Classic mysteries are immensely satisfying reads, but difficult to locate without expert guidance. If you find an author you like, you track down every other book written by that author and impatiently await the next title. If you learn of a favorite author's death, like Sarah Caldwell (And Thus Was Adonis Murdered), the loss is sharply felt.
Until now my method to find great books, other than recommendations from friends with similar tastes, was the designation of being a Notable Book by the New York Times--of limited value for finding a great mystery.
About a year ago, I found a book by Peter Watson--Landscape of Lies--a terrific detective story that unravels the meaning of a medieval painting, sort of a literary Da Vince Code. Trying to find more by the same author, but failing, I tried another book by the same publisher and found Elizabeth Ironside's Death in the Garden. As the book jacket notes, if you like Minette Waters you will like Elizabeth Irondside. Then, there was the romantic Girl in the Green Glass Mirror by Elizabeth McGregor and a backstage murder mystery, The Fourth Wall by Barbara Paul. Last night I finished The Romeo Flag by Carolyn Hougan, a 1980 Cold War espionage story.
Five different authors, five different genres, all well written and all recently reissued after being out of print for 10 or 20 years. All have the same publisher, the Felony & Mayhem Press. A story in the New York Sun, Who Killed Mystery Imprints? solved the mystery.
"(I)ntent on bringing worthy old books back into print is the subtly named Felony & Mayhem Press, founded by someone who, happily, knows what she's doing. This new venture is the brainchild of Maggie Topkis, one of the numerous owners of Partners & Crime, a popular mystery bookstore in Greenwich Village."
So thank you Maggie Topkis, you really do know what you are doing. Felony & Mayhem now have some sixty titles of which Death in the Garden was a runaway best seller. May this imprint live and prosper!
