Bill Crider RIP


Bill Crider


Bill Crider, above with his wife Judy, was a prolific and popular writer of Westerns and crime books: he died of cancer on 12th February 2018 at the age of 76. He had announced on his blog in December that he was going into a hospice, and if you look at the comments on his post, you can see an outpouring of sadness and respect for a much-loved man. As well as producing his many books, he took a most active and friendly part in the book world: he was a great reviewer, attended conventions, and generally was a delight. He was funny and charming, and this all came over in his blog and other non-fiction writings. He was fascinated by books and all kinds of writing, and always generous in sharing his ideas and favourites. He will be much missed.


I haven’t read many of his books - they are not so easily available in the UK, and I knew him more through his blogging - but this one, as recommended by Curt Evans on his Passing Tramp blog, seemed a good way to mark his passing.

A Romantic Way To Die By Bill Crider

published 2002



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Sitting on the dresser was a stack of paperback book covers. Rhodes flipped through them and saw that they were all for historical romance novels. Every single one featured Terry Don on the cover. There was always a woman, too, but the focus was on Terry Don.

On some of the covers his hair was a bit longer than others, and it wasn’t always exactly the same color. Sometimes the color of his eyes was changed, too, but one very cover a large expanse of his chest was exposed. Sometimes he was wearing a torn shirt, sometimes the shirt was simply unbuttoned, and sometimes he wasn’t wearing a shirt at all. None of the poses had much appeal for Rhodes, but he was sure they must have appealed to women. Otherwise Terry Don wouldn’t have had so much work.


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commentary: As Curt at Passing Tramp said, it’s amazing the things you can learn by reading crime fiction. The setting for this book is a convention for romance writers and would-be romance writers, and although there is a certain amount of satire and  exaggeration, as well as criminal goings-on and, obviously, murder - it has the feel of being authentic, he seems to know his stuff. A writers’ convention is an excellent milieu: there are underserved bestsellers, there are people who can’t get published, there are tough old dames who work as agents or in publishing, there is fighting and bitching, and long-ago quarrels leftover from High School. And there is the handsome male model above – the man all the women writers want on the covers of their books, preferably without his shirt.


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This all takes place just outside a small town in Texas. Sheriff Dan Rhodes is a long-standing series sleuth (this was the 11th of around 25) and so a well-established character. He is easy-going and likeable, and has an entourage of friends, staff and a wife: they all tease and joke with each other. The whole thing is very entertaining and funny and (dare one say it?) verging on the cozy, though I mean that in the nicest possible way. There is nothing horrible happening here, nothing gruesome or over-violent. The book is full of action, the Sheriff chases round, climbs around the building, and gets hit on the head. (coincidentally, a paint can – a rare item in crime books - features here, as it does in the new Mick Herron, on the blog recently). There are plenty of entertaining characters around: someone comments
‘What’s with the names of people around here anyway? Lorene, Vernell, Henrietta.’ 
‘Don’t forget Belinda,’ Rhodes said. 
Belinda laughed. ‘You’ve got me there. I guess not everyone can be named Jennifer or Tracy.’

It was obvious that Bill Crider was a very nice, good-hearted man, and his book is full of nice, good-hearted people too (along with some villainy...).

And, I enjoyed tremendously finding romance cover pics to illustrate this. They are an astonishing genre.


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Comments

  1. Very sorry to hear of Bill's death, Moira. Thanks for a lovely, lovely tribute to him. He will be greatly missed. I can say, too, that he was a delightful person as well as a talented writer.

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    1. Lucky you, I think you have met him? He just always sounded so nice...

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    2. Not in person, I'm sorry to say. But I had a few e-versations with him. He was a lovely person.

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    3. Still lucky! And I know you too will miss him.

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  2. Well, where have I been? I must try a little Bill Crider. (Yeah, the Romance Conference sounds exactly true-to-life.)

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    1. Definitely worth a go. I thought his books might be more noir-ish, this one was a surprise and a pleasure.

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  3. Very nice post, Moira. Bill Crider was a much loved author and was very supportive to other writers. I have read the first five books in the Dan Rhodes series and will be reading the remaining books in that series (total of 24) and also some of the other shorter series he wrote. I had missed Curt's post on this book in December so I am glad you pointed that out too.

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    1. You are so organized Tracy - well done, and thanks for giving me the exact figure. I will try to read some more, but it is not easy to find them in the UK.

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  4. My favourite romance cover of all time is "Castles in the Air" by Christina Dodd, purely because of its utter infamy.

    https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1351746064l/875573.jpg

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    1. Thanks Daniel. Note to others: I had to look hard to see what was so unusual about this cover, but it is worth examining it in detail...

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    2. Oh! Oh! Thanks for suggesting I had to go back and look again. Very very thought-provoking.

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    3. Isn't it weird? Especially with no hint from Daniel as to what is unusual about it...

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  5. I read my first Bill Crider book last month and greatly enjoyed it. I found it (free) on the Open Library via Internet Archive https://archive.org/

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    1. Glad you liked it, and thanks for the useful info.

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  6. I still have to pick up my first Bill Crider. Like you say, he's quite hard to find over here. You can get a very good idea of a person by the way that their passing affects their friend (or even people who hardly knew them). Given the heartfelt outpouring of grief, it's pretty obvious that he was someone whose passing is going to leave a pretty big hole to fill. Probably the best tribute that I can make to him is to find and read one of his books, and I shall.

    ggary

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    1. You are so right, he was obviously a very very popular person, and a kind and generous one too. And funny!

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  7. Not one of his I'll be seeking out. I think I've read one and have another one of his on the pile, which with the scarcity of them on this side of the Atlantic will probably do for me.

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    1. I can see it wouldn't be the one for you! But will be interested to hear what you make of others. In due course...

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