John J. Malone Books
Pioneering woman crime writer Craig Rice introduces her series sleuth, gin-soaked Chicago lawyer John J. Malone John J. Malone, defender of the guilty, is notorious for getting his culpable clients off. It’s the innocent ones who are problems. Like Holly Inglehart, accused of piercing the black heart of her well-heeled and tyrannical aunt Alexandria with a lovely Florentine paper cutter. No one who knew the old battle-ax liked her, but Holly’s prints were found on the murder weapon. Plus, she had a motive: She was about to be disinherited for marrying a common bandleader. With each new lurid headline, Holly’s friends and supporters start to rally. There’s North Shore debutante Helene Brand; Holly’s groom’s press agent, Jake Justus; the madam of a local brothel, and Alexandria’s hand-wringing servants. But not one of them can explain the queerest bent to the crime: At the time of the murder, every clock in the Inglehart mansion stopped dead. And that’s only the first twist in a baffling case of “aunty-cide”―because Alexandria won’t be the last to die. The first novel in Rice’s John J. Malone series, Eight Faces at Three introduces the hard-drinking Chicago-based attorney that made the author a household name. Comic, witty, and lush, the Malone books are a throwback to a time when alcoholism was commonplace and murder (or, reading about murder) was fun. Fans of Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man series and Richard and Frances Lockridge’s Mr. and Mrs. North will find much to enjoy in the witty banter of Malone and his constant companions, Brand and Justus. Includes discussion guide questions for use in book clubs.
Lawyer John J. Malone and pals Jake and Helene chase a corpse that won't stay put across 1940 Chicago while attempting to put rye whiskey on the endangered species list.
When a dying stranger hands lawyer John J. Malone a key in a bar on New Year's Eve, he is convinced that it has something to do with his honeymooning friends Jake Justus and Helene Brand and the bet they made with Mona McClane that she could get away with murder
When Jake Justus and his beauteous wife Helene arrive in New York for a vacation, very strange things are likely to happen. And do happen. Especially when Jake spends many mysterious hours locked in his room, and Helene finally sends an SOS to John J Malone. The impact of this trio on Manhattan is terrific.
Saved by the last minute confession of the real murderer, Anna Marie St. Clair asks J.J. Malone, a lawyer, to help her get revenge on those who tried to frame her
The Fourth Postman by Craig Rice, the first mystery writer to be featured on the cover of Time magazine. “Plot and people as wacky as ever, with busted Malone and chicken-poxed Justuses supplying plenty of comedy and, surprisingly, much intriguing sleuthing. Verdict: Fun.”—The Saturday Review of Literature “Why can’t all murders be as funny as those concocted by Craig Rice?”—The New York Times 1 POSTMAN! 2 POSTMEN! 3 POSTMEN! ALL MURDERED! John J. Malone sticks his nose into the case of the dead postmen and picks up a crack on the head, an Australian beer hound, and six redheaded twins. It all begins when he takes on a new client, Rodney Fairfaxx. Rodney was tabbed for the postmen murders because he hadn’t received a letter from a dead girl for more than 30 years. Malone doesn’t think that this is enough reason to kill, but he can’t prove it. … "A1."—Kirkus Reviews Also by Craig Rice: The Big Midget Murders Jethro Hammer
Chicago lawyer John J. Malone finds himself framed for the murder of anti-crime crusader Leonard Estapoole and implicated in the kidnapping of Estapoole's stepdaughter Alberta Commanday. While trying to find the real murderer, or at least clear his name, Malone is befriended by ex-chorus girl Tommie Storm and aided by crime boss Max Hook. Things get more complicated when Malone's old friend Jake Justus reports that his wife Helene has gone missing after rushing to Chicago to visit the Estapooles, an affable but complex combined family full of suspects. Malone's efforts to solve the case are further complicated by a kidnap victim who insists on staying kidnapped and a second murder. Along the way, he falls for a "thoroughly nice" girl and manages - barely - to keep himself and his friends out of jail.
When one by one the models who play the role of Delora Deanne are murdered, their lawyer, J.J. Malone is determined to find and stop the killer
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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 first collected in this book, Malone investigates a killing in an undertakers' parade, a psychiatrist's patient who dreams of murder, an unknown man killed in a rented sailor's suit, and a terrified memory expert. As a special bonus, two of the stories feature Rice's lesser known sleuth, Melville Fairr, a little grey man but a formidable detective. Rice's biographer, Jeffrey A. Marks, has chosen and written new prefaces to each story.
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 shaken by the contract killing of his latest client, but one of his best friends, socialite Helene Justus, is turning into a complete stranger. At the urging of a mysterious old college chum, the job-phobic heiress has suddenly taken a low-level position at a top-secret chemical research lab. What’s more, Helene is spending her mornings on the couch of an esteemed hypnotherapist. It’s confusing as hell to her husband, Jake. To Malone, too. The last time he saw Helene she had no idea who he was. Now it’s up to Malone to shed some light on the shadows of Helene’s secret life. Somebody’s playing mind games—and the power of suggestion is turning Helene into its most dangerous pawn. “Almost everything that happens in one of [Rice’s] . . . novels is completely off the wall. To Rice, reality was truly just a concept; a weird and wonderful playground where her imagination could romp around unfettered” ( Thrilling Detective ).