Crime, as we all know, is not a laughing matter. And yet, dozens of talented writers regularly prove otherwise. Perhaps it is just human nature. No matter the circumstances, we prefer a joke when one is available.
I have compiled a short list of my favorite comedic crime writers. As usual with my lists, there is not the tiniest hope of its being comprehensive. Rather, it is taste of this specific subgenre as I have experienced it my own reading life. Normally, I prefer to make such lists based on what I find in the Dillsburg Area Public Library, but this type of reading is an acquired taste (more on that when I conclude) so a good portion of the titles here require an effort to locate. Which, to my mind, simply adds another layer of enjoyment to the book experience. In other words, I must solve a mystery to read a mystery.
1.) Daniel Westlake. A Dillsburg Library volunteer suggested this writer to me a few weeks ago and I have already burned through more than a dozen titles. Westlake is an extremely prolific writer, so even at that rate, I will never finish so much as half of them. He is equally capable of writing hardboiled noir fiction as he of producing laugh out loud comedy. In fact, he was in the midst of writing one of his more serious works when, according to him, comedy hijacked the effort. The result was the first of 14 books featuring hapless thief John Dortmunder. A near genius in the art of stealing, Dortmunder nonetheless suffers from incredible bad luck. The tension between his brilliant plans and the unravelling of them is the source of the laughs. In the first title of the series, The Hot Rock, he is forced to steal the same precious stone multiple times – from a museum, a police station, a hospital, a prison, a bank vault, and so on.
2.) Carl Hiaasen. This is perhaps the most recognizable name on the list. I can, without the slightest qualm, suggest any one of his titles selected at random. While not exactly a series, many of his books feature a fictional formal governor of Florida turned into a somewhat frightening, probably insane, yet good hearted environmentalist who lives in the swamp except when he visits civilization to wreak vengeance on those so richly deserving of it. Hiaasen’s books are always bestsellers, and they have, in fact, spawned a subgenre of this list’s subgenre:
3.) The Florida comic crime novel. There are far too many practitioners in this subgenre to list them individually. Dave Barry, who happened to be Hiaasen’s coworker at the Miami Herald, tried his hand at a couple. Tim Dorsey has written more than twenty about an over-the-top criminal named Serge Storms. Charles Willeford has unconventional detective Hoke Mosely fight crime, and the ridiculous criminals committing those crimes, in a few novels set in Miami. The legendary Elmore Leonard tried his hand at a couple. Len Deighton, otherwise known as a spy novelist, has one. Indeed, this subgenre is so loaded with talent and laughs that even a cursory search reveals more names that I could cover in this short space.
4.) Joyce Porter. To my mind, she is the funniest person on this list. Unfortunately, she is also the hardest to find. For two reasons: 1.) although she wrote three comical crime series, she did not write much, found the task quite difficult in fact. 2.) Her books were more popular in England than in the USA and so there are not many of them available on this side of the Atlantic. I love her books, or more accurately, I love the one series because I have found but a single title in the others. That one series features a character named Dover. He is the detective, but only by job title. You see, he is entirely incompetent. Worse, he has a horrible personality, enormous physical flaws, and even poor hygiene. Most of the time, he does not even wish to be bothered about solving a crime. In short, he is the worst possible example of the policing profession. And so: comedy ensues.
5.) Stuart Kaminsky, specifically the Toby Peters mysteries. Peters is a detective who works the streets of Hollywood. Better yet, he works those streets during Hollywood’s Golden Age and hence has reason to bump into Hollywood celebrities. His clients, often his helpers on a case, are historical figures of the times. While these are traditional mysteries, not played for laughs for the most part, several of them have the great Hollywood comics in featured roles. Among them: Groucho Marx, Mae West, W. C. Fields and circus clown Emmet Kelly. With comic geniuses on the stage, these books easily qualify as comic capers.
6.) Bill Fitzhugh. Here is another rare writer (2 books in the YCL system) with a warped sense of humor. He has three short series (less than 5 books each) and a few standalones as well. To give you an idea of just how warped Fitzhugh’s humor can be, one of his conmen suffers from a rare neurological disorder that prevents him form feeling pain. Thus, his specific con: staging industrial accidents for the subsequent payoff. Not, you would think, the normal stuff of laughter.
And that gets me to this post’s final words. What, exactly is the “normal stuff” of laughter? Let’s face it, crime –especially if you happen to be on the wrong end of it – is not a matter for jokes. Hence my caution that this subgenre is an acquired taste.
However, a little reflection (and a large sidetrack) shows that our ability to laugh knows very few bounds. I offer one example as proof.
Do you know the name of the most watched broadcast in American television history? Well, in raw numbers that is always the Super Bowl. 29 of the top 30 broadcasts are Super Bowls and 9 out of the top ten. The lone exception is the final episode of M*A*S*H. In raw numbers that is the ninth most watched program, but in terms of audience percentage (60% or thereabouts) it is number one, and not likely to ever be topped. Even Super Bowls rarely approach a 50% audience share.
Why am I on this sidetrack? Well, M*A*S*H was a show about the Korean War. To paraphrase General Sherman, war is among life’s most horrible events. Further, this show was about a field hospital, hospitals also being among life’s least lovable experiences. And the show was a comedy. Yes, surgeons, even while standing over the operating topic, were swapping jokes back and forth. Viewers loved it and loved it in record setting numbers.
My point: if you can make the most popular TV comedy of all time out of a war, then you can write some funny books about crime.
Craig Magee