We restarted the newzine 6 years ago – with the April 2018 post. Whaddya think? Like it?
mulct (v.): early 15th C., “to punish by a fine or forfeiture,” from Latin mulctare, altered (Barnhart calls it “false archaism”) from multare “punish, to sentence to pay a fine,” from multa “penalty, fine,” which is perhaps from Oscan or Samnite [Klein], or perhaps connected to multus “numerous, many,” as “a fine is a ‘quantity’ one has to pay” [de Vaan]. Sense of “defraud” is first recorded 1748. Related: Mulcted; mulcting; mulctation (early 15th C.). From Cambridge Dictionary: (v.): to make someone pay money, as a fine (= a punishment) or in tax
The secrets hidden in Anne Boleyn’s Book of Hours
The crime-fighting botanist who uses plants to solve murders
From Family Game to Cult Film to ‘Thirst Trap,’ Clue Has Been Through It
Your new literary dream job: reader-in-residence.
From Dylan to Ishiguro: can song lyrics ever be literature?
Taylor Swift is related to Emily Dickinson!
Scandal in Oz: Was “Over the Rainbow” Plagiarized?
A report and a letter signed by Oppenheimer are attracting interest at auction ahead of the Oscars
Why a 1-Cent Postage Stamp Could Sell for $5 Million
Goodwill Listed This Rare Gold Lego Piece for $14.95. It Sold for $18,101
Paper houses: The Somerset artists turning books into model country homes
To learn Klingon or Esperanto: What invented languages can teach us
Mexican Government Acquires Rare Centuries-Old Aztec Manuscripts
‘Nothing has really changed’: letters from 1719 reveal familiar worries of London life
calumny (n.): mid-15th C., “false accusation, slander,” from Old French calomnie (15th C.), from Latin calumnia “trickery, subterfuge, misrepresentation, malicious charge,” from calvi “to trick, deceive.”
According to de Vaan, PIE cognates include Greek kēlein “to bewitch, cast a spell,” Gothic holon “to slander,” Old Norse hol “praise, flattery,” Old English hol “slander,” holian “to betray,” Old High German huolen “to deceive.” The whole group is perhaps from the same root as call (v.). A doublet of challenge.
The Many Real Life Deaths Surrounding The “Star Wars” Defense Initiative
UK and US accused of obstructing inquiry into 1961 death of UN chief
Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born Americans, studies find
Study finds that we could lose science if publishers go bankrupt
Walter Mosley Thinks America Is Getting Dumber
How to teach the thrill of reading
The Artful Spy who Stopped Hitler from Emptying the Louvre
From Russia, Elaborate Tales of Fake Journalists
Dozens of library services and 26 museums to receive £33m government funding
The Oxford English Dictionary’s latest update adds 23 Japanese words
Does “And” Really Mean “And”? Not Always, the Supreme Court Rules.
After Landlord Complains, Seattle Boots Downtown’s Oldest Sidewalk Newsstand
The Story of the Boeing Whistleblower Found Dead Just Keeps Getting Weirder
Seattle Times: A PNW-set cop crime fiction and 3 more new thrillers
The secret history of underground comics in Seattle, told by artists who were there
The Story of the Boeing Whistleblower Found Dead Just Keeps Getting Weirder
15-year-old car thief suspect used his underwear for a mask. Pasco police still found him
Idaho police are investigating racist harassment of Utah women’s basketball team
jape (v.): late 14th C., “to trick, beguile, jilt; to mock,” also “to act foolishly; to speak jokingly, jest pleasantly,” perhaps from Old French japer “to howl, bawl, scream” (Modern French japper), of echoic origin, or from Old French gaber “to mock, deride.” Phonetics suits the former, but sense the latter explanation. Chaucer has it in the full range of senses. Around mid-15th C. the Middle English word took on a slang sense of “have sex with” and subsequently vanished from polite usage. It was revived in the benign sense of “say or do something in jest” by Scott, etc., and has limped along since in stilted prose. Related: Japed; japing.
jape (n.): mid-14th C., “a trick, a cheat;” late 14th C. “a joke, a jest; a frivolous pastime, something of little importance” (late 14th C.). By 1400 also “depraved or immoral act; undignified behavior; bawdiness.” Related: Japery “jesting, joking, raillery, mockery” (mid-14th C.).
The Strange Case of Mark Twain’s Mystery Novel
Antarctic Explorers Wrote Cute, Funny Stories to Hide Dangerous Stunts
Titanic ‘door’ prop that kept Rose alive sells for $718,750
An offer he couldn’t refuse: Sopranos diner booth sells for $82,600
One Way to Preserve Alcatraz? Capture Everything in 3-D.
