Roger Scarlett was the pen name of Dorothy Blair (1903–1976) and Evelyn Page (1902–1977),[1][2] who were life partners and in the early 1930s wrote five golden age mystery novels together.[3] They are believed to be the "first same-sex couple to write mysteries."[4]
Evelyn Page was born to a prominent Philadelphia family and graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1923.[5] She worked as an aircraft inspector during World War II and was a sergeant in the Women's Army Corps.[6] Page later went into academia, becoming an assistant professor of English at Smith College, Northampton (1949–1956), where Sylvia Plath was one of her students,[7] and afterwards was assistant professor at Connecticut College, New London (1956–1964).[8] She also wrote two books under her own name: The Chestnut Tree (1964), a novel, and American Genesis: Pre-Colonial writing in the North (1973), an academic study on travel narratives in North America before 1700. In the 1930s she was a book columnist for The Washington Post.[1]
Dorothy Blair was born in Bozeman, Montana, where her father was a local doctor. She graduated from Vassar in 1924.[5] Both Blair and Page worked as editors in the 1920s at Houghton Mifflin, where they met each other.[5] After living together in Boston, they moved to Abington, Connecticut, where they lived in a stone farmhouse from the 1800s.[5]
The Roger Scarlett novelsedit
In all of the five Roger Scarlett novels, the main detective who solves the case is Inspector Norton Kane, a member of the Boston police department. The novels are whodunits in the tradition of S.S. Van Dine and Ellery Queen.[3] Although the novels had soon been translated into other languages (e.g. French[9] and Japanese[3]), they went out of print for decades. In 2017, Coachwhip Publications collected all of the novels in three volumes; in 2022, one novel was included in Penzler Publishers' "American Mystery Classics" series.
The novels are noted for their "meticulously detailed maps and puzzling plots."[10]In the First Degree was named one of murder mysteries of the month in 1932 by Time Magazine[11] while The Bookman called The Back Bay Murders "cleverly written."[12] In addition, Cat's Paw has been called "another gem in the American Mystery Classics series" by Publishers Weekly[13] while Booklist called the novel "a classic closed-circle mystery."[10]
In 2007, a translation of In the First Degree was named to the Honkaku Mystery Best 10 in Japan.
Plagiarism of The Back Bay Murdersedit
One of the Roger Scarlett novels, The Back Bay Murders, was plagiarized by Don Basil in his mystery Cat and Feather.[14] Basil's novel was released in 1931 by Grosset & Dunlap in the United Kingdom and republished by Henry Holt and Company in the United States.[14] The only changes Basil made were to swap the setting of Boston in The Back Bay Murders to a London suburb, change the character names,[14] and alter the American spellings of words for English ones.[15]
After becoming aware of the plagiarism, Henry Holt and Company withdrew Basil's novel from publication.[14] According to Ned Guymon, a collector of detective fiction, this was "probably the most glaring piece of plagiarism ever to exist."[15]
It was later learned that Don Basil was a pseudonym of Morris/Maurice Balk, a career criminal from England.[16][17]
Bibliographyedit
The Beacon Hill Murders
First Edition: Doubleday, Doran & Co. 1930
Included in "The Roger Scarlett Mysteries, Vol. 1", Coachwhip Publications 2017, ISBN978-1616464219
The Back Bay Murders
First Edition: Doubleday, Doran & Co. 1930
Included in "The Roger Scarlett Mysteries, Vol. 1", Coachwhip Publications 2017, ISBN978-1616464219
Cat's Paw
First Edition: Doubleday, Doran & Co. 1931
Included in "The Roger Scarlett Mysteries, Vol. 2", Coachwhip Publications 2017, ISBN978-1616464226
"American Mystery Classics" edition, Penzler Publishers 2022, ISBN978-1613162835, with an introduction by Curtis Evans
Murder among the Angells
First Edition: Doubleday, Doran & Co. 1932
Included in "The Roger Scarlett Mysteries, Vol. 2", Coachwhip Publications 2017, ISBN978-1616464226
In the First Degree
First Edition: Doubleday, Doran & Co. 1933
Included in "The Roger Scarlett Mysteries, Vol. 3", Coachwhip Publications 2017, ISBN978-1616464233
Referencesedit
^ ab"Michael Dirda's wondrous holiday book recommendations" by Michael Dirda, The Washington Post, December 11, 2017.
