Friday, January 02, 2009

Donald Westlake, Grand Master of Mystery, Dead at 75


Kingdom Books -- that is, Dave and I -- discovered with deep sorrow this morning that Donald Westlake died of a heart attack on New Year's Eve while in Mexico on vacation.

Our condolences extend to his wife Abby Adams Westlake, and to the many good friends of this prolific author, whose humorous and lively mysteries made up the core of so many experiences of New York City detective fiction. Under 22 names, Don Westlake delighted and entertained us and reminded us that even the most hard-bitten criminal can either stumble into a ridiculous situation or lose his heart to an unattainable and kind woman.

I'm posting the photo here of Don and Abby at Kingdom Books on August 13, 2006. We'll both be re-reading his books this week, especially the ones written under the nom de plume Richard Stark (Dave's favorites) and the short but evocative series under the name Tucker Coe (Beth's favorites).

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