HANDLER, David 1952-

(Russell Andrews, a joint pseudonym)

PERSONAL: Born September 14, 1952, in Los Angeles, CA; son of Chester (a salesperson) and Ruth Handler. Education: University of California—Santa Barbara, B.A., 1974; Columbia University, M.S., 1975.

ADDRESSES: Home—7 Library Lane, Old Lyme, CT 06371. Agent—Dominick Abel Literary Agency, 146 West 82nd St., New York, NY 10024.

CAREER: Writer, ghostwriter, screenwriter, and producer. Also worked as a syndicated columnist and Broadway critic.

MEMBER: International Association of Crime Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Writers Guild of America.

AWARDS, HONORS: Edgar Allan Poe Award for best original paperback, Mystery Writers of America, and American Mystery Award, both 1991, both for The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Kiddo, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1987.

Boss, Available Press (New York, NY), 1988.

(With Peter Gethers under joint pseudonym Russell Andrews) Gideon, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 1999.

"STEWART HOAG" MYSTERY NOVELS

The Man Who Died Laughing, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

The Man Who Lived by Night, Bantam (New York, NY), 1989.

The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bantam (New York, NY), 1990.

The Woman Who Fell from Grace, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1991.

The Boy Who Never Grew Up, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1992.

The Man Who Canceled Himself, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1995.

The Girl Who Ran off with Daddy, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1996.

The Man Who Loved Women to Death, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1997.

"BERGER & MITRY" MYSTERY NOVELS

The Cold Blue Blood, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2001.

The Hot Pink Farm House, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2002.

The Bright Silver Star, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2003.

The Burnt Orange Sunrise, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2004.

OTHER

Also author of screenplays, including scripts for television series Kate and Allie and The Saint; contributor to TV Guide.

SIDELIGHTS: David Handler's earliest novels are coming-of-age stories set in the author's native Los Angeles, California. His first novel, Kiddo, takes place in 1962 and records the adolescent tribulations of Danny Levine, a confused thirteen-year-old who struggles with his Jewish identity, his weight, and his relationships with girls. He latches on to another thirteen-year-old, Newt Biddle, an anti-Semitic preppie who teaches Danny the joys of smoking, shoplifting, and frustrating his parents' efforts to make him learn to play the violin. Eventually Danny makes decisions about his own character and his friends and gives up his rebellious ways, even resuming his violin lessons. David Freeman, writing in the New York Times Book Review, concluded that Handler "has great affection for his characters." Danny reappears as the protagonist of Handler's second novel, Boss, which is set not in the rebellious 1960s of Kiddo but in the more cautious 1970s. Danny is still confused, bumbling, and fighting his waistline; however, a year in Europe has endowed him with a newfound wisdom that allows him to marry and begin working at his father's business.

In his third novel, The Man Who Died Laughing, Handler introduces Stewart "Hoagy" Hoag, who is also the protagonist of several of Handler's later novels. Hoag is a writer whose career has gone flat, so he becomes a ghostwriter and is hired to pen the memoirs of Sonny Day, a famous comic. Soon, however, he is caught in the middle of a murder and begins investigating—with the help of his dog, Lulu—the mysterious break-up of Knight and Day, the most famous comedy team of the fifties, which occurred years before the novel begins. The transcripts of his interviews with family, friends, and enemies provide a nostalgic tour through Hollywood, Las Vegas, and the Jewish resort area in the Catskill Mountains known as the Borscht Belt.

In Handler's 1990 book, The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hoag is hired by the literary agent of Cameron Sheffield Noyes, a bratty young New York author with writer's block, to help Noyes write a bestselling autobiography. But what Noyes dictates under Hoag's coaching is instead an exposé of the New York celebrity publishing scene. The work in progress prompts anonymous threats that could have come from a variety of unscrupulous characters, each with a motive for wanting to see the project halted. When both Noyes's publisher and ex-lover are murdered and Noyes disappears, Hoag again turns from writer to sleuth. A Wall Street Journal contributor wrote of The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald: "Charming lead characters and good breezy writing are among this book's strong suits."

In The Woman Who Fell from Grace Handler spoofs the real-life sensation aroused by the publication of the sequel to Margaret Mitchell's landmark novel Gone with the Wind. Oh, Shenandoah is Alma Glaze's sweeping romantic saga of the American Revolution that has sold over thirty million copies since its publication in 1940. When the heirs to her estate negotiate a deal for what is hyped as the most eagerly awaited book sequel of all time, they hire Hoag to take over the writing duties from Glaze's daughter. Hoag quickly finds himself tangled in a mystery. It is well known that Alma Glaze had been accidentally killed right after the film version of Oh, Shenandoah was completed. But the housekeeper turns up dead after suggesting that the death of one of the film's stars at the same time was murder. Hoag investigates while preparations for a gala anniversary celebration of the novel go on around him. Sybil Steinberg, writing in Publishers Weekly, commented: "Handler's breezy, unpretentious and warm-hearted hero provides a breath of fresh air in a world of investigative angst." New York Times Book Review contributor Marilyn Stasio noted that Handler "writes a mean plot, full of crises that ingeniously spoof the melodramatic events of the original potboiler saga."

The Man Who Canceled Himself finds Hoag hired to ghostwrite a memoir of Uncle Chubby, a television comedy star whose career took a nosedive after he was arrested for public indecency in a Times Square pornography theater. But Uncle Chubby—whose real name is Lyle Hudnut—proves to be a difficult subject, possibly even psychotic. Hoag's research for Chubby's book leads to a bombing on the set of Hudnut's television show, a poisoning of the program's cast and crew, and eventually, murder. Handler's own background in the television industry gives the ring of authenticity to his novel, in the estimation of Booklist reviewer George Needham, who called The Man Who Canceled Himself "a thoroughly satisfying mystery that offers a cynical look at the economics, politics, and sociology of a TV sitcom." A Publishers Weekly critic also thought that the book is "great fun," largely because of the "gimlet-eyed observations of the fierce, delicious and dizzy infighting in Sitcom Land."

