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Emma Lathen

Author of The Longer the Thread

38 Works 4,431 Members 77 Reviews 11 Favorited

About the Author

Disambiguation Notice:

Emma Lathen was the pen-name for writing duo Martha Henissart (b. 1929) and Mary Jane Latsis (1927–1997). They also wrote under the name R. B. Dominic.

Image credit: Martha Hennisart at Harvard Law School

Series

Works by Emma Lathen

The Longer the Thread (1971) 237 copies
Banking on Death (1961) 231 copies
Accounting for Murder (1964) 222 copies
Pick Up Sticks (1970) 190 copies
Going for Gold (1981) 189 copies
When in Greece (1969) 189 copies
Green Grow the Dollars (1982) 187 copies
Murder Without Icing (1972) 187 copies
Murder to Go (1969) 181 copies
Ashes to Ashes (1971) 175 copies
By Hook or by Crook (1975) 175 copies
Sweet and Low (1974) 173 copies
Murder Against the Grain (1967) 171 copies
Death Shall Overcome (1966) 167 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Other names
Dominic, R. B.
Gender
n/a
Awards and honors
Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement (1997)
Disambiguation notice
Emma Lathen was the pen-name for writing duo Martha Henissart (b. 1929) and Mary Jane Latsis (1927–1997). They also wrote under the name R. B. Dominic.

Members

Reviews

I've read this in one day while laid up in bed and feeling extremely poorly, and it was the perfect comfort read for the occasion (not many things would have been). Have now ordered the next volume to keep in store for the next time I could use a bit of John Putnam Thatcher to put things right.
 
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littlegreycloud | 4 other reviews | Oct 8, 2023 |
My mother, an avid reader of crime fiction, was a huge fan of Emma Lathen’s books, and I remember she had a collection of the Penguin editions, all with start black and white covers. The principal protagonist of the series was the doughty John Puttnam Thatcher, Vice President of the Sloan Guaranty Bank, and the context for the various murders that occurred was generally that of financial crime.

Given my mother’s penchant for them, and my own past as a tax inspector (and one in particular who for several years dealt with ‘inter vivos’ settlements), I am surprised that I didn’t turn to them earlier. This is the first in the series, and represented a pretty capable debut. Now more than sixty years since it was first published, the story has borne up to the test of time fairly well.

The plot is sufficiently watertight and robust to have weathered the passage of time. One aspect that has dated significantly is the way the female characters are described – I found myself labouring under a torrent of male chauvinism, all the more notable for the fact that the writer was female. Indeed, let me correct myself – the writers were plural: ‘Emma Lathen’ was a pseudonym adopted by two women (one a successful lawyer, the other a financier), constructed to represent their own respective names.

Still, despite that one cavil, I found this sufficiently entertaining to want to proceed with the series.
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Eyejaybee | 4 other reviews | Jul 18, 2023 |
I liked it, and was somewhat surprised, because I recall attempting it earlier (like, 40 years earlier) and perhaps I was too young to be interested in trust accounts. But not now! I remember my disappontment at the Ava Lee series (too much violence, not enough forensic accounting), so I was pleased that the rules of the trust were laid out clearly.

The book follows a familiar format of older amateur sleuth, younger protégé, and helpful police officer, but handles it well. I was always engaged, never wanted to toss away the book in anger (thank goodness, it's on my Kindle), and it was well-paced and plotted. (Louise Penny, take note: you could use a trim).

The knowledge that Emma Lathen is actually two people writing as one is also a warning sign (I don't get how it's possible--I'm a writer myself, and I can imagine people making suggestions, or contributing a joke, but not co-writing), but it read like a single voice, bravo. Or brava. Bravi? There's two of them.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
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ashleytylerjohn | 4 other reviews | Oct 13, 2020 |
I have read and enjoyed all of the John Putnam Thatcher books, and enjoyed them very much. They are clever and amusing. This, however, was a great disappointment. The writing is really incompetent, and there is no mystery. It is written in short declarative sentences, the punctuation is messed up in places, there are the sort of errors that spellcheck won't catch but a real copy editor would have (dosing instead of dozing, color instead of collar), it mostly focused on talking about how beautiful and awesome Elizabeth is and how everyone loves her so much instead of having an actual plot, and I loathe what they do with the Sloan Guaranty Trust, even assuming it were possible. I am going to pretend this book never happened, lest it mar an otherwise delightful series.… (more)
 
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gailo | Jun 16, 2020 |

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Earl Keleny cover art
Lawrence Ratzkin Cover designer
Richard Rossiter Cover designer
Francesca Greene Cover designer

Statistics

Works
38
Members
4,431
Popularity
#5,654
Rating
3.8
Reviews
77
ISBNs
322
Languages
5
Favorited
11

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