Author Information
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  • Bibliography:
    32 Books (1 Series)
  • First Book:
    May 1953
  • Latest Book:
    June 2020
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About the Author

Craig Rice
(Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig)
USA (1908 - 1957)

aka Gypsy Rose Lee, Daphne Sanders, George Sanders, Michael Venning

Craig Rice, the author of fourteen novels, countless short stories, and a number of true crime pieces, once rivaled Agatha Christie in sales. She was on the cover of Time Magazine in 1946. However, the past fifty years have seen her fall into relative obscurity.

Full Series List in Order

John J. Malone

1 - 8 Faces at 3 (Aug-1989)
The Corpse Steps Out (Nov-1989)
Home Sweet Homicide (Sep-2002)

Book List in Order: 32 titles



  • John J. Malone had had some peculiar clients in his past, but never a 550-pound carnivore. He was hired to protect Leopold, a large circus lion. Someone has been murdering the circus's lions, and the suspects are all carny folks. Malone was going to ...



  • A Chicago attorney scours the Big Apple for a missing bride and a wedding-night murderer in a mystery that’s “Miss Rice at her best” (The New Yorker).   On a break from the Windy City, aspiring crime novelist Jake Justus and his wife, Hele...



  • A supermodel’s beauty secrets trigger an ugly series of murders in this “pretty damn wonderful” mystery (The New York Times).   From her velvety voice to a pair of legs that say walk this way, Delora Deanne is the most divine creation ever...



  • Anne Marie, imprisoned for a murder she did not commit, plans her revenge -- and once she's cleared of the charges, she launches headfirst into a screwball murder mystery! Craig Rice (1908"1957); born Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig; was an American a...



  • Jake Justus and Helene Brand met over the corpse of Aunt Alexandria. So it was probably a good thing that somebody had decided to stab her three times and leave her to freeze into horrible rigidity in front of the wide-open window....



  • A Chicago cad blackmails a torch singer in this thriller: “Why can’t all murders be as funny as those concocted by Craig Rice?” (The New York Times)   Radio star Nelle Brown is known coast-to-coast for her sweet and sultry voice. But her p...



  • A cynical Chicago attorney butts heads with a beautiful killer socialite -- from “the Dorothy Parker of detective fiction” (William Ruehlmann).   Press agent Jake Justus doesn’t care if all of Chicago drops dead. He’s just tied the knot ...



  • A dozen murders and counting -- and any one of them could lead a Chicago attorney to a hotheaded female tycoon.   It’s 11:59 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and criminal lawyer John J. Malone is nursing his blues in a Chicago dive bar. He’s been tw...



  • The first victim was shot in the back. The second victim was blown to bits. The third victim was strangled. The fourth victim was knifed. For each death a different method. And while frantic police made all the wrong guesses, and a town that had b...






  • It’s murder backstage for a cynical Chicago attorney -- from “the Dorothy Parker of detective fiction” (William Ruehlmann).   It’s part casino, part nightclub, and part circus. For its new owners, Jake Justus and his socialite wife, Hele...



  • Craig Rice (1908-1957), the pseudonym of Georgiana Craig Rice, was the author of an extraordinary series of screwball mysteries about John J. Malone, a bibulous, blonde-fancying lawyer, who claims never to have lost a case. In the twelve stories firs...



  • From the “grand dame of mystery mixed with screwball comedy”: The children of a widowed mystery writer play amateur sleuths and matchmakers (Ed Gorman, Ellery Queen Award"winning author).   When your mom’s a mystery writer, a talent for ...



  • Charlie Bekker -- also known as Bob Smith, J. Brown and Will Jones -- one morning finds himself in a very sticky situation: he wakes up on the floor of an unfamiliar room, under circumstances he couldn’t recall, with a girl he has known only in pas...



  • Another walk on the wild side! In this series of collections of gritty Noir and Hardboiled stories, you'll find some of the best writers of the craft writing in their prime. The following stories are included in this second volume of Masters of Noir:...



  • The Fourth Postman by Craig Rice, the first mystery writer to be featured on the cover of Time magazine. “Mass murder of postmen in a posh Chicago suburb interests lawyer Malone, Jake and Helene Justus, and other well-remembered Riceomaniacs. Plot ...



