Robert Travers' Anatomy of a Murder was a 1950s bestseller, turned into an Oscar-nominated film. Its story of a trial is highly-rated - and its attitude to women very much of its time. Looking at the importance of a respectable woman wearing a girdle... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/anat...

One of my all-time favourite poems on the blog today: The Album by Cecil Day Lewis. I only recently found out he wrote it about Rosamond Lehmann.... a favourite author clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-...

A very classy piece of noir, doesn't sem to be well-known: Black Wings has My Angel by Elliott Chaze. It couldn't possibly have any connection with my last post, on Barbara Pym. Or could it? Highly recommended... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/blac...

Barbara Pym has been much on the blog's mind lately, and today we have Jane and Prudence. So much in common, and yet so different. clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/jane...

I missed out Margery Allingham from my recent list of great crime stories for the i newspaper, so am revisiting her Police at the Funeral. And asking - does that solution occur in any other full-lenght novel? It is found in some short stories.... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/poli...

I've been doing some best-selling authors for the i newspaper: Dan Brown last week, and now Richard Osman. And yes I am as enthusiastic as ever.... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/revi...

I reviewed the new Dan Brown book, The Secret of Secrets, for the i newspaper. I worried I'd been too hard on the author, but compared with some other reviews, I emphasised the enjoyable aspects.... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/revi...

I reviewed the new #DanBrown book for the @theipaper.com : a secret book, Prague, a Golem - and a hint of TinTin about it inews.co.uk/culture/book...

I have taken some pics from my files and asked my readers to find books to match. Worked well last time, I'm looking forward to some great ideas for future posts clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/more...

An excellent crime bookshop in Cambridge, and a lost gem of a crime story, set in a Cathecral Close, comparisons with Dorothy L Sayers. All good things: lost gems all round. clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/hymn...

I gave a talk to the Barbara Pym Society at the weekend, and had a complete blast at their annual conference at St Hilda's College Oxford. She is one of my favourite writers, and her fans are my new favourite people clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/clot...

A huge thank-you for giving DSP a shout-out! Your support means the world to us — you’re amazing for helping spread the word. 🙏❤️🌟

The i newspaper asked me to make a list of the best cosy crime novels. The dream job. You can find my choices here - so hard to keep it down to nine books. And shoutouts for @britishlibrary.bsky.social and @deanstpress.bsky.social clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/08/cult...

I used to have a feature called Dress Down Sunday on the blog - and the readers have given me a ton of great ideas for using up the leftover pictures. And today I am looking a what housemaids wore back in the day, and what they wore underneath. clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/08/what...

Challenge to my readers! I found a file of clothes pics I had saved and hadn't used on the blog yet: they are pictures of lingerie. Some lovely pics, so now I need suggestions from readers as to which books they might match up with clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/08/usin...

Challenge to my readers! I found a file of clothes pics I had saved and hadn't used on the blog yet: they are pictures of lingerie. Some lovely pics, so now I need suggestions from readers as to which books they might match up with clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/08/usin...

I wrote a lot about Jane Austen earlier this year for the i newspaper, and now that's reflected on the blog. Today - Mansfield Park, and we can play Snog Marry Avoid with Fanny Price, as well as looking at what Kingsley Amis and WH Auden had to say clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/08/more...

Margot Bennett fascinates crime fiction fans, writing three books and then stopping. They all had strikingly unusual, innovative features and were very well-written, and this one, Someone From the Past, has excellent clothes detection clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/08/some...

Once someone mentions hats, you start seeing them everywhere. I'm looking at two 1930s crime dramas: a hatshop in London, a visit to the beach in California clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/08/more...

Excellent blog about a great novelist who was at the forefront of Virago’s rediscovery of women writers fifty years ago but now almost qualifies as ‘neglected’ again.

Rosamond Lehmann is like a difficult friend, alarming and annoying, who occasionally redeems herself by not minding being teased, and suddenly roaring with laughter at it all…And you can forgive her almost anything because of the very best of her writing. clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/08/more...

I love Rosamond Lehmann's books, but she seems to be largely forgotten. Today I'm looking at a late book, an affair with Ian Fleming, and a visit to Jamaica. And just look at this picture: clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/rosa...

A new departure for the blog: I am looking at a 1950 book on how to wrap presents, and loving every dynamite moment. 'Bows - a whole chapter' and how to make a calla lily corsage out of dollar bills clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-...

All kinds of wonderful: Margery Sharp's Harlequin House, @deanstpress.bsky.social at their finest, this Ravilious cover, and a picture of a funfair clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/harl...

