In this Golden Age mystery set in post-World War II California, an art student must determine who fits the mold of a killer. The War is over, but only just, and San Francisco is still crammed with military uniforms. Of course, being San Francisco, it’s also crammed with Bohemians (in a few years, they’ll be known as Beatniks). Noel Bruce straddles both camps: By day she’s a strait-laced driver for the Navy, but at night she lets her hair down and parties with her flamboyant art-school chums. The party comes to a screeching halt, however, when a dead body turns up in a sculptor’s studio, and the artists discover that pretentious mannerisms and amusing facial hair provide little defense against the chill of fear . . . As in Skeleton Key, the heroine is a working woman, and, like all of Offord’s novels, My True Love Lies provides an intriguing bridge between old-fashioned, 1930s-style plotting and a kind of feminism that feels startlingly up-to-date. “Mrs. Offord with each book entrenches herself more firmly as one of our leading feminine mystery novelists . . . There is always a reasonable plot backed by warm characters, and above all, intelligent writing.” —Dorothy B. Hughes, author of In a Lonely Place
In this Golden Age mystery series opener set in World War II-era California, a widowed mother literally stumbles into a murder case. Georgine Wyeth is a young widow keeping house for herself and her young daughter, and paying the rent by typing for a local academic, a scientific gentleman. Working late one night (there’s a war on, you know), she gets caught in a blackout, only to trip over the dying air-raid warden. A simple snatch-and-grab gone wrong? Or something more sinister? And could Georgine’s work for that scientist have put her in jeopardy? Perfect for fans of Margaret Maron and Craig Rice “Lenore Glen Offord is one of the truly underrated writers of the World War II and postwar periods.” —Susan Dunlap, 1001 Midnights
In this Golden Age mystery, a bored woman looking for adventure gets entangled in a dangerous plot when she finds a stranger in her apartment. It’s 1941, and San Francisco is pulsing with excitement—with hot jazz, ice-cold cocktails, and the ever-present threat of war. For Cameron Ferris, newly arrived from Tiny Town, Oregon, a seat on the sidelines is thrilling enough, so she’s delighted with her boring job as a file clerk in a warehouse. For a while. But now the while’s up, and Cameron is starting to feel like one of life’s wallflowers. For good or for ill, life is about to provide a cure, in the form of a strange man living in her apartment, kidnappers hanging out on the fire-escape, and all traces of her life scrubbed clean. Who is Cameron Ferris? Has she become so unspeakably dull that she simply disappeared? And what can an invisible person do to foil a gang of kidnappers? A highly unusual, thoroughly unnerving tale that sings with the music of the period. “A writer of utterly delightful tales that mixed a strong sense of fair play, a wry wit, and a shrewd sense of domestic relationships.” —Sarah Weinman, editor of Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940s
In this Golden Age mystery by the author of Skeleton Key, murder plunges a Berkeley husband and wife into the secret world of a cult. It’s 1949, and with the War well and truly in the past, Americans are relaxing into the warm bath of suburbia. Even groovy Northern California, even sharp-eyed Georgine and Todd McKinnon (last seen in The Glass Mask and Skeleton Key) have largely succumbed to the lure of comfortable conformity. But the McKinnons’ pleasant domesticity is shattered by the arrival of a distinctly nonconformist young man, who arrives unannounced one night, tells a wild tale, and dies a short time later. Why did he choose the McKinnons to hear him out? Sure, he hoped Todd would write a check, eager to turn the strange story into one of the thrillers he regularly sells to the pulps. But could there have been another reason? One bizarre phone call, and Georgine is all too ready to believe there might have been . . . Perfect for fans of Margaret Maron and Craig Rice “Absorbing.” —Kirkus Reviews "Mrs. Offord . . .writes distinctly clever upper-drawer mystery tales . . . with murder and satire and cold chills sprinkled over the plot liberally"—Salt Lake Tribune
In this Golden Age tale, a writer and his girlfriend take her daughter for a birthday outing that includes a side trip into a murder mystery. In Skeleton Key, readers were introduced to Georgine Wyeth, a widowed young mother in California who stumbled across a body and walked—she emphatically did not fall—into the arms of Todd McKinnon, a pulp novelist living in the community where the murder took place. It’s now a few years later, and the couple are taking a car trip with Georgine’s daughter, Barbie. On their way home they stop for what they fondly imagine will be a brief visit with a slightly peculiar family, only to be sucked into the family’s extremely peculiar mystery, involving a disappeared husband, a dead old lady, and mysterious footsteps in the night . . . First published in 1944, Glass Mask is a fascinating mix of old-fashioned puzzle-mystery and a startlingly modern sensibility—that allows Todd and Georgine to travel together, for example, without the benefit of wedding rings. It’s a delight. Perfect for fans of Margaret Maron and Craig Rice “An entertaining tale, and one of Offord's best.” —Susan Dunlap, 1001 Midnights
