It’s the birthday of Dick Francis (1920-2010, #nicelonglife), who not only wrote 42 bestselling crime novels but is the only author I can think of who had a successful career as a steeplechase jockey. (Besides Jane Austen.) Francis was born in the village of Lawrenny, Wales, and grew to the robust size of five foot [...]
It’s the birthday of author Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970), who created the character Perry Mason and wrote more than 140 mystery and detective novels, selling millions of copies to become the best-selling American author of the 20th century up to the time of his death in 1970. He also used to type so furiously that [...]
It’s the birthday of mystery writer Sara Paretsky (b. 1947), who in 1982 revolutionized the genre by publishing Indemnity Only, a mystery featuring strong female detective V.I. Warshawski. (This was evidently an idea whose time had come: Sue Grafton published her first mystery featuring female detective Kinsey Millhone that same year.) Paretsky has written 19 [...]