Donald E Westlake: love some of his books, strongly dislike others. Writing as Tucker Coe, reco-ed by Jim Noy, Murder among Children was definitely on the right side. another hot summer book, set in stifling Manhattan in the 1960s - a short fabulous book clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/murd...

I love to invent a literary genre, and today we have Reservoir Noir, and also the long-hot-summer literary thriller. Do Brits secretly hate the summer? Read along... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/rese...

I love to invent a literary genre, and today we have Reservoir Noir, and also the long-hot-summer literary thriller. Do Brits secretly hate the summer? Read along... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/rese...

Very enjoyable 1950s crime book set in Canberra australia - Max Murray always varied his settings and this one moves nicely between the city and the outback clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-...

I'm still powering my way through the works of O Douglas - great clothes, annoying plots, wonderful details of life between the two World Wars clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/more...

So glad you like the pics!

Victoria Gosling is one of my favourite recently-discovered authors - this is her long-hot-summer literary thriller (and don't we all love that genre?) Before the Ruins clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/long...

Jane Austen has featured on the blog, and I wrote about Pride & Prejudice adaptations for the i newspaper, but until today I had never done a blogpost about P&P. And now I have: Kitty's cough, some characters reconsidered, and the question of the gardener clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/fina...

Isabel Ostrander was one of those very productive early women crime writers - today I'm looking at her 1926 The Sleeping Cat, and the concept of clothes-shaming. Plus The Official Joke of the Blog... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/clot...

Settle in. I decided to take a look at women's hats in mid -20th century fiction - matron's hats and conservative hats and turbans. And yes there are pictures. If you share my fascination (you know who you are) join me going down the rabbit-hole... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/have...

Agatha Christie wrote a handful of straight novels under the name Mary Westmacott. I'm looking at one of them, The Rose and the Yew Tree, and considering the important question of what kind of hat a Conservative lady would wear in 1945... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/agat...

Glastonbury for fans of Golden Age crime fiction! Bodies From The Library's annual conference was as splendid as ever. Jake Kerridge and I did a presentation on GA reference books, and so I have included our list as part of the blogpost.... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/gold...

Very much a story from the Golden Age: Sydney Fowler's The Murder in Bethnal Square. I have the usual carping criticisms, but it was good fun, with all kinds of intriguing details, and a chance to show a 1930s maternity outfit clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-...

this book - Casual Slaughters by James Quince - was a wonderful Golden Age village mystery, with an excellent collection of chapter headings - how could you not want to read the chapter 'A Fat Man in Bed'? clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/grav...

on Robert Graves' Count Belisarius, a historical novel about one of the world's great generals, in the 6th Century CE. A mixed report - too many battles, but some etertainment clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/more...

Ellery Queen - I enjoy them now and again. The Origin of Evil is nonsensical, has its own logic, and is most entertaining. And some excellent clothes clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/elle...

I've been reading my way through O Douglas/Anna Buchan - a very popular author in the mid 20th century. Recommended to me as a comfort read - which they are, but also making me wonder why there was never a revolution in the UK clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/more...

Last Will and Testament by Elizabeth Ferrars a murder story with dysfunctional family and fights about money. But it also calls to mind the glory days of the 1970s: long dresses & trouser suits & exuberant shirts & awful meals. And lovely Alliage perfume clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/eliz...

I loved The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue - a modern Irish novel with real characters, real depth, and hilarious moments clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/mode...

Jane Austen, crowdfunder? We have a pretty good idea of what Jane Austen read - and she read a lot. She was full of praise for Fanny Burney's Camilla, and helped to make sure it was published. I decided to look for myself... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/cami...

Jane Austen, crowdfunder? We have a pretty good idea of what Jane Austen read - and she read a lot. She was full of praise for Fanny Burney's Camilla, and helped to make sure it was published. I decided to look for myself... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/cami...

Very much a forgotten crime book from the Golden Age: The Attic Murder by Sydney Fowler. Consideration of adventuresses, rooftops, airfields, and Penguins. clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-...

Richmal Crompton wrote books for adults, as well as the ineffable William series, and I read a couple in search of more bridge coats clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/rich...

I've done another post on Sylvia Townsend Warner's The Flint Anchor - one of my top 20 books. Now I am looking at clothes, particuarlly crinolines, and Warner's great touch with conversations clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-...

I've done another post on Sylvia Townsend Warner's The Flint Anchor - one of my top 20 books. Now I am looking at clothes, particuarlly crinolines, and Warner's great touch with conversations clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-...

A perfect book to read over a Bank Holiday: The Flint Anchor by Sylvia Townsend Warner, a family saga which is both Spinster Miserylit and highly entertaining - how does STW do it? clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2025/05/bank...