In this Golden Age tale, a writer and his girlfriend take her daughter for a birthday outing that includes a side trip into a murder mystery. In Skeleton Key, readers were introduced to Georgine Wyeth, a widowed young mother in California who stumbled across a body and walked—she emphatically did not fall—into the arms of Todd McKinnon, a pulp novelist living in the community where the murder took place. It’s now a few years later, and the couple are taking a car trip with Georgine’s daughter, Barbie. On their way home they stop for what they fondly imagine will be a brief visit with a slightly peculiar family, only to be sucked into the family’s extremely peculiar mystery, involving a disappeared husband, a dead old lady, and mysterious footsteps in the night . . . First published in 1944, Glass Mask is a fascinating mix of old-fashioned puzzle-mystery and a startlingly modern sensibility—that allows Todd and Georgine to travel together, for example, without the benefit of wedding rings. It’s a delight. Perfect for fans of Margaret Maron and Craig Rice “An entertaining tale, and one of Offord's best.” —Susan Dunlap, 1001 Midnights
In this Golden Age mystery set in post-World War II California, an art student must determine who fits the mold of a killer. The War is over, but only just, and San Francisco is still crammed with military uniforms. Of course, being San Francisco, it’s also crammed with Bohemians (in a few years, they’ll be known as Beatniks). Noel Bruce straddles both camps: By day she’s a strait-laced driver for the Navy, but at night she lets her hair down and parties with her flamboyant art-school chums. The party comes to a screeching halt, however, when a dead body turns up in a sculptor’s studio, and the artists discover that pretentious mannerisms and amusing facial hair provide little defense against the chill of fear . . . As in Skeleton Key, the heroine is a working woman, and, like all of Offord’s novels, My True Love Lies provides an intriguing bridge between old-fashioned, 1930s-style plotting and a kind of feminism that feels startlingly up-to-date. “Mrs. Offord with each book entrenches herself more firmly as one of our leading feminine mystery novelists . . . There is always a reasonable plot backed by warm characters, and above all, intelligent writing.” —Dorothy B. Hughes, author of In a Lonely Place
In this Golden Age mystery, a bored woman looking for adventure gets entangled in a dangerous plot when she finds a stranger in her apartment. It’s 1941, and San Francisco is pulsing with excitement—with hot jazz, ice-cold cocktails, and the ever-present threat of war. For Cameron Ferris, newly arrived from Tiny Town, Oregon, a seat on the sidelines is thrilling enough, so she’s delighted with her boring job as a file clerk in a warehouse. For a while. But now the while’s up, and Cameron is starting to feel like one of life’s wallflowers. For good or for ill, life is about to provide a cure, in the form of a strange man living in her apartment, kidnappers hanging out on the fire-escape, and all traces of her life scrubbed clean. Who is Cameron Ferris? Has she become so unspeakably dull that she simply disappeared? And what can an invisible person do to foil a gang of kidnappers? A highly unusual, thoroughly unnerving tale that sings with the music of the period. “A writer of utterly delightful tales that mixed a strong sense of fair play, a wry wit, and a shrewd sense of domestic relationships.” —Sarah Weinman, editor of Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940s
In this Golden Age mystery by the author of Skeleton Key, murder plunges a Berkeley husband and wife into the secret world of a cult. It’s 1949, and with the War well and truly in the past, Americans are relaxing into the warm bath of suburbia. Even groovy Northern California, even sharp-eyed Georgine and Todd McKinnon (last seen in The Glass Mask and Skeleton Key) have largely succumbed to the lure of comfortable conformity. But the McKinnons’ pleasant domesticity is shattered by the arrival of a distinctly nonconformist young man, who arrives unannounced one night, tells a wild tale, and dies a short time later. Why did he choose the McKinnons to hear him out? Sure, he hoped Todd would write a check, eager to turn the strange story into one of the thrillers he regularly sells to the pulps. But could there have been another reason? One bizarre phone call, and Georgine is all too ready to believe there might have been . . . Perfect for fans of Margaret Maron and Craig Rice “Absorbing.” —Kirkus Reviews "Mrs. Offord . . .writes distinctly clever upper-drawer mystery tales . . . with murder and satire and cold chills sprinkled over the plot liberally"—Salt Lake Tribune
In this Golden Age mystery series opener set in World War II-era California, a widowed mother literally stumbles into a murder case. Georgine Wyeth is a young widow keeping house for herself and her young daughter, and paying the rent by typing for a local academic, a scientific gentleman. Working late one night (there’s a war on, you know), she gets caught in a blackout, only to trip over the dying air-raid warden. A simple snatch-and-grab gone wrong? Or something more sinister? And could Georgine’s work for that scientist have put her in jeopardy? Perfect for fans of Margaret Maron and Craig Rice “Lenore Glen Offord is one of the truly underrated writers of the World War II and postwar periods.” —Susan Dunlap, 1001 Midnights
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