BLASTS FROM THE PAST

I was thinking the other day about mysteries I read when I was in my teens, books that shaped and influenced me. I remembered a name I hadn’t heard in a long time – Dell Shannon. No, not the singer, but the mystery writer.

Dell Shannon was only one of the names Barbara “Elizabeth” Linington used. It’s just the name she used when she was nominated for three Edgars. In a time when women did not write police procedurals, “Dell Shannon” did. Hers were about LAPD Homicide Lieutenant Luis Mendoza. He was a former card shark, and when he needed to think he shuffled cards. Not only were these procedurals, the lead character was a Latino man married (at least during part of the series) to an Anglo woman.

I truly think I read all of them. I was delighted to find they’re now available for e-readers, if you’d like to sample them. I’ve ordered an old favorite in print version for a penny (yes, a penny!) plus shipping.

If you haven’t encountered Dell Shannon, you may have encountered Lesley Egan. The Lesley Egan books are mysteries, too. I have read at least five of them, maybe more. I inhaled mysteries as a teen.

I was surprised to discover Dell Shannon and Lesley Egan are one and the same writer. I counted 26 books under the Egan name, and a staggering 41 as Dell Shannon. Under Elizabeth Linington, she managed a paltry 16, and there are one each under the names Anne Blaisdell and Egan O’Neill.

I’m exhausted just thinking about this output. These were all written between 1955 and 1988, when Linington passed away. Eight-five books in 33 years. (At least two of these were published after her death.) What an amazing legacy.

I am so happy to have rediscovered this prolific writer, and I’m really looking forward to finding out how her writing has aged.

Comments

[Donna Andrews]

I haven't read much of her, under any of her names, but will put her on my horison!

[PlumGaga]

I also recently rediscovered Dell Shannon; I'd read most of her books as they were published. Despite being dated, particularly in attitudes toward women, they are still enjoyable.

[Charlaine Harris]

Thanks, PlumGaga. I feared that the passages about women would be antiquated, but I do look forward to rereading them.

Donna, she was a pioneer in her time, and well worth sampling.

[jean utley]

When I moved to California in 1978, I was looking for comfort reading, and local settings. I read all the Shannons and the Egans and the Linningtons. I started recognizing landmarks and soon became much more comfortable in my adopted home.

[Kait Carson]

Never heard of Dell Shannon (the writer). Definitely on my TBR list now.

[Charlaine Harris]

Jean, that shows us we don't know what ripples we may cause in the pool when we write a book.

Kait, I hope you enjoy her. She gave me many happy hours when I was much younger.

[Doris Ann Norris]

She was great. One of her Lesley Egan books had a detective rearranging his mystery book shelves, which gave me more writers to try.
My father, an avid mystery fan, would not read books written by a woman, but he loved Dell Shannon and I never told him.
Thanks Charlaine

[Charlaine Harris]

Doris Ann, how good to hear from you! I have fooled my son in a similar fashion. I'm so glad to hear from a big fan of Linington/Shannon/Egan's!

[Susan Neace]

She wrote interlocking stories that reflected the way police work may sort out cases in fits and starts, and in many instances the investigations ran over several books. They were addictive to read. I would warn that for today's reader, they reflect police attitudes toward mental illness and closeted gay characters that probably exist today but I would hope were out of date.