August 16, 2011 | History

John D. Macdonald

24 July 1916 - 28 December 1986

John D. MacDonald was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania. He attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania but dropped out to move to New York City, where he took menial to support himself. While attending the School of Management at Syracuse University, he met Dorothy Prentiss, and they married in 1937. He graduated from Syracuse the following year, and in 1939 he received an MBA from Harvard University. During World War II he served in the Office of Strategic Services in the Far East. In 1945, he wrote a short story for his wife and mailed it to her. She submitted it to the magazine Story, and it was published. When he returned home after the war, he wrote full-time, often working 14 hours every day. After five months without another success, he sold a story to the pulp magazine Dime Detective, and he continued to write for detective, mystery, adventure, sports, western and science fiction pulps. In 1950 his first novel, The Brass Cupcake, was published. In 1953, he began specializing in crime thrillers, producing some of the most-respected novels in the hardboiled style. Several of his novels have been made into films.

280 works Add another?

Most Editions | First Published | Most Recent

The scarlet ruse
9 editions - first published in 1973
The girl in the plain brown wrapper
9 editions - first published in 1968
The Quick Red Fox
9 editions - first published in 1978 Borrow
A tan and sandy silence
8 editions - first published in 1972
Nightmare in Pink
8 editions - first published in 1981
Nightmare in pink
7 editions - first published in 1966
The dreadful lemon sky
7 editions - first published in 1920
Barrier Island
7 editions - first published in 1986 Borrow
The empty copper sea
7 editions - first published in 1978 Borrow
Condominium
7 editions - first published in 1977 Checked out
Darker Than Amber
6 editions - first published in 1976
Cinnamon skin
6 editions - first published in 1982 DAISY
A deadly shade of gold
6 editions - first published in 1969
The green ripper
6 editions - first published in 1979
A Purple Place for Dying
6 editions - first published in 1983
A purple place for dying
6 editions - first published in 1920
Dress her in indigo
6 editions - first published in 1969 Checked out
The lonely silver rain
6 editions - first published in 1985 DAISY
Area of Suspicion
5 editions - first published in 1976
Pale Gray for Guilt
5 editions - first published in 1975
Deep Blue Goodbye
5 editions - first published in 1978
Dreadful Lemon Sky
5 editions - first published in 1978
The Turquoise Lament
5 editions - first published in 1978
The Scarlet Ruse
5 editions - first published in 1976
The Deep Blue Good-By
5 editions - first published in 1964
The long lavender look
5 editions - first published in 1970
All These Condemned
5 editions - first published in 1976
Empty Copper Sea
5 editions - first published in 1982
Cry Hard, Cry Fast
5 editions - first published in 1976
The deep blue good-bye
5 editions - first published in 1965
Free fall in crimson
5 editions - first published in 1981 Borrow
One more Sunday
5 editions - first published in 1984 Borrow
A Tan & Sandy Silence
5 editions - first published in 1982 Borrow
Deadly Shade of Gold
4 editions - first published in 1978
Cinnamon Skin
4 editions - first published in 1986
The Green Ripper
4 editions - first published in 1982
April Evil
4 editions - first published in 1976
On the Run
4 editions - first published in 1976
The quick red fox
4 editions - first published in 1964
Free Fall in Crimson
4 editions - first published in 1985
The executioners
4 editions - first published in 1958 DAISY
The Empty Trap
4 editions - first published in 1977
One Fearful Yellow Eye
4 editions - first published in 1987
Beach Girls
4 editions - first published in 1976
One Fearful Yellow Eye
4 editions - first published in 1966
Long Lavender Look
4 editions - first published in 1982 DAISY
The turquoise lament
4 editions - first published in 1973 Borrow
Darker than amber
4 editions - first published in 1966 Checked out
Pale gray for guilt
4 editions - first published in 1968 Checked out
Damned
3 editions - first published in 1976
The brass cupcake
3 editions - first published in 1950
Death Trap
3 editions - first published in 1982
Purple Place Dying
3 editions - first published in 1975
The crossroads
3 editions - first published in 1959
Price of Murder
3 editions - first published in 1976
Seven
3 editions - first published in 1971
Girl in Brown Wrapper
3 editions - first published in 1975
Judge Me Not
3 editions - first published in 1976
Murder for the Bride
3 editions - first published in 1976
Please write for details
3 editions - first published in 1959
Brass Cupcake
3 editions - first published in 1981
Key to the Suite
3 editions - first published in 1976
The price of murder
3 editions - first published in 1957
Ballroom of the skies
3 editions - first published in 1952
Cancel All Our Vows
3 editions - first published in 1974
Clemmie
3 editions - first published in 1981
The Drowner
3 editions - first published in 1982
A key to the suite
3 editions - first published in 1962
Wine of the dreamers
3 editions - first published in 1951 Borrow
Slam the big door
3 editions - first published in 1960 Checked out
Contrary Pleasure
3 editions - first published in 1976 Checked out
The last one left
2 editions - first published in 1967
You live once
2 editions - first published in 1976
Wine of the Dreamers
2 editions - first published in 1977
Cancel All Our Vows
2 editions - first published in 1953
Death trap
2 editions - first published in 1957
Last One Left
2 editions - first published in 1967
Only Girl in the Game
2 editions - first published in 1981
More good old stuff
2 editions - first published in 1984
Cinnamon Skin (Travis McGee Mysteries)
2 editions - first published in 1996
Judge Me Not
2 editions - first published in 1978
Soft Touch
2 editions - first published in 1981
All These Condemned
2 editions - first published in 1954
End of the Night
2 editions - first published in 1977
Dead low tide
2 editions - first published in 1976
Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper
2 editions - first published in 1987
Cape Fear
2 editions - first published in 1967
Murder in the wind
2 editions - first published in 1956
Nightmare in Pink (Travis McGee Mysteries (Audio))
2 editions - first published in 1964
Bright Orange Shroud
2 editions - first published in 1978
Last One Left
2 editions - first published in 1976
Neon Jungle
2 editions - first published in 1981
The Crossroads
2 editions - first published in 1976
Darker Than Amber (Travis McGee Mysteries (Audio))
2 editions - first published in 1920
The Lonely Silver Rain
2 editions - first published in 1989
Condominium
2 editions - first published in 1980
A Man of Affairs
2 editions - first published in 1976
No Deadly Drug
2 editions - first published in 1968
A Bullet for Cinderella
2 editions - first published in 1982
The Good Old Stuff
2 editions - first published in 1983