If you kill someone in your sleep, are you a murderer?
Edgar Allan Poe’s Bid to Become a Real-Life Crime Solver
Why Scientists Are Mixing Wasabi and Ancient Papyrus
Harvard University removes human skin binding from book
“A Sleuth of Bears“? Bears take a ride on swan pedalo at Woburn Safari Park
cavil (v.): “to raise frivolous objections, find fault without good reason,” 1540s, from French caviller “to mock, jest,” from Latin cavillari “to jeer, mock; satirize, argue scoffingly” (also source of Italian cavillare, Spanish cavilar), from cavilla “jest, jeering,” which is related to calumnia “slander, false accusation”
How three students wrote history by winning the Vesuvius Challenge
AI Helped Produce Five of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Journalism Finalists
Kathryn Scanlan: Gordon Burn prize winner on pushing the boundaries of fiction
The Women’s prize for fiction is a success – now it has a nonfiction sister
Naomi Klein and Laura Cumming shortlisted for inaugural Women’s prize for nonfiction
Histories of the American West and Southeast Asian Wars Win Bancroft Prize
Paul Yoon Wins 20th Annual Story Prize
The 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award Winners
Mathematician Who Made Sense of the Universe’s Randomness Wins Math’s Top Prize
Martin Luther King Jr. Biographer Wins American History Prize
Walter Hill to Receive Writers Guild Lifetime Achievement Award
Finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards Revealed
Peg Tyre and Peter Blauner On Three Decades of Marriage and Writing
Big Pimpin: On Iceberg Slim and ‘Reflections’
A tour of Lisa Scottoline’s personal library
’60 Minutes’ Confronts Moms for Liberty Co-Founders on Books
Kara Swisher among authors decrying AI-generated books …
A New Publisher Promises Authors ‘the Lion’s Share of the Profit’
Tana French: A Crime Fiction Master Flips the Script
Tana French Has Broken the Detective Novel
Kansas City can finally go down The Rabbit Hole at a new museum for children’s literature
Agatha Christie she was not, but Carolyn Wells was a mystery novel phenom
Old Soviet files showed up at his door in Ukraine. Then the mystery began.
Meet the woman who helped libraries across the U.S. ‘surf the internet’
Family returns nearly 100-year overdue books to Kentucky library
Authors push back on the growing number of AI ‘scam’ books on Amazon
What’s your favorite Stephen King book?
Percival Everett gives Mark Twain’s classic story about Huck a new voice in ‘James’
Fifth-grader publishes book, sequel to come
The 30 Top Mystery Books Of All Time
Rediscovered: the long-lost script that helped The Great Gatsby become a classic
A conservative publisher actually had ties to Soros. Litigation ensued.
April 6: Patric Gagne signs her memoir, Sociopath, Elliot Bay at Town Hall, 7:30pm
April 9: Robert Dugoni signs A Killing on the Hill, Island Books, 6:30pm
April 11: Cara Black signs Murder at la Villette, Third Place/LFP, 7pm
quip (n.): “smart, sarcastic remark,” 1530s, a variant of quippy in the same sense (1510s), perhaps from Latin quippe “indeed, of course, as you see, naturally, obviously” (used sarcastically), from quid “what” (neuter of pronoun quis “who,” from PIE root *kwo-, stem of relative and interrogative pronouns) + emphatic particle -pe. Compare quibble (n.).
American Library Association report says book challenges soared in 2023
Montgomery County directs citizen board to review, and potentially remove, library books
Teen social network launched by Austin Public Library to save banned books
Denver book store helps open up access to LGBTQ+ books in Texas
Suburban school district removes book program for being ‘left-leaning’
Book Banning Attempts Are at Record Highs
Bomb threats target library, its director over Drag Queen Story Hour
North Korea TV censors Alan Titchmarsh’s trousers [“Jeans are seen as a symbol of western imperialism in the secretive state and as such are banned.” !?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!??!?]
She Had Razors Hidden in Her Hair – On the glory of blaxploitation icon Pam Grier’s two greatest onscreen catfights.
‘The Octopus Murders’ creators set record straight on “frustrating” ending
The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth Goes On
The Real History Behind Apple TV+’s ‘Manhunt’ and the Search for Abraham Lincoln’s Killer
The TV shows that don’t solve their mysteries
Confessions of a continuity cop
FX’s Shogun Takes A New Approach To An Old Story
Princess Peach transforms from supporting player to leading lady in ‘Showtime!’
