It is estimated that John D. MacDonald (1916-1986) sold over 70 million books in his lifetime. He is best known, of course, for his Travis McGee Series. (I have read them all). Any legitimate list of the Best Crime/Suspense writers of the 20th Century would have to include MacDonald in the Top 5. Here are some quotes from some pretty good writers about MacDonald:

“John D. MacDonald is by any standards a better writer than Saul Bellow, only MacDonald writes thrillers and Bellow is a human-heart chap, so guess who wears the top-grade laurels?”
~ Kingsley Amis

“The great entertainer of our age and a mesmerizing storyteller.”
~ Stephen King

“My favorite novelist of all time.”
~ Dean Koontz

(on the Travis McGee series): “One of the great sagas in American fiction.”
~ Robert B. Parker

Over the years I have read and reread a lot of MacDonald’s novels and short stories and have to say I have never been disappointed. This brief Christmas Mystery is no exception.

MacDonald once said, “I want story, wit, music, wryness, color, and a sense of reality in what I read, and I try to get it in what I write.” “Dead On Christmas Street” has all of that and more. I found “Dead On Christmas Street” in an anthology called Merry Murder which was published in 1994. I highly recommend the anthology and this story.

Check them both out!