Tyline Perry's
The Owner Lies Dead was one of the most praised detective novels of 1930, in both Great Britain and the United States, a product of the High Golden Age, boasting not only an ingenious sort of "miracle" murder plot but an intriguing and unusual setting (a Colorado coalmining town) and appealing characters; while
Amen Dell's
Johnny on the Spot is an endearing World War Two thriller boasting a memorable company of characters, narrative elan and a well-conveyed Greenwich Village setting that was highly praised by
Anthony Boucher, who picked Amen Dell as one of the most promising mystery newcomers of the year.
Both these novels are being reprinted by Coachwhip, in spiffy new editions with introductions by me.
I have already blogged about "Amen Dell," aka Irving Mendell (ie, "A Mendell"--get it?),
here; but there is more to come on his sole known mystery novel, as well as more on Tyline Perry. Stay tuned.
Also, I wanted to note that I am doing some collection down sizing and I direct anyone interested in buying from my collection to check out my eBay page
here. You may see something you'd like. This Tramp has seen a lot of interesting things over the years!