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A Rag and a Bone
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1954
7 people want to read
About the author
Hillary Waugh
157 books15 followersAka Elissa Grandower (5 books), H. Baldwin Taylor (3 books), Harry Walker (1 book).
Hillary Baldwin Waugh was a pioneering American mystery novelist. In 1989, Waugh was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.
During his senior year at Yale, Waugh enlisted in the United States Navy Air Corps and, after graduation, received his aviator's wings. He served in Panama for two years, flying various types of aircraft. While in military service, Waugh turned his hand to creative writing, completing and publishing his first novel Madam Will Not Dine Tonight in 1947. He quickly published two more novels, but they were not very well received.
In 1949, as the result of reading a case book on true crime, Waugh decided to explore a realistic crime novel. With the cooperation of his fiancée, who was a student at Smith College, Waugh set his police procedural Last Seen Wearing... in a fictional women's college. Published in 1952, the book was a significant success and is now considered a pioneering effort exploring relentless police work and attention to detail.
After Last Seen Wearing..., Waugh went on to publish more than thirty-five additional detective novels, many aptly described as "hard boiled". Pseudonyms include "Elissa Grandower," "Harry Walker" and "H. Baldwin Taylor."
Waugh married Diana Taylor, and the couple had three children. Waugh died on December 8, 2008.
Hillary Baldwin Waugh was a pioneering American mystery novelist. In 1989, Waugh was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.
During his senior year at Yale, Waugh enlisted in the United States Navy Air Corps and, after graduation, received his aviator's wings. He served in Panama for two years, flying various types of aircraft. While in military service, Waugh turned his hand to creative writing, completing and publishing his first novel Madam Will Not Dine Tonight in 1947. He quickly published two more novels, but they were not very well received.
In 1949, as the result of reading a case book on true crime, Waugh decided to explore a realistic crime novel. With the cooperation of his fiancée, who was a student at Smith College, Waugh set his police procedural Last Seen Wearing... in a fictional women's college. Published in 1952, the book was a significant success and is now considered a pioneering effort exploring relentless police work and attention to detail.
After Last Seen Wearing..., Waugh went on to publish more than thirty-five additional detective novels, many aptly described as "hard boiled". Pseudonyms include "Elissa Grandower," "Harry Walker" and "H. Baldwin Taylor."
Waugh married Diana Taylor, and the couple had three children. Waugh died on December 8, 2008.
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February 2, 2018
Hillary Waugh wrote the much-respected police procedural novel LAST SEEN WEARING but, for some reason, his very next book, A RAG AND A BONE, is relatively obscure. It SHOULDN'T be, for it is much in the same vein of its better-known predecessor and, though it may be a shade less compelling, it is none-the-less a well-constructed, engaging novel. In LAST SEEN WEARING the first part of the book was concerned with trying to find a missing girl, and trying to discover if she was alive or dead. In A RAG AND A BONE the story starts with the discovery of the body of a young woman who was brutally murdered in a park; the remainder of the first quarter or so of the book revolves around the local police department's efforts to discover the victim's identity. The rest of the story chronicles the systematic tracking down of the killer using standard police methods. Hillary Waugh is a good writer who had a fairly long and successful career. Books like this one indicate that his work deserves to be better-known.
Displaying 1 of 1 review