Frances Crane

Frances Crane (1890-1981) was an American author of mystery novels. Her series is the Pat & Jean Abbott series. Frances graduated from the University of Illinois and did her graduate studies at the University of Chicago. She was an outspoken liberal, who spent time in Nazi Germany, and would mock Hitler’s speeches, and try convincing restaurant staff she was Jewish. Unsurprisingly, she was later expelled from Germany. She returned home as a divorcée, and in need of money, began writing detective fiction. Frances Crane made her debut as a novelist in 1941 with the novel The Turquoise Shop, beginning her Pat & Jean Abbott series. She wrote 26 in the series, plus four standalone novels. Below is a list of Frances Crane’s books in order of when they were originally released: Frances Crane Synopses: The Turquoise Shop is the first Pat & Jean Abbott Mystery by Frances Crane. The arrival of a wealthy stranger from the East is enough to spark conversation in a small, artistic town in New Mexico. Even though Mona Brandon moved to Santa Maria a few years ago, there are still rumors about her money, her influence, and — when a corpse that may or may not be her husband is found in the nearby desert — her secret and suspicious past.