The John J. Malone Mysteries Series

A Chicago cad blackmails a torch singer in this thriller: “Why can’t all murders be as funny as those concocted by Craig Rice?” (The New York Times)   Radio star Nelle Brown is known coast-to-coast for her sweet and sultry voice. But her press agent and manager, Jake Justus, is familiar with another side of the darling of the airwaves: her crackpot marriage to a penniless tycoon, disastrous string of lovers, and propensity for flying into spectacular fits of rage. Now, it appears she’s being burned by an ex-flame who’s holding her scandalous love letters for ransom. The missives could ruin Nelle’s career, but so could the scoundrel’s murder. For Nelle and Jake, reporting the crime is out of the question—not to mention pointless, as the corpse has vanished along with the incriminating evidence.   John J. Malone, Chicago’s rumpled yet resourceful legal beagle is tasked with finding both. But as every new unscrupulous lead turns up dead, Malone isn’t sure whether Nelle is orchestrating a killer cover-up to save her pretty neck or if she’s about to belt out her own swan song.   The first writer of detective fiction to appear on the cover of Time magazine, former crime reporter “Craig Rice was a funny lady, [and] a good writer undeservedly forgotten . . . She’s worth remembering” (Jon L. Breen, Edgar Award–winning author).   The Corpse Steps Out is the 1st book in the John J. Malone Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

“The grand dame of mystery mixed with screwball comedy” introduces her popular, sharp-witted Chicago lawyer/sleuth (Ed Gorman, Ellery Queen Award–winning author).   John J. Malone, defender of the guilty, is notorious for getting his culpable clients off. It’s the innocent ones who are problems. Like Holly Inglehart, accused of piercing the black heart of her well-heeled and tyrannical aunt Alexandria with a lovely Florentine paper cutter. No one who knew the old battle-ax liked her, but Holly’s prints were found on the murder weapon. Plus, she had a motive: She was about to be disinherited for marrying a common bandleader.   With each new lurid headline, Holly’s friends and supporters start to rally. There’s North Shore debutante Helene Brand; Holly’s groom’s press agent, Jake Justus; the madam of a local brothel, and Alexandria’s hand-wringing servants. But not one of them can explain the queerest bent to the crime: At the time of the murder, every clock in the Inglehart mansion stopped dead. And that’s only the first twist in a baffling case of “aunty-cide”—because Alexandria won’t be the last to die.   Making his debut in this fun and funny novel, Craig Rice’s one-of-a-kind Chicago attorney is “an inspired creation . . . an unapologetic champion of the defense bar . . . a defender of the guilty whose contempt for society outstrips his contempt for criminals” (Jon L. Breen, Edgar Award–winning author).   Eight Faces at Three is the 1st book in the John J. Malone Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A cynical Chicago attorney butts heads with a beautiful killer socialite—from “the Dorothy Parker of detective fiction” (William Ruehlmann).   Press agent Jake Justus doesn’t care if all of Chicago drops dead. He’s just tied the knot with debutante Helene Brand, and a Bermuda honeymoon is only three in-flight martinis away. But the shooting death of a man in broad daylight, on the busiest shopping day of the year, with plenty of witnesses, is particularly ill timed. Jake’s pal, attorney John J. Malone, agrees. Only a day before, wedding guest Mona McClane, notorious jetsetter and tipsy big-game hunter, bet the two men she could bag an innocent stranger and they’d never be able to prove a thing.   Then Malone discovers that the victim wasn’t so innocent. Any number of people wanted him dead. And if Mona is only one of them, Malone’s wagering there’s much more to this murder than just the thrill of getting away with it.   The first mystery writer to ever make the cover of Time magazine, Craig Rice was known for her fizzy cocktails of hard-boiled noir and screwball comedy, prompting the New York Times to ask: “Why can’t all murders be as funny as those concocted by Craig Rice?”  

