Murder, He Wrote: A Successful Writer's Life

by Donald Bain

In Murder, He Wrote , Bain takes the reader on a rollercoaster journey from the rousing loops of Coffee, Tea or Me and the best selling comedy series it spawned to the gravity-defying biographies of Veronica Lake, legendary talk show king Long John Nebel, and top model and CIA mind-control subject Candy Jones; from the spectacular curves and twists of the wildly successful murder mystery novels based on the TV show "Murder, She Wrote" to the creaks and squeaks of one of the most bizarre gang wars in U.S. history, Charlie and the Shawneetown Dame.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2006

About the author

From Wikipedia: Donald Bain (1935-2017) was a United States author and ghostwriter.

Author Jack Pearl is his cousin and sometime co-author.

Known Pseudonyms:
Jessica Fletcher
Joan Wood
J.D. Hardin
Nick Vasile
Mike Lundy
Pamela South
Lee Jackson
Stephanie Blake
Marjorie Margolies
Kathy Cole
Donna Bain

Reviews

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donald Bain is probably best known to mystery readers as the writer of the wildly popular Murder, She Wrote series based on the CBS series starting Angela Lansbury.

It was fascinating to read that he has done so much, met so many different people and written so many other things, most of them as either a "ghost" or with a pseudonym. The diversity is amazing, he's written biographies (or autobiographies as a ghost), liner notes for a jazz album, a book on caviar, a bartenders guide, westerns and, of course, mysteries.

I enjoyed getting a peek into his life and hope he keeps on writing because the world needs writers who are so good and yet so humble.

[Edel Waugh Salisbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to buy this book because I was a big fan of Donald's Murder She Wrote series under the name Jessica Fletcher and I wanted to get to know more about the man behind this series of books.
I was not disappointed , this man has led a very varied and interesing life, writing ,ghost writing and travelling extensively. I would have liked to know more about his writing of the Murder She Wrote series ,that was what I felt let the book down a bit. I would recommend it for a look into a writers life but not so much if you want to know about him writing his series as Jessica Fletcher.

[Gillian Benne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and insightful look into the life of a successful ghost-writer.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been reading the Murder, She Wrote series for a while, so I thought I’d read this. It’s an interesting account of the life of a ghostwriter.

[Paul Dellinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun look at "ghost" writing, series writing and much more.