Mark Wahlberg Reflects on Filming ‘The Departed’: “I Was a Little Pissed About a Couple Things”
The film fans who refuse to surrender to streaming: ‘One day you’ll barter bread for our DVDs’
The Designer Who Makes Movie Posters Worthy of Museums
‘Diarra From Detroit’ Is a Murder Mystery, a Romance, a Comedy — and a Star-Making Showcase
69 Years Later, a Beloved Noir Thriller is Getting Remade by a Contentious Marvel Director
007=’ [we swear we don’t go out of our way to find Bond stuff, it just surfaces on it’s own…]
Mystery of James Bond note found buried in concrete inside historic castle
James Bond’s Most Tricked Out Vehicles Go on Display at D.C.’s Spy Museum
MI5 seeking Q-style explosives expert to help real-life James Bond spies for £66k-a-year
Las Vegas resort featured in James Bond film set to close after nearly 70 years
UK spy agency GCHQ releases puzzle for potential new recruits
Explore James Bond’s Most Iconic Destinations In New Coffee Table Book
James Bond Recasting Is Over, Aaron Taylor-Johnson Is The New 007?
James Bond Octopussy Lays A Fabergé Egg
carp (v.): early 13th C., “to talk, speak, tell,” from Old Norse karpa “to brag,” which is of unknown origin. The meaning turned toward “find fault with, complain,” particularly without reason or petulantly (late 14th C.) probably by influence of Latin carpere “to slander, revile,” literally “to pluck” (which is from PIE root *kerp- “to gather, pluck, harvest”). Related: Carped; carping.
March 8: Why ‘Dragon Ball’ creator Akira Toriyama was so important to the world of anime
It’s with great, great sadness that we report the death on Feb. 12th of our dear friend Steve Ellis. Steve was not only a long-time supporter of the shop, he was often the person whose Friday afternoon stop-bys allowed us to continue another week. Once he got the quarterly newzine, he’d send us his “list”, by which we mean a long request of titles coming out that quarter. He’d call to ask how if he had any books ready and we’d report by inches – 6 in., 18in, – and off he’d go with one or two bags overloaded with mostly hardcovers, most signed, and ARCs we’d toss in for his massive collection. While in, we’d chat about this or that, he’d tell us of the latest finds he’d made, or British editions he’d ordered. The library he had build to house them was something to see! He was a sweet guy, always funny and smiling, always concerned about the shop, and one of those regulars we all missed mixing with when the shop closed. A heart-felt farewell. Steve, we’ll call you when your books are ready!
March 20: M. Emmet Walsh, character actor from ‘Blood Simple’ and ‘Blade Runner,’ dies at 88
March 23: Laurent de Brunhoff, author of Babar children’s books, dies at 98
March 29: Louis Gossett Jr., Star of ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’ and ‘Roots,’ Dies at 87
Feb. 28: The Mystery of Monsieur de New York, Celebrity Hangman
Feb. 29: Murder, Mayhem, Warhol: Art Crime Underworld Odyssey Turns L.A. Gallerist Into FBI Sleuth
Mar. 3: German Police Conduct Raid in Hunt for Red Army Fugitives
Mar. 4: Ex-Army Officer Shared Military Secrets on Dating Site: Feds
Mar. 4: A $443,500 Ferrari was stolen in Italy during a 1995 Grand Prix. 28 years later, police got it back.
Mar. 5: Suspected Iranian Assassin Targeting Former Trump Admin Officials: Report
Mar. 5: The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping: A Grisly Theory and a Renewed Debate
Mar. 7: NYC Councilman Calls For Reopening Dorothy Kilgallen Case
Mar. 8: Colorado’s Star DNA Analyst Intentionally Manipulated Data, Investigation Finds
Mar. 11: ‘Ultra-Specialized’ Gang Pulls Off $1 Million Heist at Italian Museum
Mar. 11: Students reexamining decades-old homicide cases through University of Michigan class
Mar. 13: You’re Not Imagining It; Shrinkflation Is Real
March 16: A Florida man who refused to sell his home to a developer now lives in the shadows
Mar. 15: A funeral home worker tracked down a family — and uncovered a decades-old secret
Mar. 17: Second Man Charged in Connection With 2005 Theft of Ruby Slippers Worn in ‘The Wizard of Oz’
Mar. 20: A New York man’s pet alligator was seized after 30 years. Now, he wants Albert back
Mar. 20: FBI: ‘Little rascals’ trio, ages 11, 12 and 16, arrested for robbing a Houston bank
Mar. 20: Crime stories drove readers to GoFundMe campaigns, only the victims didn’t exist
Mar. 21: We want to keep our Christmas tree up all year
Mar. 21: A Math Genius Created the Decimal Point and Became a Legend. Turns Out He Stole It.
