Frances Glessner Lee: "Mother of Forensic Science” in the Nutshell Murder Mystery Series (Virtual)

How did a Chicago heiress become famous for miniature crime scenes she created to train police detectives? In the Nutshell Murder Mystery series, Fanny Lee teams up with real Boston medical examiner Dr. Jake Magrath to solve fictional crimes based on the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. In this presentation, author Frances McNamara introduces the real history of the protagonist of her series set in Boston in 1919.

Frances McNamara is author of Nutshell Murder Mystery: Molasses Murder in a Nutshell featuring Frances Glessner Lee “Mother of Forensics” and set in Boston in 1919. Book 2 Three-Decker Murder in a Nutshell is set in East Boston. Also The Emily Cabot Mysteries about a social activist in Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Death in a Time of Spanish Flu is set in Chicago in 1918 as WWI ends is the 9^th book in the series. Retired from the University of Chicago, she now divides her time between Boston and Cape Cod.

Praise for Molasses Murder in a Nutshell

"One of the challenges of anyone writing historical fiction is to tell a compelling story while getting the setting and the time period 'right.'  Frances McNamara masterfully accomplishes both with Molasses Murder in a Nutshell -- a riveting read that occurs amidst the sights and sounds of the early 20th century.  What more can lovers of historical fiction ask for?" Stephen Puleo, author of Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, and Voyage of Mercy: The USS Jamestown, the Irish Famine, and the Remarkable Story of America's First Humanitarian Mission

“Overall, Molasses is a real treat. Settings and back stories about the time period run smoothly. Particularly delicious is the unexpected denouement. This reader, for one, looks forward to the next Nutshell mystery.” Historical Novel Society