Sunday, Oct 23, 3pm.  At the Alice Austen House Museum, 2 Hylan Blvd (2 blocks off Bay St), SINY 10305

This special event is part of Staten Island OutLOUD’s autumn series for the National Endowment for the Arts/The Big Read, featuring Dashiell Hammett’s classic crime novel, “The Maltese Falcon”.

We’ll explore the work of 20th century women who won acclaim for their detective novels – Women who were contemporaries of Alice Austen, and whose work was familiar to Alice and Gertrude.  For example, we’ll give special focus to Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, two British writers who created charismatic female detectives, models of “the new woman”.  We’ll contrast those literary characters with Hammett’s hard-boiled detective Sam Spade, and we’ll compare the styles of these writers.  We’ll feature an excerpt from Patricia Highsmith’s novel “Carol” – reflecting on Alice and Gertrude’s story.  Book giveaway, while supplies last.

Who’s your favorite mystery writer?  Share your ideas and your favorite crime novels!  Free & open to the public.  Plenty of free parking on surrounding streets; close to public transportation.