2/7/1955 Elisabeth Sanxay Holding dies

February 7, 1955.  Chances are you never heard of Elisabeth Sanxay Holding, who died on this day, but she was a well-regarded mystery writer in the middle of the twentieth century.  With that three-chapter name it sounds like she should have been writing cozies, but she was one of the preeminent female authors of hardboiled. 

How preeminent?  Raymond Chandler, not an easy man to please, called her "the top suspense writer of them all."  Critic Anthony Boucher said she was "in a class by herself."

Her best known book The Blank Wall was filmed twice, as Reckless Moment (1947) and The Deep End (2001).  Thanks to Persephone Books it is back in print.

2/6/1939 The Big Sleep awakens

February 6, 1939.  Today Alfred A Knopf published The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler's first novel.  It was cannibalized, in the author's word, from several short stories he had written for Black Mask Magazine.  The book starred Philip Marlowe, the quintessential tough, cynical private eye in all his wise-cracking glory.  The plot doesn't bear too much looking into (Chandler admitted he couldn't remember who killed one of the characters) but the language and characters made the book a classic.  It was filmed twice, once with Bogart and once with (a regrettably too-old) Mitchum.

2/5/1980 Mystery! premieres

February 5, 1980.  PBS demonstrated why they are sometimes known as the  Petroleum and British Society, by introducing a series of British detective stories sponsored (and indeed proposed by) Mobil.  One of the hits  that first season was Rumpole of the Bailey.  Others that followed included Sergeant Cribb, Inspector Morse, Prime Suspect, Foyle's War, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett.  Hosts: Gene Shalit, Vincent Price, and Diana Rigg.  Nowadays Mystery! is part of Masterpiece.  And let's not forget those wonderful Edward Gorey illustrations...

2/4/1992 Blanche on the Lam

February 4, 1992.  On this date BarbaraNeely's first novel was published.  Blanche on the Lam introduces an African-American domestic worker coping in a difficult world.  She escapes a 30-day jail sentence for writing bad checks by going to work for a true Southern Gothic family of conniving relatives.

The book won the Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards for best first mystery.  Neely has followed with three more books about Blanche.

2/3/1927 Joan Lowery Nixon is born

February 3, 1927.  Joan Lowery Nixon was born on this date in Los Angeles.  Her 100+ books, mostly for children and young adults, brought her an unprecedented 4 Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America, scoring five other nominations.

I know one young reader, the veteran of countless R.L. Stine Goosebumps books, who thought her The Name of the Game was Murder was too suspenseful...

2/2/1985 A real cop investigates Cagney and Lacey

February 2, 1985.  Cagney and Lacey, the first network show about female police detectives, premiered in 1982.  In 1985 TV Guide invited Dorothy Uhnak to offer her viewpoint on the series.  Uhnak was doubly qualified for the job.  She was the other of two novels about a female cop, and she had been one herself.

In the article she explains how, in 1955, as an undercover New York City Transit officer she disarmed and busted a rapist, and suddenly became famous.  She reports on some of the humiliating encounters with the media that followed - A female cop!  And she's a hero!   How hilarious!

Uhnak's conclusion about the TV cops?  "I'd walk through a dark alley with Cagney or Lacey behind me. That is the ultimate compliment from one police officer to another."

2/1/1920 Colin Watson is born

February 1, 1920.  Colin Watson was born today in England.  He was known for light detective novels featuring  Inspector Walter Purbright and con woman Miss Lucilla Teatime.  Two of his books (Hopjoy Was Here and Lonely Heart 4122) were nominated for the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger.