Oh, the places you'll go in a 1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan...

Numbers 1 thru 4 in the Double V Mysteries series, & the Vol 1-3 box set. See "Novels" page for descriptions.
​

Cover artwork by Casey Koester



















​
​

UPCOMING NEWS:

​​The fifth book in my Double V Mysteries series is now published!  - Murder at the Summer Theater.  Join Elmer and Juliet in a theatrical caper on the Connecticut shore in the summer of 1951. 

Get the eBook at the introductory price of just 99 cents at Amazon and Kobo from December 13th through Sunday, December 16th.  On Monday the 17th, the price increases to $2.99.  The eBook will be available at Apple iTunes, Barnes & Noble, and a variety of other online shops for $2.99.

The print version will come out by the end of the month, available at Amazon, for $9.99.

Here's a preview:

Rehearsals grow tense at a summer theater on the Connecticut shore.  The lead actress goes missing – or was she murdered?
 
Juliet Van Allen and Elmer Vartanian, the “Double V” duo, are called in on the case, but even with Juliet pretending to be an actress and newcomer to the cast, the players are guarding their secrets closely.  There are spurned lovers, jealous wives, scene-stealers and heartbreakers, with enough spirit of vengeance to fill up the loge.  Will the show go on?  Even when a body is found?
 
Murder at the Summer Theater is the fifth book in the Double V Mysteries series set in New England in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
 
If you like the charm of a classic film, this “cozy noir” will return you to an era of soft ocean breezes and a glamorous game of suspicion played between acts.  The painted backdrop is the heyday of summer theatre, when greats from the New York stage and Hollywood performed in barns and tents on New England’s famed “straw hat circuit.” Passionate accusations light up the balcony, grim consequences lurk in the dressing room.  Join the nervous producers on the veranda for a champagne cocktail.
 
It’s a seaside caper where murder is in the spotlight in the summer of 1951, and Juliet and Elmer are on the verge of a new professional – and personal – partnership.  

********
My collection of essays on classic films - Movies in Our Time - Hollywood Mirrors and Mimics the Twentieth Century will be on sale in eBook version at Amazon for $2.99 through December 31st!

********
I'll be giving a talk on New England mill girls of the nineteenth century with a PowerPoint presentation at the Loomis Village in South Hadley on Tuesday,
​March 26, 2019 at 2 p.m.
​
******
I was very pleased to take part in the book launch of the new The Republican Heritage Book Series: The Power of Women: Notable Women from Western and Central Massachusetts from the 1600’s to the Present.  The Power of Women tells the story of centuries of struggle to end slavery, to secure the vote and attain rights that were reserved only for men.
​
I am one of the contributors to this book, which contains over 800 biographical sketches of women of significant achievement in all fields of endeavor.

The launch was held at The Log Cabin in Holyoke, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, October 17th.


****************
MONTHLY SYNDICATED COLUMN:
Look for my new syndicated classic film column Silver Screen, Golden Years at the Go60 website here, or your local newspaper.  If they don't carry it, contact Clear Mountain Communications and Senior Wire Service and ask for it!