Authors and Creators
Dennis Lynds
(AKA Michael Collins, William Arden, John Crowe, Robert Hart Davis, Carl Dekker, Maxwell Grant, Mark Sadler, Sheila Lynds, Sheila McErlean, John Douglas, Walter Dallas; also house pseudonyms Nick Carter, Brett Halliday, Don Pendleton & Maxwell Grant)
(1924-2005)

"I just ask questions."
September 29, 2002,
Santa Barbara Book Festival

"I write mysteries to say something, not just for entertainment."
Santa Barbara News-Press, 1982.

One of the true masters of the private eye novel (and a class act all the way), Dennis Lynds, under his own and various pen names, has not only given us some genuinely memorable P.I.s, but has, in his own tough, quiet way, truly stretched the boundaries of the genre, bringing a sense of compassion and political awareness to a genre that too often gives little but lip service to such notions. Most notable of all is Lynds' series featuring his introspective, compassionate one-armed detective, Dan Fortune, written under the pen name of Michael Collins. The Fortune series is one of the few long-running P.I. series that has actually challenged one to think about things. And even better, not the same things every time.

It's just a crime the Fortune series has never gotten the acclaim or sales other far noisy and louder writers have. While other flashier, trendier writers, with their big turgid tomes, play it frustratingly safe, talkin' loud and sayin' nothin', all the while racketing up sales, Lynds has continued to take chances. Lynds, with his quiet, tough, empathetic voice and solid storytelling, speaks volumes. Dan Fortune not only talks the talk, but walks the walk, and offers the proof, if any were needed, that a detective novel can have a social conscience, and still ask hard questions. Like Natty Bumpo before him, Fortune dares "to speak the truth consarnin'...any man that lived." We need more like him.

But his contributions go far beyond just the Fortune books. He's also created private eyes Paul Shaw (as Mark Sadler) and Kane Jackson (as William Arden), and has written thrillers, a string of juvenile mysteries, and several novelizations. Under various housenames, he's written up the adventures of such icons as Charlie Chan, The Shadow and particularly Mike Shayne.

" 'Too Friendly, Too Dead' (which appeared in the September 1962 issue of Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine) was the first novella I did for Leo Margulies and MSMM," Lynds recalls. "Dave (Davis Dresser) bought it from me, changed the title and rewrote it as a novel. He did that with at least two other of my novellas for MSMM, and I later wrote what I think was his final novel for him. Again he rewrote it. His rewrites were never much, just put more in his style, because his novels were pretty short. All in all I wrote some 88 of the novellas."

Lynds was also a prolific pen-for-hire, pumping out a steady stream of contracted works, including several novels in The Three Investigators series for young readers, particular favourites of mine as a kid, and hence a good part of the reason this site even exists. He also was responsible for several Shadow novels, under the house name of Maxwell Grant and a number of Nick Carter books, under that group name as well.

Dan Fortune himself is actually a more refined, socially- and politically-aware version of an earlier detective character of Lynds', Slot Machine Kelly, who appeared in several short stories in such pulp digests as Manhunt and Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine.

Another interesting series Lynds has written, under the pen name of John Crowe, is the Buena Costa County series, which takes its name from its setting, a fictional area along the southern California coast north of Los Angeles. There are recurring characters, but the detective varies from book to book. Sometimes it's a cop, sometimes an amateur sleuth, sometimes a member of the Border Patrol. And one book features private eye Lee Beckett. In his Encyclopedia Mysteriosa, William D'Andrea called this series Ross Macdonald-like, and went on to mention how Macdonald's work was a major influence on Lynds. It turns out that not only was he an influence, but also a good friend. In fact, Macdonald and Lynds were fellow residents of Santa Barbara.

Lynds was born in St. Louis in 1924, and grew up in New York, attending Brooklyn Technical High School. Her also attended The Cooper Union in New York and Texas A&M College before earning a B.A. in chemistry from Hofstra College in Hempstead, New York and an M.A. in journalism from Syracuse University.

He served in the infantry in WWII, receiving the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantry Badge, and three battle stars. Following the war, he was a chemist, and wrote and edited various trade magazines in that industry, until turning his hand to crime fiction in 1962, under his own, and soon, various pen names. A past president of The Private Eye Writers of America, Lynds was awarded that organization's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. He currently lives with his wife, fellow mystery writer Gayle Lynds, in Santa Barbara. In fact, they've even written a few books together, including a couple in the Mack Bolan, The Executioner series, under the Don Pendleton house name.

It's a shame the Dan Fortune seems to be such a hot potato among publishers but, to his credit, Lynds hasn't backed down. There are some short stories in the works, and he has another Fortune novel in mind, maybe Dan's swan song, if, as he puts it, "anyone wants to pay me some bucks for it."

Maybe we should start passing a hat....

POSTSCRIPT

Dennis' sudden passing in August 2005 caught us all by surprise, and the rapid outburst of emotion displayed by the mystery community was as effusive as it was hearrtfelt and genuine. Dennis in his work and his life touched a lot of people and there's a great big hole in the world now that he's gone. I've collected a few of the comments that hit the web in a days following his death.

Suffice it to say that Dennis will be missed...

UNDER OATH

AWARDS

NOVELS
(All novels by Dennis Lynds, unless otherwise specified)

COLLECTIONS

SHORT STORIES
(by Dennis Lynds, unless otherwise noted)

NON-CRIME SHORT STORIES

RELATED LINKS

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks, Dennis, for everything.

| Home | Detectives A-L M-Z | Film | Radio | Television | Web Comics | Comics | FAQs |
| Trivia | Authors | Hall of Fame | Mystery Links | Bibliography | Glossary | Search |
| What's New: On The Site | On the Street | Non-Fiction | Fiction | Staff | The P.I. Poll |

Remember, your comments, suggestions, corrections and contributions are always welcome.
At the tone, leave your name and number and I'll get back to you...