Mar. 21: US man pleads guilty to ‘killing spree’ of eagles
Mar. 21: Pastor paid hit men $40,000 to shoot his daughter’s boyfriend, police say
Mar. 22: Was my dad a killer? The diary that left writer Saul Wordsworth wondering
Mar. 24: The most dangerous woman in the world
Mar. 24: A woman lost $789K in a gold bar scam, police say. Then she turned the tables.
Mar. 27: The women behind a fugitive rapist’s downfall
Mar. 27: Largest cocaine shipment of the year seized after high-speed boat chase
quibble (n.): 1610s, “a pun, a play on words,” probably a diminutive of obsolete quib “evasion of a point at issue” (1540s), which is based on Latin quibus? “by what (things)?” Its extensive use in legal writing supposedly gave it the association with trivial argument: “a word of frequent occurrence in legal documents … hence associated with the ‘quirks and quillets’ of the law.” [OED].
Latin quibus is dative or ablative plural of quid “in what respect? to what extent?; how? why?,” neuter of relative pronoun quis (from PIE root *kwo-, stem of relative and interrogative pronouns).
also from 1610s : quibble (v.) – “equivocate, evade the point, trifle in an argument or discourse, turn from the point in question or the plain truth,” 1650s, from quibble (n.). Earlier “to pun” (1620s). Related: Quibbled; quibbler; quibbling.
Golden Age Gals: The Little Sisters:
Constance B: September 18, 1899 Australia D: 1980
Gwenyth B: May 19, 1903 Australia D: 1985
Iris M. B: November 18, 1910 England D: 2003
Okay, so here’s the dealio: Whilst doing research for this piece, I fell into a deep genealogical rabbit hole which, in a peculiar way, fired up my competitive streak…Since I, apparently, took the lack of information on the sisters Little as a personal challenge, which I had a very, very difficult time letting go of once I started! Moreover, I still feel a vague sense of frustration at my inability to locate their graves, obituaries, or, in fact, much of any info beyond 1950.
Be that as it may, here’s what I’ve been able to piece together.
One line I kept reading over and over again when researching the sisters Little was: “How little is known about their lives.” Two huge factors contributed to this informational vacuum: A. All three sisters wrote under pseudo-pseudonyms. & B. Their father’s (and later their own) predilection for globe-trotting.
First of all, researching any female around the turn of the century is challenging because when women married back then, they lost their names. In this case, Gwenyth Little became Mrs. Bernard Hemming-Jones after her marriage in August 1930, and Constance Little became Mrs. Lawrence Baker sometime after August 1938. (We know this because, in her father’s obituary published in the same month and year, Constance is referred to as Miss Constance Little whilst her sisters were listed by their ‘Mrs.’ names. A fine yet important distinction.)
Taking the name game to another level…Not only did the duo publish their mysteries under their “maiden” name — they swapped their given names for their middle ones! Legally, they were Jessie Constance and Norma Gwenyth. Now, in all likelihood, Constance probably went by her middle name for the majority of her life since she and her mother share the same first name (Jessie). As for Gwenythe, your guess is as good as mine as to which name she favored outside her role as author.
(BTW: For the sake of clarity in this post, I’m going to stick to the names printed on their books — Constance & Gwenyth.)
We’ll get to Iris in a bit.
Armed with this info, I started verifying the facts in Carol Hetherington’s 2007 paper (Little Australians? Some Questions about national identity and the national literature) and the info included in the Rue Morgue Press’s reprints of the Constance & Gwenythe’s books. Scouring several vintage newspaper sites and genealogical sites, I started building a picture.
Their claim to have circumnavigated the globe three times does not appear to be an idle boast.
Born in Sydney, Australia, to James F. Little and Jessie Gilchrist. Constance and Gwenyth also had two brothers, James A. and Robert. Sometime between 1906 and 1909, their James F. Little announced he’d “…grown tired of Australia…” packed up his family and sailed for London, where he found work as a consulting actuary, and his last child, Iris M., was born in 1910.
From London, James F. took a job with the Mexican government and moved everyone to Mexico City. By the time 1911 rolled around, he’d accepted a position with Prudential in New York City and set sail once again.
