Elizabeth Daniels Squire (1926–2001)
Author of Who Killed What's-Her-Name?
About the Author
Series
Works by Elizabeth Daniels Squire
Expectations & Apologies 2 copies
Friendship & Folly 2 copies
Associated Works
Malice Domestic 04: An Anthology of Original Traditional Mystery Stories (1995) — Contributor — 58 copies
A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers (1999) — Contributor — 48 copies, 1 review
Malice Domestic 10: : An Anthology of Original Traditional Mystery Stories (2001) — Contributor — 34 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1926-07-17
- Date of death
- 2001-02-25
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Vassar College
- Occupations
- reporter
columnist
mystery writer
novelist
Aptitude Tester
short story writer - Organizations
- Mystery Writers of America
Carolina Crime Writers
Sisters in Crime - Awards and honors
- North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame
- Relationships
- Daniels, Jonathan (father)
Daniels, Josephus (grandfather)
Bridgers, Ann (aunt) - Short biography
- Elizabeth Daniels was born to a prominent North Carolina family. Her father Jonathan Daniels wrote some 20 histories and biographies and served as a press secretary to President Truman. Her paternal grandfather, also an author, was the founder and publisher of the Raleigh News & Observer, a diplomat, and a Secretary of the Navy. Her maternal aunt Ann Bridgers was a novelist. Elizabeth attended Ashley Hall School in Charleston, South Carolina and graduated from Vassar College. She overcame dyslexia to work as a journalist and become a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. In 1960, she published her first book, Fortune in Your Hand, about palmistry. Her debut mystery novel was Kill the Messenger (1989). She created absent-minded amateur sleuth Peaches Dunn, the star of another 8 books, in Who Killed What's-Her-Name? (1994). She also wrote short stories, including "The Dog Who Remembered Too Much," which won the Agatha Award in 1995. She died suddenly during a book promotion tour at age 74.
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
- Places of residence
- Weaverville, North Carolina, USA
- Place of death
- Santa Rosa, California, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- North Carolina, USA
Members
Reviews
This is a nearly perfect guide to hand reading (more than palms, as I learned!). A really nice mix of history, legend, introductory how-to stuff, and detail. It has a good balance of text, attractive drawings and reproductions of famous people's hands. Highly rec!
Peaches Dann is an amateur sleuth whose memory is unreliable. She uses a variety of mnemonics and other tricks to associate names with things and remember crucial things. Sometimes this is cute and sometimes it gets pretty old. Her adventures began with Who Killed What's-Her-Name?
In this fifth adventure, Peaches finds that her octogenarian dad has gotten married, and his new wife has been fixing up a very old house. The house has some mysterious history, which must be "dug up" so that its show more owner won't insist on selling it. Peaches and her husband Ted get involved along with a cast of rather faintly drawn characters form the present and the past.
I enjoy seeing senior citizens portrayed as capable of solving mysteries. Peaches's memory issues, while a normal characteristic for an older person, undercut this portrayal a bit. My complaint about this one, though, isn't about Peaches but the other characters; there just isn't that much to them. show less
In this fifth adventure, Peaches finds that her octogenarian dad has gotten married, and his new wife has been fixing up a very old house. The house has some mysterious history, which must be "dug up" so that its show more owner won't insist on selling it. Peaches and her husband Ted get involved along with a cast of rather faintly drawn characters form the present and the past.
I enjoy seeing senior citizens portrayed as capable of solving mysteries. Peaches's memory issues, while a normal characteristic for an older person, undercut this portrayal a bit. My complaint about this one, though, isn't about Peaches but the other characters; there just isn't that much to them. show less
Peaches Dann is a 55-year-old widow with mwmory issues, who is writing a book containing tips for dealing with memory loss. When her Aunt Nancy is found dead outside her father's house, Peaches works hard to solve the crime.
Squire uses the memory theme well, although a couple of times I did get tired of Peaches's repetitive rehashings of her findings. Having Ted available to support her, intellectually and emotionally, was a good device. Peaches's cantankerous father adds humor and keeps show more things moving. A fun read. show less
Squire uses the memory theme well, although a couple of times I did get tired of Peaches's repetitive rehashings of her findings. Having Ted available to support her, intellectually and emotionally, was a good device. Peaches's cantankerous father adds humor and keeps show more things moving. A fun read. show less
I love mysteries and thought this sounded like an interesting premise--a detective who can't remember anything. But I found this book a trifle boring and hard to finish reading, the killer obvious from almost the beginning, and was disturbed to find that if Peaches' memory problem is considered chronic, I have a chronic memory problem too! And so do most people I know. I say, if you like a good mystery, skip this and read something else...like the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters.
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 18
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 479
- Popularity
- #51,491
- Rating
- 3.1
- Reviews
- 5
- ISBNs
- 61
- Favorited
- 1