Ian Rankin companion published.

The latest in the McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction series that I edit (vol. 10) has been published. Ian Rankin: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Erin E. MacDonald (who wrote the companion on Ed McBain/Evan Hunter) delves into the life and works of Scottish novelist Rankin, the creator of Inspector John Rebus, and tips the scales at more than 400 pp. Booklist called it a “[f]ascinating biography…definitely belongs in mystery reference collections."

Foxwell presentation, Nov 13.

Nurse Sallie Marshall Jeffries.
1917.

On November 13 at 7 pm at the Lyceum in Alexandria, VA, I’ll be speaking on “‘The Glorious Undying Spirit of Pluck’: Alexandria Women in World War I.” I also will be signing copies of my book In Their Own Words: American Women in World War I (sold by Alexandria’s bookstore Hooray for Books). Tickets are $10 (including wine/dessert reception), available here.

New edition, Blood on Their Hands (with Foxwell short story).

The MWA Classics edition of Blood on Their Hands has been published and is now available in paperback and ebook from amazon. Edited by Lawrence Block, the collection focuses on characters who take the law into their own hands. "No Man's Land," my Agatha-winning and Macavity-nominated short story set in World War I, is included in the collection, along with stories by Rhys Bowen, Marcia Talley, Elaine Viets, and the late Jeremiah Healy and Henry Slesar.

Foxwell Mar16 talk and signing, "DC Women in World War I."

Adelia Chiswell,
member of the Red Cross
Women's Motor Corps

As part of Women's History Month, I'll be speaking on "DC Women in World War I" at the March 16 luncheon of the Association of the Oldest Inhabitants of DC (AOI), the oldest civic organization in Washington, DC. I'll also be signing copies of my book In Their Own Words: American Women in World War I.

The luncheon, which is open to nonmembers, will be held at Capitol Skyline Hotel (Metro stop: Navy Yard) from 12–2 pm and is $35 per person. To RSVP, visit the AOI Web site.

Foxwell on mystery reviewing, EQMM blog.

Today on the EQMM blog "Something Is About to Happen," I discuss "The Not-So-Simple Art of Mystery Reviewing," including a look back at some eminent reviewers (such as Walter R. Brooks, Dorothy L. Sayers, Dorothy B. Hughes, Howard Haycraft, and Anthony Boucher).

Foxwell library event, March 26.

In honor of Women's History Month and the April 6 centenary of the US entry into World War I, I'll be speaking at 2 pm on March 26 at Jarrettsville Library (Jarrettsville, MD) about my anthology In Their Own Words: American Women in World War I. I'm looking forward to it, as I'm told one of the library's book groups includes female veterans.

• Baltimore Sun on the event
• Cecil Whig on the event

Ten Years of The Bunburyist.

Elizabeth Foxwell in an investigative mode.

It's hard to believe that 10 years ago today, I clicked the "Publish" button, and this blog began. I thought a blog could provide visitors with a way to learn about the contents of Clues: A Journal of Detection; read about neglected mystery works; and find links to interesting aspects involving the history of mystery, detective, and crime fiction—especially vintage audio and video. Although I tend not to receive a lot of comments, people seem to like what they see. Statistics indicate that the blog receives more than 5000 hits a month and has 59 loyal followers.

Sadly I have needed to reduce the number of posts per month because of my publishing and job commitments, as well as the work entailed for my new blog on American women in World War I.

The following are the top 10 posts of The Bunburyist based on views. Do you have other favorites?

The Top 10 Posts on The Bunburyist, 2005–15:

10. "Fri Forgotten Books: Charlotte Armstrong's The Chocolate Cobweb (1948)"

9. "Clues 31.2: Collins, Harvey, Highsmith, Parker, South African and Spanish crime fiction"

8. "Cornerstone: The Horizontal Man, by Helen Eustis"

7. "Fri Forgotten Books: The Mystery of Central Park, by Nellie Bly (1889)." After I posted about this rare book and mentioned it on a women's studies listserve, the Library of Congress digitized its copy and made it available via the Internet Archive.

