Illinois Authors

The Illinois Center for the Book banner

Dorothy Cannell

Born: 1943 in Nottingham, England
Pen Name: None

Connection to Illinois: Dorothy married Julian Cannell in 1964 and they lived in Peoria, Illinois for many years.

Biography: Dorothy Cannell moved to the United States in 1963 to work as a secretary in Chicago. After living getting married, she moved to Peoria, Illinois with her husband. They lived there until he retired and they now live in Belfast, Maine. Cannell's mysteries are set in her native England. They feature Ellie Haskell, interior decorator and Ben Haskell, writer and chef, and Hyacinth and Primrose Tramwell, a pair of dotty sisters and owners of the Flowers Detection Agency. She has been a member of Mystery Writers of America, American Crime Writers, Sisters in Crime, Novelists, Inc.


Awards:
  • Cannell's first Ellie Haskell novel, ''The Thin Woman'', was selected as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Twentieth Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.

Primary Literary Genre(s): Mystery

Primary Audience(s): Adult readers

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dorothy-Cannell/112758952072566
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000626232550&ref=mf#!/profile.php?id=100000626232550&v=info&ref=mf=dorothy+cannell
Dorothy Cannell on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=dorothy+cannell


Selected Titles

  Bridesmaids revisited
ISBN: 1402504926 OCLC: 48410999

Recorded Books, Prince Frederick, MD : ℗2001.

A seance, a hidden diary and a 50-year-old murder mystery reveal long-hidden secrets about Ellie Haskell's deceased grandmother Sophia and the friends she called the bridesmaids.--

Bridesmaids revisited /
ISBN: 0141001860 OCLC: 47206985

Penguin, New York : 2001.

Down the garden path /
ISBN: 1585472182 OCLC: 48967900

"Story of Tessa Fields, an orphan determined to uncover her true origins. With the help of the Misses Tramwell, Tessa hits upon a scheme that has her faking amnesia and recovering at the Tramwell's ancestral home."--Back cover.

Down the garden path :
ISBN: 0312218699 OCLC: 12107917

St. Martin's Press, New York, NY : ©1985.

The story of Tessa Fields, a young orphan determined to uncover her true origins. With the help of the Misses Tramwells, two endearing elderly ladies, and the reluctant assistance of her secret love, Harry Harkness, Tessa hits upon a scheme that finds her feigning amnesia and recovering in the Tramwells's ancestral home. But it isn't long before Tessa smells a rat. Why does the butler creep around in his socks, and what was he doing in her closet? How does the coquettish maid know all about Tessa and even more about Harry? Why are these little old ladies so fiendishly good at cards? It soon becomes apparent that the game being played out in this proper English town isn't poker, but murder and Tessa must unmask the perpetrator before she's dealt a fatal hand.

Femmes fatal /
ISBN: 0553296841 OCLC: 793417461

Bantam Books, New York : ©1992.

Once Ellie Haskell's life was a fairy tale: the one about the overweight, underpaid interior designer who falls rapturously in love with a gorgeous prince, has two adorable children, and lives happily ever after. But now, four and a half months after the birth of her twins, Ellie's worst nightmare has come true: The princess has turned into a frog, and the bliss has gone out of the bedroom. Still, Ellie wonders if the answer to her marital woes can be found in an.

God save the Queen!
ISBN: 9781610847858 OCLC: 857714162

Flora was raised at gloomy Gossinger Hall because her grandfather, Hutchins, was the butler there. When Sir Henry announced that he was changing his will to leave the Hall to Hutchins, he upset several people. But then Hutchins was found dead under curious circumstances. Coping with her loss, Flora moved to London, followed by Vivian Gossinger, the heir apparent. Was he trying to protect her and from what? British Cozy Mystery by Dorothy Cannell; originally published by Bantam.

God save the Queen! /
ISBN: 055357468X OCLC: 38901036

Bantam Books, New York : 1998.

Goodbye, Ms. Chips /
ISBN: 0312343388 OCLC: 185021582

Ellie Haskell returns to her old boarding school to solve a case of robbery--and finds herself tracking a murderer.

How to murder the man of your dreams
ISBN: 9780307816641 OCLC: 781948411

Bantam Books, New York : 2012.

After the Chitterdon Fells librarian is found dead among the stacks, the town invites hunky Karisma, a romance series cover model, for a fund raiser in her name. When he dies, PI Ellie Haskell, herself an avid romance reader, has work on her hands.

How to murder the man of your dreams /
ISBN: 0553573608 OCLC: 31754437

Bantam Books, New York : 1995.

After the Chitterdon Fells librarian is found dead among the stacks, the town invites hunky Karisma, a romance series cover model, for a fund raiser in her name. When he dies, PI Ellie Haskell, herself an avid romance reader, has work on her hands.

