Don’t be afraid of no ghosts…
The P.I. genre, like most writing genres, abounds with pen names and pseudonyms, but it also has plenty of ghost writers. Sometimes, it’s actually a real writer who employs a ghost, but more often than not, it’s some celebrity whose “work” is actually ghosted.
Although these days, at the bottom of the barrel, I’m guessing actual living breathing ghostwriters are being replaced by AI. How else to explain the explosion of all these dubious instant series?
Real Authors Who Used Ghosts
- Brett Halliday
Used a string of ghosts to pen numerous novels and short stories featuring Mike Shayne. For the complete list, see Who Was Brett Halliday? - Leslie Charteris
The prolific creator of The Saint turns out to be not quite as prolific as suspected. - Ernest Tidyman
The latter Shaft books were ghosted, although it seems Tidyman kept an eye on things. - Ellery Queen
No, Ellery’ — the character — is not a P.I., but I think it’s sort of interesting that this well-respected writing team, a cornerstone of crime fiction, eventually employed other writers to turn out paperbacks (which were often miles away from the original concept of the character).
Celebrity Authors and Their “Collaborators”
Although ghost writers often aren’t credited at all, sometimes they’re listed as “collaborators.” Who wrote what is anybody’s guess…
- Willard Scott (Bill Crider)
The popular weatherman wrote two books featuring weatherman/amateur sleuth Stanley Waters with Crider, the creator of Galveston P.I. Truman Smith. - Peter Duchin (John Morgan Wilson)
The popular bandleader and wrote Blue Moon and Good Morning, Heartache, both featuring bandleader/amateur sleuth Philip Damon, with Edgar Award-winning writer Wilson, the creator of Benjamin Justice. - Christopher Darden (Dick Lochte)
The infamous prosecuting attorney from the O.J. Simpson Case has written several crime novels with P.I. writer Lochte, the creator of private eyes Leo Bloodworth and Serendipity Dahlquist, Terry Manion and Dave “Mace” Mason. - Al Roker (Dick Lochte)
Dick again, this time “collaborating” with the Today Show weatherman on several mysteries. Al, Dick says, has “some very interesting ideas.”
Celebrity Authors and Their Ghosts
Often the celebrity doesn’t admit the ghostwriter’s existence at all, although some of them at least offer a slow wink to others in the writing and publishing trade.
- Steve Allen (Walter J. Sheldon and Robert Westbrook)
Allen’s first mystery novel, The Talk Show Murders (1982), ostensibly a P.I. caper, was in part ghostwritten by Sheldon, while his nine subsequent mystery novels were partially ghosted by Robert Westbrook. - William Shatner (Ron Goulart)
And speaking of poorly kept secrets, many of the novels attributed to T.J. Hambone, including the Tek War series featuring P.I. Jake Cardigan, were actually written by Goulart, the creator of a zillion bizarro sci-fi eyes and the relatively straight seventies gumshoe John Easy. - George Sanders (Craig Rice and Leigh Brackett)
The actor’s Crime on My Hands (1944) and Stranger at Home (1946) were actually ghosted by these two fine ladies, respectively, although Sanders had the class to dedicate each book to its real author. - Gypsy Rose Lee (Craig Rice?)
Rice strikes again! The famous stripper’s The G-String Murders (1941) and Mother Finds a Body (1942), both of which feature Lee as a detective, have long been attributed to Craig Rice, although recent evidence suggests that Rose may have written them mostly on her own. - Helen Traubel (Harold Q. Masur)
The opera singer ‘s The Metropolitan Opera Murders (1951) was actually written by the creator of hard-boiled shyster Scott Jordan. - George Kennedy (Walter J. Sheldon)
The actor’s paperback mysteries (Murder On Location, etc.), which cast the actor himself in the lead role as an amateur sleuth, were actually the work of mystery author Sheldon.
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Who Was Brett Halliday?
Hmmm…sounds like a case for Mike Shayne. - Death is Not the End (The Long, Long Goodbye)
Private Eyes Who Just Won’t Stay Dead (Even If Their Creators Are)
Respectfully compiled by Kevin Burton Smith.