6. "A Jury of Her Peers" (on the first U.S. female jurors)

5. "Dr. Barbara Mertz, Trailblazer"

4. "The Dude Abides: The Big Lebowski and The Big Sleep"

3.  "Cornerstone: Re-Enter Sir John (1932)"

2. "'The Grave Grass Quivers,' by MacKinlay Kantor (1931)"

1. "Dozen Best Detective Stories Ever Written"

MS review, Ellroy companion.

The latest review for James Ellroy: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction appears in Mystery Scene (no. 134), written by Jon L. Breen: "an ideal subject for the consistently excellent McFarland Companions series."

Guardian review, Ellroy companion.

In the Guardian, P. D. Smith has reviewed the James Ellroy companion (written by Jim Mancall and edited by me): "this A-Z guide is an essential key to unlock the complexities of one of America's most distinctive and powerful writers."

Ellroy companion published (ed. Foxwell).

James Ellroy: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction, written by Jim Mancall (Wheaton College, MA), was published on January 2. It is volume 6 in the series I edit for McFarland.

Author-critic Dick Lochte calls it "a clear, comprehensive guide to the Demon Dog’s dark, complex literary world." In the view of the Midwest Book Review, these companion books compose an "outstanding literary studies series."

New! Collected Foxwell short stories.

Cover by Karen Jackson

Just out from Oconee Spirit Press (which has reissued the popular Sigrid Harald novels by Margaret Maron and early rarities by Carolyn Hart) is No Man's Land & Other Stories, an ebook collection of 12 of my (mostly historical) short stories. It includes two award winners ("No Man's Land" with WWI female ambulance drivers; "Keeper of the Flame" with a 19th-century lighthouse keeper); a story set on the Titanic ("Unsinkable"); three stories with Alice Roosevelt Longworth and her snide comments about her cousin, Franklin ("Come Flit by Me," "Alice and the Agent of the Hun," "Artistic License"); two stories inspired by Oscar Wilde ("A Roman of No Importance"; "Lady Windermere's Flan"); and some previously unpublished works (such as "Death in Blue and Gray," a Civil War story set in Washington, DC; and "An Epidemic Proportion," set during the 1918 flu pandemic). I provide an introduction that explains the background of the stories.

Ebook platforms:
• Kindle 
• Kobo
• Nook

Panel on DC-area mysteries today.

Today I'm moderating a panel at noon at the American Women Writers National Museum in Washington, DC: "Mysterious Women Who Know Their Place" on DC-area mysteries, with Donna Andrews, Karna Small Bodman, Ellen Crosby, and Marcia Talley, and including some past authors who used DC locales.

Foxwell at LOC, March 14.

Alice Roosevelt
Longworth, sleuth
in two short stories
by Elizabeth Foxwell

I'm speaking at the Library of Congress's Pickford Theater on Wednesday, March 14 at noon on "My Life in Historical Mystery; or, It's All Elizabeth Peters's Fault." It's part of the Mysteries at Noon series sponsored by the LOC Professional Association. As March is Women's History Month, I will be highlighting the women writers and characters that have influenced my work in mystery fiction and nonfiction.

Some praise for John Buchan: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction.

Nice words from Washington State University librarian J. Greg Matthews in Reference Reviews regarding John Buchan: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction (by Kate Macdonald; ed. yours truly; first in the McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction series):

Macdonald's Companion admirably achieves what the best criticism aspires to: presents and considers an author's work in unsparing detail, presents conclusions on a foundation of solid critical evidence, and ultimately preserves the author's (or work's) autonomy while examining it in multiple contexts . . . it accomplishes something more elusive because it infuses Buchan's readers with a desire to return to his works with new enthusiasm. (34)

My 2 minutes of fame.

I was a bit startled to see that, uploaded on the Library of Congress's YouTube Channel, is the Center for the Book presentation by Sara Paretsky that coincided with the winter 2007 Clues theme issue on her work. Yours truly shows up at the end.

(Also check out this LOC presentation by Washington Post Book World columnist Michael Dirda. Dirda is a big fan of, among others, John Dickson Carr, H. Rider Haggard, Georgette Heyer, and Philip K. Dick.)