A dozen murders and counting—and any one of them could lead a Chicago attorney to a hotheaded female tycoon.   It’s 11:59 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and criminal lawyer John J. Malone is nursing his blues in a Chicago dive bar. He’s been two-timed by his inamorata and abandoned by his favorite gumshoe partners, crime reporter Jake Justus and socialite Helene Brand, for their Bermuda honeymoon. But Malone’s not lonely for long. Suddenly, a stranger staggers into the bar, calls out the attorney’s name, and drops dead—stabbed in the back. In his possession is a key that could unlock the cold heart of Mona McClane, a wealthy and beautiful thrill-seeker who once challenged Jake in a high-stakes gamble: She’d bet him she could get away with murder.   Is this dead man a pawn in Mona’s game? If so, thank goodness Jake and Helene’s honeymoon turned as a sour as a margarita. They’re already back in town, at odds, yet ready to play. With a crazy wager like Mona’s, Malone fears they’ll be ringing in the New Year with a countdown of corpses.   The first mystery writer to ever make the cover of Time magazine, Craig Rice is “the Queen of the Surrealistic Crime Story” (Thrilling Detective).   The Right Murder is the 2nd book in the John J. Malone Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Ten stories featuring the Chicago attorney-turned-sleuth from “the grand dame of mystery mixed with screwball comedy” (Ed Gorman).   From suburban cocktail parties to music halls to the precarious ledge of a high-rise, Chicago attorney John J. Malone is willing to take on any case—as long as it’ll pay his bar tab.   In this ten-story collection of murder most offbeat, a wedding anniversary party turns deadly for an unlucky housewife; a client’s supposed innocence hangs by a thread after a suicide attempt; a forlorn ballad may contain the key to a mystery; a relatively harmless lady wrestler gets pinned for cracking her husband’s skull; an old flame’s diary reveals a poisonous past; and a surprising obituary forces Malone to investigate his own suspicious death.   The hero of fourteen novels, more than three-dozen short stories, three feature films, a radio show, and a television series, “Malone is an inspired creation . . . [of] deductive brilliance, malaprop speech, diminutive stature, rumpled appearance, fiscal imprudence, and Irish romanticism . . . closer in spirit to John Mortimer’s Rumpole of the Bailey than to his contemporary Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason, whose clients are always innocent” (Jon L. Breen, Edgar Award–winning author).

A supermodel’s beauty secrets trigger an ugly series of murders in this “pretty damn wonderful” mystery (The New York Times).   From her velvety voice to a pair of legs that say walk this way, Delora Deanne is the most divine creation ever put on earth to sell moisturizer. As Chicago attorney John J. Malone’s new client, the notoriously reclusive model has requested a rare one-on-one. Imagine Malone’s surprise when he’s greeted by Hazel Swackhammer, as midwestern as a stalk of corn and less remarkable. She’s also the brain behind Delora Deanne Cosmetics and its closely guarded secret: Delora doesn’t exist. Print-ad perfect, she’s a composite of several different women. But one of them has gone missing, her hands delivered to Hazel in a pair of lavender gloves.   Malone’s stumped—and more than a little queasy. Whether her vengeful ex-husband or an entrepreneurial rival, someone’s clued in to the truth behind Hazel’s success and wants to bring her down. Now, with each special delivery, the illusion of Delora Deanne is literally falling apart, piece by beautiful piece.   The first mystery writer to grace the cover of Time magazine, Craig Rice is “the Queen of the Surrealistic Crime Story. Almost everything that happens in one of her witty, wacky novels is completely off the wall” (Thrilling Detective).   My Kingdom for a Hearse is the 6th book in the John J. Malone Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

For a Windy City attorney, the clues to a triple murder lie somewhere between the sinking of the Titanic and the dead letter office.   Rodney Fairfaxx is influential and wealthy enough for his family to ignore the Chicago magnate’s one little quirk: Ever since his sweetheart sank with the Titanic three decades ago, he’s been anxiously awaiting her letter assuring him she’s dry, on the mend, and coming home soon. Now, attorney John J. Malone is defending the harmless eccentric against a charge of murder. The victims: three postmen, clubbed to death. The alleged motive: failure to deliver.   Malone’s good friend, socialite Helene Justus, has been close to the Fairfaxx family for years and she’s not buying it. However, her intuition may be as unreliable as the mail. The respectable clan yields a cluster of certified suspects—from Rodney’s crafty niece and nephew to the tight-lipped housekeeper to Rodney himself, who may not be as off the beam as everyone thinks. But as tensions rise and secrets are revealed, another murder sends Malone on an entirely different route.   With The Fourth Postman, author Craig Rice delivers “plot and people as wacky as ever, with . . . plenty of comedy and, surprisingly, much intriguing sleuthing. Verdict: Fun” (The Saturday Review of Literature).   The Fourth Postman is the 5th book in the John J. Malone Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.  

