Zenith Jones Brown
Personal Information
Description
Zenith Jones Brown (1898 – 1983) was an American crime fiction writer. She wrote under the pseudonyms David Frome, Leslie Ford, and Brenda Conrad. Brown began writing as David Frome in 1929 while living in England. She used the pen name Leslie Ford for her mystery novels published in the United States. During World War II, she wrote several novels about nurses under the name Brenda Conrad. Brown was also a war correspondent for the United States Air Force. Her books were often serialized in The Saturday Evening Post before being published. Brown also wrote short stories, which were published in various periodicals and anthologies. Her series characters included Lt. Joseph Kelly (2 books) and Grace Latham, the independent widow of a diplomat, with retired Army officer Colonel John Primrose (16 books) published under Leslie Ford; and Major Gregory Lewis (3 books) and Evan Pinkerton and Inspector J. Humphrey Bull (12 books) published under David Frome. She also wrote stand-alone novels under the Ford name. Leslie Ford at Girl Detective Leslie Ford at Book Scribbles
Books
Mr. Pinkerton and Inspector Bull
Contains the three novels: Mr. Pinkerton Solves the Eel Pie Murders Mr. Pinkerton Goes to Scotland Yard Mr. Pinkerton Finds a Body
The Case of the Backward Mule; Honolulu Story; My Late Wives
This is a three book Detective Book Club edition, with "The Case of the Backward Mule" by Erle Stanley Gardner, "Honolulu Story" by Leslie Ford, and "My Late Wives" by Carter Dickson.
Washington Whispers Murder
Number 16 in the Colonel Primrose series. APA The Lying Jade Leslie Ford's new book will be good news for Colonel Primrose fans. After an absence of four years, the Colonel and his granite-faced sidekick, Sergeant Buck - and of course Grace Latham - are back at work in Washington. This is an especially timely book, for it concerns Senate investigating committees, the hidden lives of men high in the government, and the question of corruption. Hamilton (Call Me Ham) Vair, a rising young Congressman, is determined for personal reasons to cripple the career of Rufus Brent, recently appointed head of an important government agency. To do this Vair intends to use manufactured evidence of a scandal in Brent's family - a picture of Brent's daughter Molly supposedly running away from a night club raid. Molly herself is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and is hidden at the country home of Brent's lawyer. Into this situation comes Forbes Allerdyce, a mysterious figure who claims to be the best friend of Brent's son who has been killed in Korea. Allerdyce wants to find Molly to further his own purposes, and it devolves upon Grace Latham to prevent him. Out of these ingredients Leslie Ford has devised one of her most intriguing stories. There is romance haunted by terror, there is humor and warmth, there is murder, and finally a tragi-comic revelation which traps the killer. Washington Whispers Murder is for all Leslie Ford fans, and especially Primrose addicts for whom there is quite a shock in store on the last few pages.
Mr. Pinkerton grows a beard
The mousy Mr. Pinkerton screws his social courage to the sticking point and takes a strange room in Bloomsbury to be near the Reading Room of the British Museum. And bravely grows a beard, to boot. Thanks to coincidence, mistaken identity, and an impenetrable London fog, he trips over and into murder and espionage, ending up much more heroic than he started. One of the better numbers in the Mr. Pinkerton series, delightfully populated with all sorts of characters, all nicely drawn by Zenobia Jones Brown, who wrote these books as David Frome, and whose intelligence and style make very good company. A classic British Golden Age mystery written by a lady from Baltimore (Maryland) who lived several years in England. Well plotted and gripping.
Double Exposure
Unable to forgive the Germans for her brother's death in the war, Tricia travels to England to do her part to fight the enemy. Working for her uncle at an American news service, Trish finds herself attracted to photographer Doug St. Claire. But beyond his good looks and personal charm is a vibrant faith that makes Tricia uncomfortable. How can Doug believe in a loving God when so many horrible things are happening in the world? When Doug disappears during a bombing mission over Germany, Trish faces a deeper struggle. Will she admit to herself how much she cares for her missing coworker? Can she ever forgive the enemy for twice taking someone she loves? And as weeks pass without word of Doug or the plane he was in, how will she ever be able to discover his fate?
Ill met by moonlight
Ill Met By Moonlight is the gripping account of the audacious World War II abduction of a German general from the island of Crete. British special forces officers W. Stanley Moss and Patrick Leigh Fermor, together with a small band of Cretan partisans, kidnapped the general, then evaded numerous German checkpoints and patrols for nearly three weeks as they maneuvered across the mountainous island to a rendezvous with the boat that finally whisked them away to Allied headquarters in Cairo.