at 9:24 PM
An assortment of Rudi Nappi's covers for Nancy Drew. I especially love the hair color in his version of Nancy - it seemed so unattainable and unusual.
“Do you want me to see what I can find out? Nose around, tap into the grapevine, keep my ear to the ground?" Nikki grinned and added, "I've been reading a lot of noir detective novels lately. Please say I can.”
― Tamara Berry, Buried in a Good Book
― Tamara Berry, Buried in a Good Book
November 6, 2025 at 11:08 AM
“Do you want me to see what I can find out? Nose around, tap into the grapevine, keep my ear to the ground?" Nikki grinned and added, "I've been reading a lot of noir detective novels lately. Please say I can.”
― Tamara Berry, Buried in a Good Book
― Tamara Berry, Buried in a Good Book
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1963. Covers: 1964, 1966 and 1963. I like the '66 cover as the woman has some agency and is not simply a victim.
November 5, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1963. Covers: 1964, 1966 and 1963. I like the '66 cover as the woman has some agency and is not simply a victim.
“I’m worried about any group that assumes its own superiority, in any way, to other people.”
― Donna Leon, Dressed for Death
― Donna Leon, Dressed for Death
November 5, 2025 at 11:25 AM
“I’m worried about any group that assumes its own superiority, in any way, to other people.”
― Donna Leon, Dressed for Death
― Donna Leon, Dressed for Death
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1957. An assortment of 60's covers: 1963 (art by Robert McGinnis); the next two are UK covers from 1964 and 1965 respectively.
November 4, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1957. An assortment of 60's covers: 1963 (art by Robert McGinnis); the next two are UK covers from 1964 and 1965 respectively.
"If you come to a vicarage, you out to be prepared to find a vicar." -- THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE, Agatha Christie (1930)
November 4, 2025 at 11:13 AM
"If you come to a vicarage, you out to be prepared to find a vicar." -- THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE, Agatha Christie (1930)
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1952.
November 3, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1952.
auntagathas.com/aa/celeste-c... This series is a blast - out next week. Review by Vicki Kondelik.
November 3, 2025 at 2:27 PM
auntagathas.com/aa/celeste-c... This series is a blast - out next week. Review by Vicki Kondelik.
"The first thing she noticed was the library's cavernous size; the second was its smell - the familiar smoky-sweet blend of wood pulp and mustiness and time, with a touch of furniture polish and lemon, common to old libraries everywhere." -- MURDER WILL OUT, Jennifer K. Breedlove (forthcoming, Feb.)
November 3, 2025 at 11:02 AM
"The first thing she noticed was the library's cavernous size; the second was its smell - the familiar smoky-sweet blend of wood pulp and mustiness and time, with a touch of furniture polish and lemon, common to old libraries everywhere." -- MURDER WILL OUT, Jennifer K. Breedlove (forthcoming, Feb.)
Lovely 1945 Dell mapback edition of this title.
November 2, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Lovely 1945 Dell mapback edition of this title.
"Nature often has the answer to life's troubles. Don't seedling rise from the ashes of a forest? Don't herbaceous perennials come back year after year?" -- THE BOTANIST'S ASSISTANT, Peggy Townsend
November 2, 2025 at 11:03 AM
"Nature often has the answer to life's troubles. Don't seedling rise from the ashes of a forest? Don't herbaceous perennials come back year after year?" -- THE BOTANIST'S ASSISTANT, Peggy Townsend
I have never wanted a tattoo, but this one of Nancy Drew from The Secret at Red Gate Farm would not be terrible. Tattoo artist: Lea Shangraw Fox.
November 1, 2025 at 6:29 PM
I have never wanted a tattoo, but this one of Nancy Drew from The Secret at Red Gate Farm would not be terrible. Tattoo artist: Lea Shangraw Fox.