A Chicago attorney scours the Big Apple for a missing bride and a wedding-night murderer in a mystery that’s “Miss Rice at her best” (The New Yorker).   On a break from the Windy City, aspiring crime novelist Jake Justus and his wife, Helene, are acquainting themselves with Manhattan’s finest cocktail lounges when they befriend Dennis Morrison, a blind-drunk groom. The handsome former male escort thought he’d found his bounty in homely heiress Bertha Lutts, but while their wedding night may have been a bust, the morning after turned out to be the real horror. It seems Bertha has vanished from their bridal suite and in her place is an unidentified beheaded woman. Having taken a shine to Dennis, Jake and Helene call on his best defense: Chicago attorney John J. Malone.   Winding his way through both the city’s low lives and its high society, Malone quickly discovers a link between the nameless victim, the missing bride, and a slick gigolo: a bohemian Greenwich Village poetess who is free with her verse, knows more than she realizes, and is becoming more frightened with every New York minute. But when Dennis disappears as well, Malone’s left with the itchy feeling that another dead end is right around the corner.   The basis for the 1945 film starring Carole Landis and Pat O’Brien, Having Wonderful Crime is “a pleasure to read as pure entertainment but there’s a also a wicked social voice reporting back from the eyries of the wealthy and privileged. [Rice’s] observations are worthy of Tom Wolfe at his best and nastiest” (Ed Gorman).   Having Wonderful Crime is the 3rd book in the John J. Malone Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Wrongly convicted of murder, a death-row chorus girl lives for revenge, in this novel from “the grand dame of mystery mixed with screwball comedy” (Ed Gorman).   Anna Marie St. Clair was a normal Wisconsin-farm-girl-turned-mistress when she was framed for the murder of her racketeer boyfriend, one of Chicago’s sleaziest politicians. Sentenced to death, and only hours from getting fried, a lucky hitch sets Anna Marie free, but she blackmails the corrupt warden into informing the tabloids that she took her volts like a real trouper. What better payback than to haunt the lives of those who tried to steal hers? As the shapeliest ghost in the Windy City, she’s going to prove that dying well is the best revenge.   Even luckier for Anna Marie, she has enthusiastic backup: attorney John J. Malone, who’s got a soft spot for scrappy dames; her best friend, nightclub stripper Milly Dale; and crime reporter Jake Justus and his wife, Helene, who are always game for adventure. But when navigating the criminal underworld gets a little too spirited, there’s no telling who’s going to end up dead.   The Lucky Stiff was the basis for the 1949 film starring Dorothy Lamour and Brian Donlevy. Says Louis Untermeyer, Gold Medal Award–winning poet, author Craig Rice is a “composite of Agatha Christie’s ingenuity, Dashiell Hammett’s speed, and Dorothy Sayers’s wit.”   The Lucky Stiff is the 4th book in the John J. Malone Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A Chicago lawyer gets swept up in a conspiracy of spies, double-crosses, brainwashing, and murder.   Defense attorney John J. Malone may be a habitué of Windy City dive bars, but he’s never lost his balance—until now. Not only is he shaken by the contract killing of his latest client, but one of his best friends, socialite Helene Justus, is turning into a complete stranger.   At the urging of a mysterious old college chum, the job-phobic heiress has suddenly taken a low-level position at a top-secret chemical research lab. What’s more, Helene is spending her mornings on the couch of an esteemed hypnotherapist. It’s confusing as hell to her husband, Jake. To Malone, too. The last time he saw Helene she had no idea who he was.   Now it’s up to Malone to shed some light on the shadows of Helene’s secret life. Somebody’s playing mind games—and the power of suggestion is turning Helene into its most dangerous pawn.   “Almost everything that happens in one of [Rice’s] . . . novels is completely off the wall. To Rice, reality was truly just a concept; a weird and wonderful playground where her imagination could romp around unfettered” (Thrilling Detective).

