Author Archives: Richard Cass

About Richard Cass

Dick is the author of the Elder Darrow Jazz Mystery series, the story of an alcoholic who walks into a dive bar in Boston . . . and buys it. Solo Act was a Finalist for the Maine Literary Award in Crime Fiction in 2017 and In Solo Time won the award in 2018. The third book in the series, Burton's Solo, came out in 2018 and Last Call at the Esposito, the most recent, in 2019. Dick lives and writes in Cape Elizabeth.

“Haunted by Waters . . .”

Posted on February 25, 2020

Maine, thank goodness, is a land of rivers, something people forget when they fall in love with the coast and the ocean. In Massachusetts, I was born next to the Neponset and baptized early in the Charles River, a long … Continue reading →

Posted in Dick's Posts, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Too Many . . .

Posted on January 30, 2020

Too many funerals this year, he says, as he eyes the locomotive of his own old age steaming down the tracks: first, Lea Wait, of course, then a well-loved friend and colleague of Anne’s at the New Hampshire school where … Continue reading →

Posted in Dick's Posts, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Nostalgia, Comfort Food, and Cherry Tomatoes

Posted on December 5, 2019

If nostalgia is the comfort food of memory, what do we make of the fact that memory is so slippery? For the first thirty years of my life, I believed wholly in the memory I had of waking up in … Continue reading →

Posted in Dick's Posts, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Optimism, or the Triumph of Hope over Experience?

Posted on November 14, 2019

It’s been a busy month, what with the launch of Elder Darrow’s fourth adventure Last Call at the Esposito, or as it’s known in-house: Elder goes to the Olympics. Been a good deal of assorted hoop-te-doodle and exercise of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Beginners’ Luck

Posted on October 4, 2019

For reasons that might best go unexamined, I recently signed up to take a drawing class, having some vague notion of being able to illustrate a book one day. I’ve always been impressed by people who could render a recognizable … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

What the Heck is Fiction Any More?

Posted on September 5, 2019

First, in the Shameless Commerce Department:  Please join me for the launch of the fourth Elder Darrow mystery, Last Call at the Esposito, on Tuesday, September 24 at 7 PM at Longfellow Books. There will be cake, maybe pie, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Dick's Posts | 9 Comments

Less Being More

Posted on August 5, 2019

I’m still fan-boying over my trip to Erin French’s Lost Kitchen last month, a bit of serendipity that comes from having good friends and a flexible notion of how far to drive for a good meal. Beyond the beautiful setting … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments