Emma Lathen

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Emma Lathen and RB Dominic are two pseudonyms of the American crime novel writer duo Mary Jane Latsis (economist) and Martha Hennissart (lawyer). Lathen is apparently composed of the first syllables of the surname.

John Putnam Thatcher

The main character of the Emma Lathen crime thriller is the Wall Street banker and hobby detective John Putnam Thatcher, who meets in action for the first time in 1961 in “ Friday the 13th ” (O title: Banking on Death). Thatcher is vice-president of the Sloan Guaranty Trust, who actually doesn't want to play a detective, but always through customers, his president Bradford Withers, his chairman George C. Lancer or one of his friends (especially his student friend Tom Robichaux) involved in embezzlement, murder and manslaughter. At some point, however, either Thatcher's curiosity takes over, or Thatcher's patience is so strained that he clears up the crimes for the sake of peace.

In doing so, he ruthlessly falls back on the Sloan's staff: the aspiring young Kenneth Nicolls, the (for a banker) easy-going Charlie Trinkam, the correct Everett Gabler or his secretary Miss Corsa, who mostly disapproves of his criminalistic excursions. The connections that are available to a bank, but above all to a chief banker, are used to investigate crimes. There does not seem to be any banking secrets.

All persons are described lovingly and in detail. The framework for action is diverse. Some play in the immediate vicinity of the bank; others have to do with trust assets that Thatcher is responsible for. Whether the first “black” on the stock exchange (poison for the stock exchange), Catholics demonstrating together with Jews and Arabs in front of the UN (dollars for the cardinal) or the kidnapping of an oil manager (no tour is too crooked for oil), the thrillers of Duo Lathen cover all topics of the 60s and 70s, viewed through the glasses of a tolerant business boss.

Not all of Lathen's books have been translated into German, and even these can only be acquired in antiquarian versions today.

Ben Saford

Of the books written under RB Dominic, only “Trimm Dich Tot” was published in German. The main character, Congressman Ben Saford, looks a bit like the banker Thatcher. The style of the two women can also be seen in both books.

The authors

The authors Mary Jane Latsis (* 1927 - October 29, 1997) and Martha Hennissart (* 1929) visited Harvard .

Awards

Works

John Putnam Thatcher
  • 1. Banking on Death (1961); German: Friday the 13th (1962)
  • 2. A Place For Murder (1963); German: The girl on the twelve-pender (1973)
  • 3. Accounting for Murder (1964); German: Murder and the Treasury (1971)
  • 4. Murder Makes the Wheels Go Round (1966); German: The golden hearse (1973)
  • 5. Death Shall Overcome (1966); German: Gift for the stock exchange (1972)
  • 6. Murder Against the Grain (1967); German: Not a grain of truth (1972)
  • 7. A Stitch in Time (1968) Operation successful Patient dead (no year)
  • 8. Come to Dust (1968); German: And then he disappeared with money (1968)
  • 9. When in Greece (1969)
  • 10. Murder to Go (1969)
  • 11. Pick Up Sticks (1970); German: Die more beautiful in the green (1971)
  • 12. Ashes to Ashes (1971); German: Dollars for the Cardinal (1972)
  • 13. The Longer the Thread (1971); German: A dead person in the executive chair
  • 14. Murder Without Icing (1972); German: Murder in the penalty box (1974)
  • 15. Sweet and Low (1974); German: Süße, Leise Todesweise (1975)
  • 16. By Hook or By Crook (1975); German: chain and weft (1975)
  • 17. Double, Double, Oil and Trouble (1978); German: No tour is too crooked for oil (1980)
  • 18. Going For the Gold (1981)
  • 19. Green Grow the Dollars (1982)
  • 20. Something in the Air (1988)
  • 21. East is East (1991)
  • 22. Right on the Money (1993)
  • 23. Brewing Up a Storm (1996)
  • 24. A Shark Out Of Water (1997)
Ben Safford (writing as RB Dominic)
  • 1. Murder Sunny Side Up (1968)
  • 2. Murder in High Place (1969)
  • 3. There Is No Justice (1971); German: trim yourself dead
  • 4. Epitaph for a Lobbyist (1974)
  • 5. Murder Out of Commission (1976)
  • 6. The Attending Physician (1980)
  • 7. Unexpected Developments (1983)

Web links