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
"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?)
"Live a little, comfort a little, cheer thyself a little." -- AS YOU LIKE IT, William Shakespeare
(Artist: Giovanni Paolo Bedini, 1885)
(Artist: Giovanni Paolo Bedini, 1885)
November 26, 2025 at 12:40 PM
"Live a little, comfort a little, cheer thyself a little." -- AS YOU LIKE IT, William Shakespeare
(Artist: Giovanni Paolo Bedini, 1885)
(Artist: Giovanni Paolo Bedini, 1885)
auntagathas.com/aa/clara-mck... Happy pub day to Clara McKenna! Review by Vicki Kondelik.
November 25, 2025 at 4:12 PM
auntagathas.com/aa/clara-mck... Happy pub day to Clara McKenna! Review by Vicki Kondelik.
"Hiller tried to look suitably grateful but couldn't get beyond the expression of a postman assured the Rottweiler is just a big softy." -- RECALLED TO LIFE, Reginald Hill
November 25, 2025 at 12:00 PM
"Hiller tried to look suitably grateful but couldn't get beyond the expression of a postman assured the Rottweiler is just a big softy." -- RECALLED TO LIFE, Reginald Hill
Happy Birthday Harry Kemelman, 1908, Boston. This professor turned writer published FRIDAY THE RABBI SLEPT LATE in 1964, winning the 1965 Edgar for Best First Novel. The Rabbi Small series is a gentle delight, with clever mysteries and a main character that is reassuring and comforting.
November 24, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Happy Birthday Harry Kemelman, 1908, Boston. This professor turned writer published FRIDAY THE RABBI SLEPT LATE in 1964, winning the 1965 Edgar for Best First Novel. The Rabbi Small series is a gentle delight, with clever mysteries and a main character that is reassuring and comforting.
"It was in a sort of trance that Roberta offered to spend the rest of an endless night in an unknown house with the apparently insane widow of a murdered peer." -- DEATH OF A PEER, Ngaio Marsh (1940)
November 24, 2025 at 11:58 AM
"It was in a sort of trance that Roberta offered to spend the rest of an endless night in an unknown house with the apparently insane widow of a murdered peer." -- DEATH OF A PEER, Ngaio Marsh (1940)
Three wildly different covers for this title, originally published in 1935.
November 23, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Three wildly different covers for this title, originally published in 1935.
"Instead, he got out his cell phone...Here was something else Dame Agatha hadn't had to contend with. Still, Miss Marple would not have objected. Miss Marple believed in accepting change and embracing progress, one way or the other." -- WANTING SHEILA DEAD, Jane Haddam
November 23, 2025 at 11:04 AM
"Instead, he got out his cell phone...Here was something else Dame Agatha hadn't had to contend with. Still, Miss Marple would not have objected. Miss Marple believed in accepting change and embracing progress, one way or the other." -- WANTING SHEILA DEAD, Jane Haddam
Henry Holt, 1931, first edition cover. This book was almost entirely plagiarized from THE BACK BAY MURDERS by Roger Scarlett (1930), and is now impossible to find. Wonderful cover, questionable content!
November 22, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Henry Holt, 1931, first edition cover. This book was almost entirely plagiarized from THE BACK BAY MURDERS by Roger Scarlett (1930), and is now impossible to find. Wonderful cover, questionable content!
auntagathas.com/aa/valerie-w... Out December 16, veteran writer Valerie Wilson Wesley brings her plotting & characterization skills to 1926 Harlem. This is a terrific read.
November 22, 2025 at 5:35 PM
auntagathas.com/aa/valerie-w... Out December 16, veteran writer Valerie Wilson Wesley brings her plotting & characterization skills to 1926 Harlem. This is a terrific read.
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1944.
November 21, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Cover contrast dept. Original pub date 1944.