William L. DeAndrea's Books

Biography

William L. DeAndrea (1952 – 1996) is an internet enigma. By his death, he was one of only a handful of writers to have been awarded three Edgars. (Others included Joe Gores, Donald E. Westlake and John Dickson Carr). Yet, a search of the internet produces remarkably little information about him. What there is, is inconsistent.

DeAndrea’s first mystery, Killed in the Ratings (1978), which introduced Matt Cobb, drew on his childhood love of television (although DeAndrea himself had never worked in the medium). (enotes)

The Matt Cobb mysteries drew on DeAndrea’s experience working for a major American television network. (wikipedia)

An Encyclopedic Knowledge of Crime

This is all the stranger as DeAndrea was an obsessive chronicler of the activities of his crime-writing brethren. In 1994 he published an encyclopaedia of crime fiction. The most in-depth information I could find about him is from his guide:

Recovering from a bout with the flu at the age of twelve, DeAndrea, home from school, found a copy of The Adventures of Ellery Queen (1934) and has been hooked on mysteries ever since. He would have been content to remain a fan, but failure to find a job better than factory work after graduating with a degree in communications from Syracuse University in 1974 made him decide to try writing.

His first novel, Killed in the Ratings (1978), won the best first novel Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America and introduced his most regular series character, TV troubleshooter Matt Cobb. His second, The Hog Murders (1979), won the Edgar for best paperback original, making him one of only three authors (Gregory McDonald and Warren Murphy are the others) to win Edgars in consecutive years with novels for adults. The Hog Murders also introduced master detective Professor Niccolo Benedetti, who returned in The Werewolf Murders (1992).

Beginning in the mid-1980s, DeAndrea wrote a tetralogy about master spy “Clifford Driscoll,” whose real name was never revealed. He has also written two historical mysteries: The Lunatic Fringe (1980) features Theodore Roosevelt, New York City Police commissioner in 1896; and Five O’Clock Lightning (1982) was set in 1953 and featured a plot to kill New York Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle. DeAndrea has also written two light mysteries under the punning pseudonym “Philip DeGrave”: Unholy Moses (1985) and Keep the Baby, Faith (1986).

A student of the genre, DeAndrea once appeared on an international quiz show as an expert on the works of Ellery Queen (he won). He writes the popular “J’Accuse” column in The Armchair Detective magazine. He worked for four years at the bookstore Murder Ink in New York. There, he met his wife, mystery writer Jane Haddam. He is general editor and principal writer of this encyclopedia.
Encyclopaedia Mysteriosa

Untimely Death

The eagle-eyed will notice a discrepancy. Encyclopedia Mysteriosa won DeAndrea his third Edgar for Best Critical / Biographical Work in 1995. Sadly William L. DeAndrea died from cancer a year later, so he never had the opportunity to update his entry. He was only 44.

If you search you can find plenty of William L. DeAndrea’s books to read, he published over twenty novels in twenty years — most of them are available as paperbacks or e-books. Imagine what the internet would be saying about him if he was still around.