Finally, in 1915, the Little family settled in Maplewood, New Jersey.
(You can practically hear me inhaling for the “but” at the end of that last sentence, can’t you…)
Sometime prior to 1926 (as that’s when they returned home), both Constance and Gwenyth were sent to England for an education. This is where Gwenyth undoubtedly met her husband, Captain Bernard Hemming-Jones — and in 1930, both sisters would again hop onto a steamer and set sail for London, with one returning as a Mrs. Bernard Hemming-Jones.
In January 1930, Constance petitioned for her naturalization papers (which is where I get her photo from) and became a US citizen in 1932. Norma would petition for her papers in 1938 (though there’s no photo with her application).
At this point, I lost track of Constance and Gwenyth in the genealogical records. However, it’s at this point that they started writing their ‘Black’ series….And it’s about this time Iris comes into view.
Books:
Published under the Pseudonyms: Constance & Gwenyth Little and Conyth Little (in some UK versions)
1st Books: Grey Mist Murders &The Black-Head Pins (1938) Last: The Black Iris (1953)
No. of Books In Series: 21 novels & at least 1 short story Setting: U.S. & Australia
Iris Published Under the Pseudonym: Robert James (An amalgamation of her two brothers’ first names.)
Board Stiff (1951) & Death Wears Pink Shoes (1952)
My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2024
Overwhelmed
Here’s the deal. There are so many great authors who will be at Left Coast Crime with wonderful new books that I’ve been spinning like a madwoman trying to figure out what to read.
Megan Abbott is the Guest of Honor, and she can write in ways that will haunt you, so I thought about reading her latest, Beware the Woman, which sounds absolutely compelling.
But then there’s Robert Dugoni, who has yet to write a bad book, and his are often set in Seattle. I remember reading one and looking around where I was sitting, realizing I was right where the protagonist was at that moment. It was magic. And I haven’t read his latest, A Killing on the Hill, so I figured I should jump right into that one.
But then, I found out that Laurie R. King is having a special event celebrating the 30th anniversary of her great hit, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, on April 10th, so I figured I ought to re-read that one. I’ve been re-reading a lot lately – I find it comforting – so this would make perfect sense.
I saw that Lisa Lutz is going to be there, and she’s an author whose books I’ll buy sight unseen because I trust her, and I realized that I hadn’t read her latest, The Accomplice, and I knew I’d have to fix that.
And I know there’s going to be a discussion about banned books, as there should be, and I just found my copy of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, so I figured I could re-read it, since it’s short and I’m running out of time.
And now that the conference is just around the corner, I’m stuck not reading anything because I’m spinning like a dervish. I picked up Peter Maas‘s book, The Terrible Hours, but I can’t seem to focus enough to keep all the people straight, which is a massive disservice to both Maas and the people on the Squalus, so I set it aside until I can make my mind behave.
I may be a bit nervous about Left Coast Crime and my place in it. Just a tiny bit.
So anyway, I don’t have a review for you this month, and I’m sorry, but I know you can’t go wrong with any of the above books. I’ll try to post something mid-month, perhaps with pictures from the conference, but in the meantime, welcome to April – no foolin’!
Clearing the pile continues. As usual, I’m sorry I waited so long to get to David Rosenfelt’s Hounded, his 12th with the droll defense attorney Andy Carpenter. I have lots to catch up on: he’s now up to book #30! I assure you that I’ll caught up. All of his Carpenters have been gems.
As usual, Andy is not looking for work. He doesn’t need money, and he’s lazy. But when close friend Pete Stanton is arrested for murder, Andy jumps to his defense. Pete’s a straight-arrow homicide cop who, Andy knows, has been framed. Dogs are involved, of course, in an ingenious way: a pill that could help old dogs ease over to The Big Park in the Sky has been turned against the two-legged animals and, somehow, the frame on Pete fits into the puzzle. The usual crew will ensure Pete’s found not guilty.
Quick! Leashes! To the Park!!
If you’re looking for some visual mysteries, I recommend “Tokyo Vice” (but watch the first season to begin), and I must advise against “Manhunt” – why go through the expense of making the assassination of Lincoln look accurate and then not have Stanton in his beard?? Done after the first episode. [Real Stanton at left, wrong Stanton at right.]
There’s a new private eye series coming in April with Colin Farrrell as the PI sleuth “Sugar”. I have big hopes for that. Also staring Amy Ryan, Anna Gunn, and – James Cromwell(!!)
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