Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Poe and publishing tonight at the
Boston Public Library.

Poe scholar Robert Velella talks about Edgar Allan Poe's relationship to U.S. publishing at the Boston Public Library tonight at 6 pm (sponsored by the Ticknor Society).

(Hat tip to PhiloBiblos.)

About the image: William Sartain portrait of Edgar Allan Poe, ca. 1896. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

5 comments:

lilymoon said...

Hello Elizabeth,

Just found your blog while I was searching for a mystery I've been trying to relocate, and I hoped -- with your knowledge of detective literature -- you might be able to help me.

Around 1985/6/7 I read what I believe was at the time a newly published detective novel, and lately I've been trying to relocate it again, but my googling has not been a success.

I thought I remembered that it was written by a woman, although my failure to find it in my online searching causes me to now believe it may have been written by a man. In any case, the detective is a middle-aged woman; (I believe but am no longer certain that) she lives in Chicago. She has a young (22ish) male assistant, and a husband who is (or was?) a noted physicist.

The venue for the story is a physics convention (possibly in upstate New York) at a rural conference center. The cast of characters includes many world-famous physicists, including Nobel Prize winners. One of the primary characters is a young woman physicist (maybe from eastern Europe? I'm fuzzy on many of the details and may have rewritten some of them in my head over the years). The plot at least partially hinges on professional jealousy (and also possibly on who's sleeping with whom?).

I'd love to recover the name of this mystery novel, and the writer's name. Thanks so much if you can help.

Elizabeth Foxwell said...

This sounds like _Dead Men Don't Give Seminars_ (St. Martin's, 1988), by Dorothy Sucher.

Rob Velella said...

Many thanks for the plug! Though, I'll note, my name is not (nor has it ever been) "Robert"!

Elizabeth Foxwell said...

Whoops. At least I know for the future. PhiloBiblos gave a nice review of your presentation today.

lilymoon said...

Thank you so much, Elizabeth. This is indeed the novel I've been trying to recall! Thank you thank you.