A selection of Faber's mystery cover art.

Some historical samples of Faber's online archive of cover art include the following mystery works:

• The Black Tower by P. D. James (1975)

• Death at Crane's Court by Eilis Dillon (1953; new ed. from Rue Morgue P)

• Death by Request by Romilly John and K[atherine]. John (1933). Romilly was the son of painter Augustus John and the half-brother of cellist Amaryllis Fleming, half-sister of Ian Fleming.

George Antheil, NYPL

• Death in the Dark by Stacey Bishop (aka composer George Antheil, 1930)

• An English Murder by Cyril Hare (aka Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark, 1951)

• Famous Crimes, retold by "The Prince of Criminologists," William Roughead (1935)


• The Mummy Case by Dermot Morrah (1933; review here)

• The Ticker-Tape Murder by Milton Propper (1930; review here; partially serialized in the Border City Star, parts 1, 2, 3)

• A Tomb with a View by BBC producer Lance Sieveking (1950)

And of interest to Rex Stout fans:
• Forest Fire by Stout (1934; review here)
• Mr. Cinderella by Stout (1939; better cover of U.S. ed. here; review here)

Sayers's "Suspicion," on screen.

This September 1951 episode of Studio One, "Mr. Mummery's Suspicion," is based on Dorothy L. Sayers's short story "Suspicion" (1933) and features Roland Young as a man who fears he may be the target of poisoning.

New book on Pauline E. Hopkins, early mystery writer.

Pauline Hopkins and the American Dream by Washington College's Alisha Knight (U of Tennessee P, 2012) looks at the career of African American editor-writer Hopkins (1859–1930) and has been highly recommended by Choice Reviews. Hopkins wrote "Talma Gordon" (1900), a significant work in the timeline of American mystery.

August 1979: Hart to Hart debuts.

Robert Wagner in Hart to Hart

The Paley Center for Media remembers the debut of Hart to Hart on August 25, 1979.

Remembering Phyllis Thaxter: Cheever/Armstrong's "The Five-Forty-Eight."

In "The Five-Forty-Eight," a 1960 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Phyllis Thaxter, who died on August 14 at age 92, portrays a secretary determined to even the score with her nasty former boss. Based on a short story by John Cheever (for which Raymond Carver wrote a sequel, "The Train"), it was scripted by Edgar winner Charlotte Armstrong.

What coroner's inquests reveal.

Australian explorer Robert O'Hara Burke (of Burke and Wills
fame, NYPL). A mock coroner's inquiry in 2012
looked into the cause of their deaths in 1861.

In this podcast, researcher Kathleen Chater discusses the records of coroner's inquests housed in the UK's National Archives.

Lovesey on Conan Doyle and the Olympics.

The Public Domain Review provides a revised version of Peter Lovesey's 2002 article on Arthur Conan Doyle's role in the development of the Olympics. Lovesey began his literary career writing about sports (His first Sergeant Cribb novel, Wobble to Death, deals with a six-day race in the Victorian era that turns deadly.)

"... Underdog Is Here."

The defender of Sweet Polly
Purebread, on the job.

On Gary Shapiro's From the Bookshelf, Mark Arnold discusses his book Created and Produced by Total Television Productions: The Story of Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, and the Rest. Underdog and Tennessee Tuxedo are now on DVD.

"Committed" (with Alan Ladd, 1954).

In this December 1954 episode of GE Theater introduced by Ronald Reagan and starring Alan Ladd and John Howard, a mystery writer faces a frame-up for murder and confinement in a mental institution. Its previous incarnation was the 1949 "Daytime Nightmare"—an episode of the radio series Box 13, also featuring Ladd.

Ed McBain, just out on DVD.

As Television Obscurities notes, Timeless Media Group has just released 87th Precinct: The Complete Series on DVD. This short-lived (1961–62) series starred Robert Lansing (as Steve Carella) and Norman Fell (as Meyer Meyer).

Chicago's Planet Pulp exhibition.

The exhibition "Planet Pulp: A Tribute Exhibition to Pulp Magazine Art" is on view until October 7 at Gallery Provocateur in Chicago; some sample works can be seen online.

2012 Dove Awardees: Roberts, Charles.

The Detective/Mystery Caucus of the Popular Culture Association has selected this year's recipients of the George N. Dove Award: Eileen Roberts and author Kate Charles, for their work on the long-running Mystery and Crime Weekend at St. Hilda's College, Oxford. The award will be presented during this year's conference on August 17–19.

The Dove Award, named for the late distinguished mystery scholar George N. Dove, recognizes contributions to the serious study of mystery and crime fiction. Past recipients include Douglas G. Greene, the late H. R. F. Keating, Catherine Ross Nickerson, and yours truly.

Clara Foltz, pioneering CA lawyer.

In this appearance at Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City, IA, Barbara Allen Babcock discusses her book Woman Lawyer: The Trials of Clara Foltz. Foltz, the first woman admitted to the California Bar, proposed the establishment of public defenders.