Lydia Adamson Books In Order

Publication Order of Sally Tepper Books

Publication Order of Alice Nestleton Mystery Books

Publication Order of Deirdre Quinn Nightingale Books

Publication Order of Lucy Wayles Mystery Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Lydia Adamson is the pen name for Franklin B.King who was an author, freelance writer and copywriter. He was born on January 1st, 1936. He resided on the east coast, specifically, in the City of New York and also wrote under the name ‘Frank King’. He was the creator of ‘Alice Nestleton’, an actress and cat-sitter, ‘Deidre Quinn Nightingale’, a veterinarian doctor and ‘Lucy Wayles’, a birthwatcher and former librarian.

The ‘Alice Nestleton’ Mystery Novels are well known page turners. ‘ A Cat In The Manger’ is the first in the Mystery series. The title was first published on November 6th, 1990 by Signet. In this first installment we are introduced to ‘Alice Nestleton’. A budding off-off Broadway actress who is trying to veer away from the traditional theater productions and dive into avant-garde theater instead. Alice also takes a fancy to cat-sitting in and around New York, as a side vocation. During Christmas time Alice prepares for her annual cat-sitting job at a horse farm near the Hamptons. She has always taken care of the eight Himalayans, for Harry and Jo Starobin. This time Harry fails to pick Alice up from the station as they had agreed prior to her arriving, however when he fails to turn up to the station Alice makes her own way to the farm via taxi. Alice seems to find everything in good order when she first arrives, but her reserve is broken sooner than she had anticipated, as she discovers Harry’s corpse hanging from the back of the door. With not enough time to soak it all in, yet another murder takes place, not far from the farm. Alice puts her own life at risk, to investigate further. The plot involves high-stakes, horse- racing and special cat genetics.

The second in the ‘Alice Nestleton’ series is named ‘A Cat Of A Different Color’. Another gripping murder mystery tale, where this time our beautiful Off-Off Broadway actress-sleuth Alice, is approached by a student from her acting class. He is not empty handed; he brings with him a white Abyssinian-like cat, as a gesture of his fondness and affection for Alice. Unbeknownst to Alice, days later her admirer is found dead in a bar in Manhattan, and lo and behold the cat had also been cat-knapped. Alice is intrigued and also shaken by the news. Along with her own two cats, Bushy and Pancho, she sets about finding the cat-knapper; without intending to do so, she finds herself entangled in a web of lies and mystery surrounding the death of her admirer.

Lydia Adamson, aka Frankin B. King, does a stellar job playing out the mysteries within the pages of the ‘Alice Nestleton’ novels. Other series which Frank King wrote were under the genre of thriller, mystery and suspense also. The Dr. Nightingale Mysteries, featuring the character, ‘Deidre Quinn Nightingale’, and the Birdwatcher Mystery novels featuring the character, ‘Lucy Wayles’, are also deserving of greater acclaim and recognition.

Early on in the series for the Dr. Nightingale mysteries was, the title, ‘ Dr. Nightingale Comes Home’. First published in February 1994, by Signet, the novel centers around Dr. Nightingale, a veterinarian by profession. The brave and fearless veterinarian, comes across a strange illness afflicting French Alpine goats, in New York State, but soon finds out that her dear friend Dick Obey, a dairy farmer, has indeed been found dead. She drudges on to find clues and solve the mystery surrounding his death.

The Birdwatcher Mysteries also feature a central character in the name of ‘Lucy Wales’. Lucy, an avid birdwatcher has a knack for solving crimes, the series follows her adventures into the unknown to solve, deep and dark mysteries, some plots taking a turn for the worst before emerging on a high note by the end of the books.

The ‘Beware the Tufted Duck’ novel in the Birdwatcher Series, seems to be the most well known and acclaimed by readers. In this saga, Lucy saves a tufted duck from Manhattan’s 59th Street Bridge. Unfortunately, this incident is followed by her arrest for blocking traffic. She in turn is ostracized from the Central Park bird watchers club, and relinquishes her title as the club president. Unfazed by the occurrences, she starts her own club, the Olmsted’s Irregulars. The plot thickens when one of the club members, Abraham Lescalles meet with an predetermined death. When the local police cannot find any further clues, Lucy at this point, steps in to investigate. The mystery continues as she purges clues and dodges the dark intentions of the killer at large.

Lydia, aka Frank King, always seemed to have featured a central female character within his Mystery series and maybe that is why he wrote under a female pseudonym, though there might be other theories to explain this behaviour. Maybe secretly the author desired to see a female in a poignant role within his books and for her not to be overshadowed by the plot but for her to emerge as the heroine.

The iconic mystery novels of the early 90s and 2000s, written by Lydia Adamson, have cemented a great deal of admiration for the author by readers and critics alike. The little that is know of Frank King he was a well to do freelance copywriter, who had been noted as a mystery author himself. Born and raised in the concrete jungle that is New York City, he was known by his loved ones to be generous, loyal, unpretentious and of course brilliant. He was known to be a legendary all-city public league basketball player at Madison High School, in Brooklyn, New York and a graduate of The City College of New York. Frank, loved the city and was a keen scholar and writer, a fete that was not to be scoffed at during those days.

Frank King, died in May 2015, and was survived by his loving wife, Charlotte Carter, and the King family: brothers Stephen and Jonathan. He will forever be remembered as a great story teller and writer and his legacy will forever be ingrained in the pages of his gripping suspense, murder mystery thrillers.