How to murder your mother-in-law
ISBN: 9780307816658 OCLC: 781948456

Bantam Books, New York : 2012.

In a pub in England four women amusethemselves over gins, discussing ways of bumping off their mothers-in-law. The game is interrupted by a real mother-in-law murder and the ladies join forces to solve it.

How to murder your mother-in-law /
ISBN: 1423354478 OCLC: 250473369

Brilliance Corp., Grand Haven, Mich. : ℗1994.

The Thin Woman, Ellie Haskell, is back in another outrageous romantic chiller. Pestered with the ultimate mother-in-law problem, she and three other acquaintances hatch four imaginary plots to bump off their in-laws. When the plots start coming lethally true, Ellie plunges into a desperate chase to outwit a killer.

Mum's the word
ISBN: 9780307816719 OCLC: 781951005

Crimeline, New York : 2012.

When her husband, Ben, drags her to the States for a gourmet cooking competition, the nervous and pregnant Ellie Haskell encounters mystery and murder in the American Midwest.

Mum's the word /
ISBN: 1574903527 OCLC: 45714889

Beeler Large Print, Hampton Falls, N.H. : 2001.

Sea glass summer /
ISBN: 0727881833 OCLC: 778270660

Severn House, Sutton, Surrey, England : 2012.

Recovering from a painful divorce, Sarah Draycott has moved to picturesque village of Sea Glass on the Maine coast to make a fresh start. As she finds herself increasingly caught up in the lives of the Sea Glass residents, Sarah finds her broken heart beginning to heal.

She shoots to conquer /
ISBN: 0312343396 OCLC: 243544867

Minotaur Books, New York : 2009.

Lord Belfrey of Mucklesfeld Manor has decided to save his crumbling establishment by offering himself as the prize on a TV reality show, but after one of his potential brides is shot during an archery contest, Ellie Haskell begins to explore the dark passageways and hidden nooks of Belfrey's delightfully Gothic estate--unprepared for the secrets lurking behind closed doors.

She Shoots to Conquer.
ISBN: 9780399594991 OCLC: 958454845

Random House Publishing Group, 2016.

Ellie Haskell, the beloved heroine of The Thin Woman, is stuck on a reality TV set. And, as the thoroughly entertaining series (Cosmopolitan) from Agatha Award nominee Dorothy Cannell continues, this cast is dying for their fifteen minutes. A dark foggy night. A big spooky mansion. And a reality TV dating show' It's not exactly the scene Ellie Haskell expects to find while stranded near the Yorkshire moors with her husband, Ben, and their plucky housekeeper, Mrs. Malloy-who promptly signs up as a contestant when she learns that the bachelorettes are competing for the affections of Lord Belfry himself. Then again, maybe Ellie shouldn't be so surprised. Some women would kill to marry a lord...'erhaps literally. Even before the shooting starts, one would-be bride is knocked out of the game by a fatal car wreck. Then another is struck by Cupid's arrow in an archery event. Ellie is beginning to suspect that murder is a grim inevitability on this doomed production. Somewhere in the dark passageways and hidden nooks of Mucklesfeld Manor, another life is about to be canceled-but Ellie will do anything to ensure that she and her friends make it back to reality unscathed. Praise for She Shoots to Conquer Hilarious and always engaging sleuth Ellie Haskell is back-always a good thing for the health of British cozies.-Booklist A delight...' satire on the gothic suspense novel, She Shoots to Conquer is also an engaging mystery, as the deft and talented Cannell proves again that hilarity and horror can meet.-Kirkus Reviews Praise for Dorothy Cannell and the Ellie Haskell series It is the absurd predicaments of her central characters that readers find themselves recalling, and Cannell is cunning at devising outlandish situations for them.-Chicago Sun-Times Cannell is a master of subtle wit and humorous asides that lift her cozies to great heights. Before the influx of writers trying to out-humor Janet Evanovich, there was Dorothy Cannell. Long may she write!-Library Journal.

The importance of being Ernestine :
ISBN: 9781440650826 OCLC: 934804129

Viking, New York : 2002.

Ellie Haskell and her housekeeper, Mrs Malloy, are mistaken for detectives and hired by Lady Krumley to investigate a series of fatal accidents that she is convinced are tied to a thirty-year-old curse.

The importance of being Ernestine :
ISBN: 0142002844 OCLC: 50403777

Viking, New York : 2002.

Ellie Haskell and her housekeeper, Mrs Malloy, are mistaken for detectives and hired by Lady Krumley to investigate a series of fatal accidents that she is convinced are tied to a thirty-year-old curse.

