Margaret Millar Books In Order

Publication Order of Paul Prye Books

Publication Order of Inspector Sands Books

Publication Order of Tom Aragon Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Margaret Millar was one of the prolific authors of the American-Canadian origin, who was famous for writing mystery, suspense, and thriller books. She had written 3 mystery series in total, none of which had more than 3 books. Author Millar was born on February 5, 1915 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, as Margaret Ellis Sturm. Her death occurred on March 26, 1994. She received her education in Toronto and then moved to the US after her marriage to her husband named Kenneth Millar, who was also a popular author, better known by his pseudonym Ross McDonald. The two lived in Santa Barbara for a few decades. This city was often used by her as a setting for her later novels, which she wrote under the pen names of Santa Felicia and San Felice. Author Millar’s novels are distinguished by sophisticated characters. The readers are often shown the complex interiors of people’s lives in her novels. Often, the issues of insecurity, loneliness, class, failed ambitions, paranoia, existential isolation are explored. The literary quality of author Millar’s books is of the superior quality. Societal misfits, unusual people, and people who do not seem to fit into the surroundings are described with interior details in Millar’s books. Some of the novels also give fascinating and chilling insights into the feeling of losing the sense of reality and turning into madness. Generally, the writings of author Millar expressive description and admirable economy, both at the same time. Her books often deliver surprise endings. They also include the solution of surprise in a subtle form. One distinction of Millar’s books is that they seem interesting even if it becomes obvious how they are going to end. The books appear to be as much about the rich psychological character details of individuals as they seem about the central plot.

Author Millar was considered a pioneer in coming up with intelligent writings about the women’s psychology. Even during the 1940s and 1950s, her books had mature and factual views of sexual freedom, frustration, and class distinctions, depending on the economic circumstances of the characters. The novels that she had written before the 1940s have a touch of frankness. Her books when compared against the Production Code era films of that time remind that life was not seen in black and white as they were seen in the Hollywood movies. When author Millar was not known for using a single detective character in the novels, she used to make use of a detective character in several of her novels occasionally. Some of the most popular sleuths used by Millar occasionally include Dr. Paul Pyre and Inspector Sands. Both these characters are described as being of the Canadian origin. In the books that author Millar wrote later in her career, she mentioned the detective characters of Tom Aragorn and Joe Quinn. The books shown Inspector Sands as a quiet and unassuming police inspector, while Joe Quinn is shown as an intelligent private eye. Tom Aragorn is depicted as a Hispanic, young lawyer. Many of author Millar’s novels are now out of print in the United States. Her only available works include a short story collection known as The Couple Next Door and a couple of novels called Do Evil in Return and An Air That Kills. These were luckily re-issued by the Stark House publication in California and made available for the readers to enjoy some of the great works of Millar. In 1956, author Millar was awarded with the Edgar Allen Poe prize. The Woman of the Year and Grand Master Awards also followed in later years.

An excellent novel series written by author Margaret Millar is called as the Tom Aragorn series. This series is comprised of 3 books in total, which were released between the years 1976 and 1982. The debut novel of this series is entitled ‘Ask for Me Tomorrow’. It was released by the Random House publishers in the year 1976. The chief characters of this book include Tom Aragorn, Marco, B.J. Lockwood, and Gilly Decker. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that Gilly Decker is fifty something, wealthy, and is married to a man named Marco. She seems to be going through a series of bad lucks as her first husband left her mysteriously and the second one is about to die. Marco suffered a stroke during their honeymoon. He has now become very hopeless that he will get cured. The only things that he has the hunger for being his pills and fluids as his medication. In such a miserable state, Gilly Decker decides to send a bright lawyer named Tom Aragorn to Mexico in order to look for her former husband named B.J. Lockwood. Lockwood had run away with one of his servants around 8 years ago. Now, Tom wonders why Gilly Decker has developed a sudden interest in Lockwood and that too after the passage of so many years. Something seems to be going on in her head. Tom Aragorn suspects Gilly Decker might be after Lockwood’s money or his son. If not, she might be thinking of taking revenge from him for leaving her.

Another successful book of the series is called ‘Mermaid’. It was published by the Allison & Busby publishers in 1982. The primary characters mentioned in this book are Cleo Jasper, Tom Aragorn, Hilton, etc. At the beginning of the story of the book, Cleo Jasper is introduced as a gorgeous and beautiful woman, who is in her initial twenties. She goes missing during an event at a school for learning disabled people. A little before her vanishing, Cleo Jasper had approached Tom Aragorn in his office. Later, Cleo Jasper’s brother named Hilton hires Tom to find his sister and bring her home. Tom Aragorn senses that the dedication of Hilton towards his younger sister had a tint of guilt and something more that Tom looks to find out. Upon investigation into the life of Hilton, Tom discovers that he has separated himself from his wife and young son just to devote himself completely to Cleo. Later, Tom Aragorn discovers the dead body of Cleo’s best friend, who used to work as a counselor in a school. What seems even more shocking to Tom is that the body was surrounded by numerous suicide notes and one of those suicides messages was addressed to her friend Cleo Jasper. Now, in order to find out how the murder was linked to Cleo, Tom needed to find her. But, she remained as slippery and elusive as a mermaid. This book serves as a good example of the excellent storytelling skills of author Millar.