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Saturday, November 19, 2011

My Favorite Authors Through the Years

HELEN MacINNES  
Years ago I read Helen MacInnes. She was born in Scotland lived in England and married an Oxford Don. Later they moved to the United States. Her books were full of intrigue and espionage. Above Suspicion,  her first book, was an immediate success and set her on the path to becoming an international best seller.
   I loved her stories set in Greece and Crete after World War II.  Decision at Delphi and North from Rome are two Her descriptions of the area gave you the sense of being there amongst the temples and coliseums. Some of the characters were in more than one book and it was hard to tell if they were friend or foe, but I enjoyed the twists and turns the plots took.
   Several stories were based in England and Europe and dealt with Communism. I've read all her books until some on my shelves are falling apart. The Salsburg Connection and Above Suspicion were made into movies.
MARY STEWART
From England to Crete and everywhere in between Mary Stewart spins tales of intrigue and romance. Mary traveled with her husband, a professor of geology at the University of Edinburgh. Those travels gave her a wealth of knowledge about  far off places that filled her stories with realistic backgrounds.
   Romance played a larger part in her stories than in MacInnes', but the suspense kept you turning the pages. From her first book Madam Will You Talk  for over thirty years she kept her audience wanting more. Today she is considered the writer who created Romantic Suspense.