Being framed for murder is the least of a Chicago attorney’s problems in this dizzying thriller by “the grand dame of mystery mixed with screwball comedy” (Ed Gorman).   Attorney John J. Malone, steadfast barfly and proud defender of the guilty, has a lot enemies, but few more formidable than Chicago financier and anti-vice crusader Leonard Estapole. So it doesn’t look good when Estapole’s corpse turns up in Malone’s office, liberated from this life by a bronze Buddha to the skull. But when the stiff’s stepdaughter is kidnapped, and Malone is implicated, it’s a frame job gone too far. Especially when Malone is suddenly saddled with the obnoxious abductee—a dimpled little extortionist who refuses to go home.   If only Malone could count on his friends, Jake and Helene Justus. Unfortunately, Helene’s disappeared from a Wyoming dude ranch and her friendship with Estapole’s trophy-wife widow is too coincidental for comfort. Now, with every blindsiding twist of the case, Malone is starting to feel more and more like a hostage himself.   The first mystery writer to ever make the cover of Time magazine, Craig Rice is a “composite of Agatha Christie’s ingenuity, Dashiell Hammett’s speed, and Dorothy Sayers’s wit” (Louis Untermeyer). And in Knocked for a Loop, she’s in “top form” (Jon L. Breen, Edgar Award–winning author).

A Chicago lawyer must save his big-city friends from small-town corruption in this “triumphantly rowdy” mystery (Time) that’s also “exciting [and] hard as nails” (The New Yorker).   When club owner Jake Justus and his wife, Helene, flee a sweltering Chicago summer for rural Jackson County, Wisconsin, they expect sweet-as-apple-pie locals and calm lakes for fishing. Instead, they become the bait: When the town’s two-term senator is shot to death, Jake and Helene are held as material witnesses—and, if the fathead sheriff has anything to say about it, suspects.   Attorney John J. Malone comes to help out his friends, but in a town where everybody knows everybody—be it by blood, sex, or church socials—only out-of-town strangers are fit to be accused. Oh yeah? So what’s their motive for the second murder? Or the third? And the fourth? To find out, Malone will turn Jackson County upside down—with pleasure—and give it a good shake. It might be easier than finding a decent bar!   “The Dorothy Parker of detective fiction” is back with the unbeatable trio of sharp-witted attorney John J. Malone and snarky high-society couple Jake and Helene (William Ruehlmann).   Trial by Fury is the 5th book in the John J. Malone Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

It’s murder backstage for a cynical Chicago attorney—from “the Dorothy Parker of detective fiction” (William Ruehlmann).   It’s part casino, part nightclub, and part circus. For its new owners, Jake Justus and his socialite wife, Helene, it’s also a gamble. Luckily they have Jay Otto. Next to a bouncy burlesque bit, Otto’s high-wire act is the hottest draw in the joint. But the crowd isn’t the only thing left breathless. The performer has just been found in his dressing room, doped up, dead, and hanging by eleven silk stockings. The method is fetching. The probable motive? Otto was the nastiest, most hateful, devious, blackmailing little cuss on the circuit.   But Jake’s friend, attorney John J. Malone, thinks this is more than a case of justifiable homicide—especially when Otto isn’t the last on the bill to get all choked up. Now Malone has a lot of secrets to untangle so he can collar the killer, because Jake and Helene’s necks could be next on the line.   The Big Midget Murders is “expertly timed . . . and frenzied . . . with lavish accompaniment of good wise-cracking. Verdict: Superior” (TheSaturday Review of Literature). “Call it screwball noir, call it hard-boiled farce, call it whatever you want . . . Craig Rice did it with John J. Malone, her ne-er-do-well bibulous attorney” (Thrilling Detective).