Eunice Mays Boyd

Meet Eunice (1902–1971), a Golden Age contemporary of Agatha Christie who wrote the kind of mysteries she loved to solve—smart, cozy whodunits full of switchbacks. A UC Berkeley grad (1924), she spent twelve formative years in Alaska before returning to Berkeley around 1940, where she launched her beloved F. Millard Smyth series about a grocer–turned–amateur sleuth: MURDER BREAKS TRAIL (1943) and DOOM IN THE MIDNIGHT SUN (1943)—both now republished—followed by Murder Wears Mukluks (1945), slated for a 2026 reissue. A new installment, ONE PAW WAS RED, arrives in 2026.

She also co-authored THE MARBLE FOREST with Anthony Boucher and ten fellow SF Bay Area writers—the basis for the 1958 film Macabre. Her newly published cozies with her goddaughter, Elizabeth Reed Aden, from Level Best Books include DUNE HOUSE (written 1948) and SLAY BELLS (c. 1956), both set in San Francisco, and A VACATION TO KILL FOR (1970), set largely in Carcassonne, France. The 1940s Alaska novels showcase Smyth’s can-do sleuthing against the rugged Far North—a perfect match for readers who like their puzzles clever, their settings vivid, and their reveals deliciously savored.