The pitchfork patrol /
ISBN: 1585470082 OCLC: 81252762

Center Point Pub., Thorndike, Me. : 2007.

They should have been fighting the Sioux, but this had to be settled first.

The spring cleaning murders
ISBN: 0399180397 OCLC: 987361669

Alibi, New York : 2017.

Dust mops are deadly in this irresistible (Minneapolis Star Tribune) and wickedly witty (Chicago Sun-Times) cozy mystery featuring the beloved Ellie Haskell-the signature heroine of Agatha Award nominee Dorothy Cannell. When the ever-scrupulous and ever-caustic Mrs. Roxie Malloy leaves her employ in tears, Ellie Haskell-busy mother of twins-is forced to find another cleaning person. As she searches for someone who can at least aspire to taking Mrs. Malloy's place, Ellie turns the household topsy-turvy, overcome with spring-cleaning fever. But when members of the Chitterton Fells Charwomen's Association (C.F.C.W.A.) start biting the dust, Ellie swaps scrubbing for sleuthing to find out what dark secrets have been swept under the rug. With the help of her husband, Ben, her feckless cousin Freddy, and an assortment of homemade cleaning solutions, Ellie joins the C.F.C.W.A.'s roster and embarks on a brief stint as a mercenary maid-just long enough to snoop through her neighbors' things and find out which one has more than dust bunnies and dirty dishes to hide. Praise for The Spring Cleaning Murders Irresistible ... 'ick up [The Spring Cleaning Murders] and let the dust bunnies lie where they fall.--Minneapolis Star Tribune Wickedly witty ... 'utrageous plotting.-Chicago Sun-Times Praise for Dorothy Cannell and the Ellie Haskell series A thoroughly entertaining series.-Cosmopolitan It is the absurd predicaments of her central characters that readers find themselves recalling, and Cannell is cunning at devising outlandish situations for them.-Chicago Sun-Times Cannell is a master of subtle wit and humorous asides that lift her cozies to great heights. Before the influx of writers trying to out-humor Janet Evanovich, there was Dorothy Cannell. Long may she write!-Library Journal.

The spring cleaning murders /
ISBN: 0140276157 OCLC: 38353431

Viking Mystery Suspense, New York : 1998.

Two charwomen are murdered in the English village of Chitterton Fells. Sleuth Ellie Haskell poses as a charwoman to gain entry to homes in the neighborhood, hoping to find clues.

The thin woman :
ISBN: 9780307816726 OCLC: 781954542

Crimeline, New York : 2012.

The Thin Woman introduces Ellie Simons, who wishes to be thin but can't put eclairs out of her mind. Upon receiving an invitation to a family reunion, Ellie hires an escort, returns to the family home, and finds herself face-to-face with a loss of appetite, an unexpected romance, and a sudden murder.

The trouble with Harriet /
ISBN: 0670886297 OCLC: 40713961

A comic mystery featuring sleuth Ellie Haskell as she investigates an urn containing the ashes of her father's lady love. A lot of people seem overly interested in the urn, could it contain something else than ashes?

The widows club
ISBN: 9780307816665 OCLC: 781956262

Bantam Books, New York : 2012.

Hyacinth and Primrose Tramwell of the Flowers Detective Agency are retained to investigate the possible murders of unfaithful husbands in the village of Chitterdon Fells and turn up evidence of the deadly Widows Club.

The widows club /
ISBN: 0553277944 OCLC: 20407894

Bantam Books, New York : 1989, ©1988.

Stylish, amusing, and deliciously wicked, the Misses Hyacinth and Primrose Tramwell are hired to investigate a woman's organization whose members choose widowhood over divorce. With the help of a newlywed friend, the spinster sleuths stalk the mastermind of matrimonial murder. HC: Bantam.

  Trouble with Harriet.
ISBN: 0399180400 OCLC: 990474414

Random House Publishing Group, 2017.

A comic mystery featuring sleuth Ellie Haskell as she investigates an urn containing the ashes of her father's lady love. A lot of people seem overly interested in the urn, could it contain something else than ashes?

Withering heights
ISBN: 9781429989879 OCLC: 828951110

St. Martin's Paperbacks, New York : 2008, ©2007.

Heading for her young cousin Ariel's delightfully Gothic mansion on the Yorkshire moors, Ellie Haskell discovers that a mysterious villain is stalking the house's picturesque halls.

Withering heights /
ISBN: 031294683X OCLC: 965577056

St. Martin's Paperbacks, New York : 2008, ©2007.

Heading for her young cousin Ariel's delightfully Gothic mansion on the Yorkshire moors, Ellie Haskell discovers that a mysterious villain is stalking the house's picturesque halls.

 

 

Accessibility