The Girl Who Ran off with Daddy "satisfies both as a mystery and as light comedy," judged Emily Melton in Booklist. In this adventure, Hoag's ghostwriting career is floundering, but he hardly cares, as he has plenty of money in savings and the rest of his life is working out nicely. He has a new baby with his live-in ex-wife and a comfortable life as a gentleman farmer in Connecticut. This peaceful interlude is disturbed when an old friend, Thor Gibbs, turns up on Hoag's doorstep. With Gibbs is his new girlfriend, who is young enough to be Thor's granddaughter; and she is, in fact, his stepdaughter. When Thor is murdered, the suspects include his rejected wife, his girlfriend's father, the father's gay lover, and the girlfriend's exboyfriends. "Handler controls his material masterfully, delivering newsy verisimilitude and domestic repartee worthy of Nick and Nora Charles," noted a Publishers Weekly contributor. Melton further described the book as "breezy, funny, and debonair." Melton also gave her approval to The Man Who Loved Women to Death, in which Hoag chases a serial killer who may in fact be one of his old friends. Reviewing that book, she declared: "Handler has written a sleek, sophisticated, over-the-top story that's filled with red herrings, laugh-aloud humor, and plenty of suspense."

In 2001 Handler introduced a new mystery series featuring film critic and author Mitch Berger and the beautiful Lt. Desiree "Des" Mitry. Writing in Booklist, Jenny McLarin commented that "Handler's Berger and Mitry series stands out from the crowd in a couple of ways. First, its romantically involved protagonists are a genuine odd couple: chubby Jewish film critic Mitch Berger and gorgeous African American state trooper Desiree Mitry. Second, the series' setting—Connecticut's Gold Coast shoreline—is hardly a common locale for crime fiction." The detective duo met in the first installment of the series, The Cold Blue Blood. Renting an old carriage house on a private island off the southern Connecticut shore, Berger finds himself living among the "blue bloods" as he tries to get over his wife's death from cancer. He soon discovers that his landlady's missing second husband is buried in the garden, and Mitry arrives on the scene to investigate. Not only do the two solve the crime, but also discover their mutual attraction in the process. GraceAnne A. DeCandido, writing in Booklist, noted that the "New York color is perfectly rendered, as is the Connecticut salt." Critics also praised the use of numerous movie stories told by Berger in the novel. "Film references, unique characterizations, and focused prose bode well for this new series," wrote Rex E. Klett in Library Journal.

In the The Hot Pink Farm House, Berger continues the Berger-Mitry romance as the two begin to investigate another murder case, this one involving land developers, an eccentric sculptor, and his daughters, one of whom ends up murdered. DeCandido, once again writing in Booklist, thought the book has too much melodrama and does not focus enough on Berger and Mitry. In another Library Journal review, Klett felt that The Hot Pink Farm House "will not leave readers wanting." A Publishers Weekly contributor commented that, despite some familiar plot devices, "the author's skill at depicting everyone from young children to aging adults and investing his characters with delightful quirks or grievous flaws makes this a superior read."

In the third outing of Handler's "Berger-Mitry" series, The Bright Silver Star, a beautiful movie star comes to the small Connecticut coastal enclave, along with her Latin heartthrob husband, who ends up falling off a cliff. Although initially thought to be a suicide, foul play is soon suspected, and Berger becomes a prime suspect when he pens a terrible review of the Latin movie star's last film and it is learned that he had a subsequent fistfight with the deceased. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that Handler is particularly adept at handling the scenes in which Berger returns to New York to come to terms with his late wife's memory. The reviewer added, "With its vivid setting, quirky and unusual characters, and fast-paced plot skillfully interwoven with movie trivia, this cozy with attitude is sure to satisfy Handler's many committed fans and attract new ones."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 15, 1995, George Needham, review of The Man Who Canceled Himself, p. 899; April 1, 1996, Emily Melton, review of The Girl Who Ran off with Daddy, p. 1346; May 1, 1997, p. 1483; August, 2001, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of The Cold Blue Blood, p. 2096; October 15, 2002, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of The Hot Pink Farmhouse, p. 391; November, 2003, Jenny McLarin, review of The Bright Silver Star, p. 304.

Library Journal, April 1, 1997, Rex E. Klett, review of The Man Who Loved Women to Death, p. 133; October 1, 2001, Rex E. Klett, review of The ColdBlue Blood, p. 146; November 1, 2002, Rex E. Klett, review of The Hot Pink Farmhouse, p. 131; September 1, 2003, Rex Klett, review of The Bright Silver Star, p. 214.

Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1987.

New York Times Book Review, May 3, 1987, p. 37; November 3, 1991, p. 27.

Publishers Weekly, September 21, 1990, Penny Kaganoff, review of The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald, p. 69; August 2, 1991, review of The Woman Who Fell from Grace, p. 66; July 13, 1992, review of The Boy Who Never Grew Up, p. 48; December 5, 1994, review of The Man Who Canceled Himself, p. 68; March 24, 1997, review of The Man Who Loved Women to Death, p. 62; January 15, 1996, review of The Girl Who Ran off with Daddy, p. 447; September 10, 2001, review of The Cold Blue Blood, p. 64; October 14, 2002, review of The Hot Pink Farmhouse, p. 67; September 1, 2003, review of The Bright Silver Star, p. 67.

Wall Street Journal, November 5, 1990, p. A13.