- For other uses, see Charlotte Armstrong .
Charlotte Armstrong Lewi (1905-05-02 Vulcan, Michigan — 1969-07-18 Glendale, California) was an American author. Under the names Charlotte Armstrong and Jo Valentine she wrote over 28 novels, as well as working for the New York Times advertising department, as a fashion reporter for
Breath of the Avenue (a buyer's guide), and in an accounting firm.
Armstrong Lewi graduated from Vulcan High School in Vulcan, Michigan, in June 1921. She attended the junior college program at Ferry Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois for one year (1921-22), during which time she served as Editor-in-Chief of the student publication,
Ferry Tales. She attended the University of Wisconsin—Madison and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard College in 1925. She had a daughter and two sons with her husband, Jack Lewi.
In 1957, she received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for her novel
A Dram of Poison. She had two other Edgar-nominated novels, both in published in 1967:
The Gift Shop, and
Lemon in the Basket. Three of her short stories, all published in
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, were nominated for Edgars: "And Already Lost," (1957) and "The Case for Miss Peacock" (1965) and "The Splintered Monday" (1966).
Further Reading more less
Burke, Jan. "The Last Word: The Mean Streets of the Suburbs, the Kindness of Strangers---A Tribute to Charlotte Armstrong." Clues: A Journal of Detection 25.4 (Summer 2007): 65-69.
Cypert, Rick. The Virtue of Suspense: The Life and Works of Charlotte Armstrong. Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-57591-122-9