Venturous Lady , by George Harmon Coxe (Dell, 1953). Coxe was a lively stylist and a prolific crime novelist, with a 40-year publishin...

Blow-Down , by Lawrence G. Blochman (Dell, 1953). Cover illustration by Griffith Foxley.

Book titles containing the word “widow” suddenly seem to be everywhere on my radar. March brought the publication of Alma Katsu’s “grippin...

Warning: Artistic inspiration drawn from book titles may vary. Left: Madball , by Fredric Brown (Dell, 1953); cover art by Griffith Fox...

He Wouldn’t Kill Patience , by “Carter Dickson,” aka John Dickson Carr (Dell, 1950). Illustration by Griffith Foxley.

The Stockade , by Kenneth Lamott (Dell, 1953), with a cover illustration by Griffith Foxley. Anyone who’s worked with me knows my perfec...

As I note in today’s column for the Kirkus Reviews Web site, this month marks the conclusion of my fifth year of blogging about mystery,...