^Faces of Anonymity Anonymous and Pseudonymous Publication, 1600–2000 edited by R. Griffin, Palgrave Macmillan US, 2016, page 194
^"Remembrances of Crimes Past" by Lenny Picker, Publishers Weekly, 3/14/2022, Vol. 269, Issue 11.
^ abcd"The Murder Mansions of Mr. Scarlett: The Classic Golden Age Detective Novels of Roger Scarlett (Dorothy Blair and Evelyn Page)" The Passing Tramp, September 29, 2017.
^"Page, Evelyn, 1902 – (Roger Scarlett, a joint pseudonym)" Contemporary Authors, Volumes 5–8, Gale Research, 1963, page 857.
^Kukil, Karen V. (2019). "The Genesis of 'Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom.'". The Hudson Review. 72 (1): 29–37. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
^Duin, Nancy E., ed. (1976). "Page, Evelyn". The writers directory 1976–1978. St. James Press. p. 812. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
^"Bibliotheque Nationale de France Catalogue général". Retrieved 2023-02-03.
^ ab"Cat's Paw" by Jane Murphy, Booklist, 2/15/2022, Vol. 118, Issue 12.
^"Books," Time Magazine, November 28, 1932 page 52.
^The Bookman, Volume LXXII Number 1, September 1930, page XXIV.
^ ab"The Uneasy Chair," The Armchair Detective Volume 11, Number 1, January 1978, page 2.
^"Addenda to the 2015 Revised Edition," Crime Fiction IV: A Comprehensive Bibliography 1749–2000 by Allen J. Hubin, Locus Magazine, 2015, accessed 2/10/2023.
^"Evans, Curtis. Preacher, Plagiarizer, Crime Writer and Confidence Trickster: The Kaleidoscopic Criminal Career of Maurice E. Balk (1900?–1981)," The Passing Tramp, November 22, 2017, accessed 2/10/2023. Also published at CrimeReads
External linksedit
Blog post by Curtis Evans, author of introductions to recent reissues of the Roger Scarlett novels
April 12, 2024
roger, scarlett, name, dorothy, blair, 1903, 1976, evelyn, page, 1902, 1977, were, life, partners, early, 1930s, wrote, five, golden, mystery, novels, together, they, believed, first, same, couple, write, mysteries, contents, about, authors, novels, plagiarism. Roger Scarlett was the pen name of Dorothy Blair 1903 1976 and Evelyn Page 1902 1977 1 2 who were life partners and in the early 1930s wrote five golden age mystery novels together 3 They are believed to be the first same sex couple to write mysteries 4 Contents 1 About the authors 2 The Roger Scarlett novels 3 Plagiarism of The Back Bay Murders 4 Bibliography 5 References 6 External linksAbout the authors editEvelyn Page was born to a prominent Philadelphia family and graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1923 5 She worked as an aircraft inspector during World War II and was a sergeant in the Women s Army Corps 6 Page later went into academia becoming an assistant professor of English at Smith College Northampton 1949 1956 where Sylvia Plath was one of her students 7 and afterwards was assistant professor at Connecticut College New London 1956 1964 8 She also wrote two books under her own name The Chestnut Tree 1964 a novel and American Genesis Pre Colonial writing in the North 1973 an academic study on travel narratives in North America before 1700 In the 1930s she was a book columnist for The Washington Post 1 Dorothy Blair was born in Bozeman Montana where her father was a local doctor She graduated from Vassar in 1924 5 Both Blair and Page worked as editors in the 1920s at Houghton Mifflin where they met each other 5 After living together in Boston they moved to Abington Connecticut where they lived in a stone farmhouse from the 1800s 5 The Roger Scarlett novels editIn all of the five Roger Scarlett novels the main detective who solves the case is Inspector Norton Kane a member of the Boston police department The novels are whodunits in the tradition of S S Van Dine and Ellery Queen 3 Although the novels had soon been translated into other languages e g French 9 and Japanese 3 they went out of print for decades In 2017 Coachwhip Publications collected all of the novels in three volumes in 2022 one novel was included in Penzler Publishers American Mystery Classics series The novels are noted for their meticulously detailed maps and puzzling plots 10 In the First Degree was named one of murder