Mystery International

Author of Memory Can be Murder, Kill the Messenger, as well as Fortune in Your Hand, this North Carolina author was a talented mystery writer. In-fact, she was so well received that in 1995 she won an Agatha Award for her short story “The Dog Who Remembered Too Much.” The writing world was devastated when she passed away in 2001. In honor of her incredible achievements, we’re going to repost an interview with Squires from our archives.Interviewer: Anna Ashwood Collins5-12-2000Talking with Elizabeth Daniels Squire, author of the popular Peaches Dann series, is always entertaining since Liz’s memory is just as bad as that of her absent-minded sleuth. When asked how Peaches came about, Liz replied, “When I became 55, my friends started saying they couldn’t remember things and I told them, that was no problem for me since I never had been able to remember anything and I would be happy to pass on my memory tips to them.” For example, if you don’t know which way a screw goes, remember righty-tighty, lefty-loosey. Liz who ably combines memory and humor said, “If you’re standing in the middle of the floor wondering what you’re doing there and someone asks you why you’re there, say ‘I’m considering the hereafter,’ and when they say, “you mean Heaven and Hell’, you reply, “no, what am I here after?”Liz added, “Someone once said happiness is good health and a poor memory.”What’s the next project for Peaches? A friend says to Peaches that since you’ve had such success writing about your worse fault, I want to write a book on how to cope with 1001 catastrophes that no well-run household should have. . .Liz has two tips for those who need help remembering: When traveling, count the number of items you are carrying. If you have four things, make sure you still have four whenever you sit down or leave an area. To find something put it in a place where it doesn’t belong such as drape your underwear over the television set or put it where you’ll trip over it.