Created by Julie Smith
Pseudonyms include J. Paul Drew
PAUL MCDONALD is a former reporter who almost making a living as a San Francisco mystery writer and, when the wolf’s at the door, a part-time P.I. He appeared in a couple of well-received, light-hearted novels and a doozy of a short story, all credited to Julie Smith. And he loves cats.
Despite that, I particularly enjoyed Huckleberry Fiend (1987), where Paul gets roped into tracking down the rightful owner of what might be Mark Twain’s original manuscript for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. On behalf of his neurotic burglar buddy Booker. Who stole it and now wants to return it.
Like, wouldn’t the rightful owner be… Mark Twain?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Julie Smith is a former journalist herself, for the San Francisco Chronicle and New Orleans Times-Picayune, and the author of over a dozen mystery novels. The kick-off novel in the NOPD officer Skip Langdon series, New Orleans Mourning, won an Edgar for Best Novel. She also has series about San Francisco lawyer Rebecca Schwartz and hacker/poet/P.I. Talba Wallis. In 2010, she founded http://www.booksBnimble.com, a digital publishing company, with an emphasis on mysteries, and began publishing other authors, as well as herself. According to her, “It’s been a treat to learn to function in another whole world and it’s been incredibly rewarding to be able to help other writers, to bring back people’s backlists, and to discover new, exciting talent.”
But there’s no word on why the Paul Madonald books were re-published as by J. Paul Drew. Is she him? Is he her? Is that her in his author pic, made up like a dude, or do they both just have twinkling eyes?
It’s all very curious…
NOVELS
- True-Life Adventure (1985) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Huckleberry Fiend (1987) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
SHORT STORIES
- “Montezuma’s Other Revenge” (1990, Justice for Hire) | Kindle it!
COLLECTIONS
- The Paul Mcdonald Mystery Series (2016) | Kindle it!
Includes both novels and the short story.