mysteries of the month in 1932 by Time Magazine 11 while The Bookman called The Back Bay Murders cleverly written 12 In addition Cat s Paw has been called another gem in the American Mystery Classics series by Publishers Weekly 13 while Booklist called the novel a classic closed circle mystery 10 In 2007 a translation of In the First Degree was named to the Honkaku Mystery Best 10 in Japan Plagiarism of The Back Bay Murders editOne of the Roger Scarlett novels The Back Bay Murders was plagiarized by Don Basil in his mystery Cat and Feather 14 Basil s novel was released in 1931 by Grosset amp Dunlap in the United Kingdom and republished by Henry Holt and Company in the United States 14 The only changes Basil made were to swap the setting of Boston in The Back Bay Murders to a London suburb change the character names 14 and alter the American spellings of words for English ones 15 After becoming aware of the plagiarism Henry Holt and Company withdrew Basil s novel from publication 14 According to Ned Guymon a collector of detective fiction this was probably the most glaring piece of plagiarism ever to exist 15 It was later learned that Don Basil was a pseudonym of Morris Maurice Balk a career criminal from England 16 17 Bibliography editThe Beacon Hill Murders First Edition Doubleday Doran amp Co 1930 Included in The Roger Scarlett Mysteries Vol 1 Coachwhip Publications 2017 ISBN 978 1616464219 The Back Bay Murders First Edition Doubleday Doran amp Co 1930 Included in The Roger Scarlett Mysteries Vol 1 Coachwhip Publications 2017 ISBN 978 1616464219 Cat s Paw First Edition Doubleday Doran amp Co 1931 Included in The Roger Scarlett Mysteries Vol 2 Coachwhip Publications 2017 ISBN 978 1616464226 American Mystery Classics edition Penzler Publishers 2022 ISBN 978 1613162835 with an introduction by Curtis Evans Murder among the Angells First Edition Doubleday Doran amp Co 1932 Included in The Roger Scarlett Mysteries Vol 2 Coachwhip Publications 2017 ISBN 978 1616464226 In the First Degree First Edition Doubleday Doran amp Co 1933 Included in The Roger Scarlett Mysteries Vol 3 Coachwhip Publications 2017 ISBN 978 1616464233References edit a b Michael Dirda s wondrous holiday book recommendations by Michael Dirda The Washington Post December 11 2017 Faces of Anonymity Anonymous and Pseudonymous Publication 1600 2000 edited by R Griffin Palgrave Macmillan US 2016 page 194 a b c Evans Curtis 2022 Introduction Cat s Paw By Scarlett Roger Penzler Publishing Remembrances of Crimes Past by Lenny Picker Publishers Weekly 3 14 2022 Vol 269 Issue 11 a b c d The Murder Mansions of Mr Scarlett The Classic Golden Age Detective Novels of Roger Scarlett Dorothy Blair and Evelyn Page The Passing Tramp September 29 2017 Page Evelyn 1902 Roger Scarlett a joint pseudonym Contemporary Authors Volumes 5 8 Gale Research 1963 page 857 Kukil Karen V 2019 The Genesis of Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom The Hudson Review 72 1 29 37 Retrieved 2023 02 03 Duin Nancy E ed 1976 Page Evelyn The writers directory 1976 1978 St James Press p 812 Retrieved 2023 02 03 Bibliotheque Nationale de France Catalogue general Retrieved 2023 02 03 a b Cat s Paw by Jane Murphy Booklist 2 15 2022 Vol 118 Issue 12 Books Time Magazine November 28 1932 page 52 The Bookman Volume LXXII Number 1 September 1930 page XXIV Cat s Paw Publishers Weekly 12 13 2021 Vol 269 Issue 1 a b c d Customers Choice The Publishers Weekly October 3 1931 page 1580 a b The Uneasy Chair The Armchair Detective Volume 11 Number 1 January 1978 page 2 Addenda to the 2015 Revised Edition Crime Fiction IV A Comprehensive Bibliography 1749 2000 by Allen J Hubin Locus Magazine 2015 accessed 2 10 2023 Evans Curtis Preacher Plagiarizer Crime Writer and Confidence Trickster The Kaleidoscopic Criminal Career of Maurice E Balk 1900 1981 The Passing Tramp November 22 2017 accessed 2 10 2023 Also published at CrimeReadsExternal links editBlog post by Curtis Evans author of introductions to recent reissues of the Roger Scarlett novels Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Roger Scarlett amp oldid 1195439637, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