  • PERIL PRESS presents: 2 Short Stories of MURDER by Craig Rice Mercury Mystery Book-Magazine, February 1956 THE AIR-TIGHT ALIBI by Craig Rice If young and beautiful Minnie Tucker had been unfaithful to her husband, you could hardly blame her. Felix T...



  • PERIL PRESS presents: The American Mercury, February 1957 THE NIGHT I WENT BLIND by Craig Rice A terrifying experience in the life this well-known author. 2700 Words Verdict, September 1953 Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, August 1959 A John J. M...



  • Two New York City street photographers develop a deadly get-rich-quick scheme in this novel from “the grand dame of mystery mixed with screwball comedy” (Ed Gorman).   Resourceful Bingo Riggs and his partner, Handsome Kusak, are in the sucke...



  • A midway murder sends a terrified eyewitness running for her life -- from a cop, a con, and her own secrets -- in this mystery by the author of the John J. Malone series.   The best carnival barker in the business couldn’t have drawn a crowd l...






  • Ten stories featuring the Chicago attorney-turned-sleuth from “the grand dame of mystery mixed with screwball comedy” (Ed Gorman).   From suburban cocktail parties to music halls to the precarious ledge of a high-rise, Chicago attorney John J. M...



  • This Thanksgiving, two birds of a feather are about to get plucked -- “Why can’t all murders be as funny as those concocted by Craig Rice?” (The New York Times)   Former con-artist photographers Bingo Riggs and Handsome Kusak are en route ...



  • From the author of the John J. Malone Mysteries: An estranged relative becomes heir to a Chesapeake Bay fortune -- and his family’s ghostly history.   If it hadn’t been for his great-uncle Philip, David Telefair would’ve grown up unwanted,...



  • “The Dorothy Parker of detective fiction” (William Ruehlmann) ghostwrites for silver-screen sleuth George Sanders in this “thriller with laughs on the side”(New York Herald-Tribune).   The snarky and debonair actor George Sanders (who wo...



  • “The grand dame of mystery mixed with screwball comedy” introduces her popular, sharp-witted Chicago lawyer/sleuth (Ed Gorman, Ellery Queen Award"winning author).   John J. Malone, defender of the guilty, is notorious for getting his culpa...



  • A weekend getaway among friends becomes an occasion for murder in this “entertaining tantalizer” of a whodunit (Kirkus Reviews).   Eccentric brothers Frank and George Faulkner are hosting a weekend house party at the legendary Ravensmoor est...



  • A Chicago lawyer gets swept up in a conspiracy of spies, double-crosses, brainwashing, and murder.   Defense attorney John J. Malone may be a habitué of Windy City dive bars, but he’s never lost his balance -- until now. Not only is he s...



  • It's a killer bump and grind for Gypsy Rose Lee, the Queen of Burlesque, in this rich and lusty bestselling mystery ( Life ). Strippers gotta have a gimmick, but being strangled to death is a pretty short-lived stunt. Ask class-A headliner Gypsy ...



  • Being framed for murder is the least of a Chicago attorney’s problems in this dizzying thriller by “the grand dame of mystery mixed with screwball comedy” (Ed Gorman).   Attorney John J. Malone, steadfast barfly and proud defender of the g...



  • This encore performance by the author of The G-String Murders is simply one of the greatest mysteries ever written ( Philadelphia Daily News ). It's supposed to be a quiet honeymoon getaway for celebrated stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and Biff Branni...






  • A mysterious Robin Hood targets Wall Street titans in this “exciting ” novel by the author of the John J. Malone Mysteries (The Cincinnati Enquirer).   Thanks to a financial scheme by a small circle of very rich men, countless people have su...



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    Craig Rice was a popular mystery author of the mid-20th century, penning twenty novels and many short stories. She had a devoted readership, and in 1946 became the first mystery writer to appear on the cover of Time magazine. 'Once Upon a Train&#...


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Craig Rice has published 32 books.

Craig Rice does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, To Catch a Thief, was published in June 2020.

The first book by Craig Rice, Don't Go Near, was published in May 1953.

Yes. Craig Rice has 1 series.