Book description
Dick Adler reviews mysteries and thrillers every other week in his
Crime Watch column for the Chicago Tribune. He is the co-author, with
the late Edmund G. (Pat) Brown, of Public Justice, Private Mercy: A
Governor's Education On Death Row. Anthony Lewis in the New York Times
Book Review called it "a compelling and important book," and
Jonathan Kirsch in the Los Angeles Times said, "Some of the most
fascinating passages are the dozen or so case histories of the men and
women themselves, the stuff of hard-boiled detective fiction come to
life." Adler has also written Sleeping with Moscow, an account of
the Richard Miller FBI espionage case. His mystery novel, The Mozart
Code, was published in May, 1999, as an electronic book and was a
Frankfurt eBook Award nominee in 2000. Dick Adler, the longtime
Chicago Tribune mystery columnist, has published his first collection of
reviews and essays. Dreams of Justice: Mysteries as Social Documents
(Poisoned Pen Press, 241 pages, . 95) includes some of his favorite
pieces on mystery books and authors, most focused on developing the
title's theme. The strongest examples of Adler's writing are the longer
columns, especially those devoted to the careers of authors Chester
Himes and Ross Macdonald, and the books of Walter Mosley and George
Pelecanos. Also particularly fine is his essay on pioneering critic
Anthony Boucher ("the man who invented mystery reviewing" as
Adler calls him), who once plied his trade in the pages of the
Sun-Times. Through his longevity, keen writing and near faultless taste,
Adler has become the dean of American mystery reviewers, and Dreams of
Justice is a fine tribute to his career. DICK ADLER reviews mysteries
and thrillers every other Sunday for the Chicago Tribune. Born in
Englewood, N. J., he attended high school in New York and Dartmouth
College. He has been a magazine and newspaper editor in New York, London
and Los Angeles, winning two Maggie Awards for his editing. His other
books include PUBLIC JUSTICE, PRIVATE MERCY: A GOVERNOR'S EDUCATION ON
DEATH ROW, which he co-authored with Edmund G. (Pat) Brown; SLEEPING
WITH MOSCOW, an account of the Richard Miller espionage case; and THE
MOZART CODE, a mystery which was a nominee for a Microsoft Ebook Award.
Adler lives in Ventura, CA, with his wife, historian and archivist Jane
Wilson; they have two children and two grandchildren.
