Re: RARA-AVIS: The Hitchens


james.doherty@gsa.gov
18 Nov 99 09:21:00 -0500


       Re Mark's post about the Hitchens:

       Bert Hitchens, the husband of mystery writer Dolores, was a
       cop, specifically a Southern Pacific Railroad Police Detective,
       who collaborated with his wife, already a well-established
       crime novelist, on five police procedurals about railroad cops.
       The books were *FOB Murder*, *End of the Line*, *One-Way
       Ticket*, *The Man Who Liked to Follow Women*, and a fifth, the
       title of which escapes me now. Though the setting was always
       Southern California, and there were recurring characters, the
       protagonists rotated from book to book, somewhat in the manner
       that Ed McBain planned for his 87th Pct. books before Steve
       Carella sort of took over and became "first among equals." I
       don't believe the Hitchens book mentioned was one of the
       Railroad Police series, so it was most likely a solo effort by
       Dolores.

       My grandfather, the first member of my family to go into law
       enforcment, was also an SP Railroad detective, so the Hitchens
       collaborations had particular interest for me.

       JIM DOHERTY

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