It’s always sad to report on the passing of authors and the loss of their talents to the world of mystery/crime fiction. Here are short obituaries of three authors who have died recently.

Christopher Fowler, author of the Bryant & May series of detective novels, has died at the age of 69, having been diagnosed with cancer three years ago.
Fowler was best known for his Bryant & May thrillers, featuring the veteran detectives solving unusual crimes in London from the second world war to the present day. The series began with FULL DARK HOUSE in 2003, and seventeen more novels followed, most recently LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN, published in 2021. A further book exploring the London of the characters, BRYANT & MAY’S PECULIAR LONDON, came out last year.

K. C. Constantine

Carl Kosak, using the pseudonym K.C. Constantine, was one of the most distinguished writers of crime fiction of the past half-century. His first book, THE ROCKSBURG RAILROAD MURDERS, was published in 1972 by the noted literary house David R. Godine, and he continued to write until his unexpected death in mid-March. He recently completed work on ANOTHER DAY’S PAIN, scheduled to be published early next year by The Mysterious Press, which had published ten of his books including JOEY’S CASE, the nominee for an Edgar award by the Mystery Writers of America as the best book of the year (1988). The character-driven Constantine novels provided a realistic view of a dying central Pennsylvania town, as powerful and poignant as the best work of Richard Russo.

Rita Lakin

Rita Lakin was principally a screenwriter who wrote 464 TV episodes, eight movies of the week and two mini-series. Late in life she began her career as a mystery writer, penning a series featuring Gladdy Gold, a septuagenarian private eye in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There are nine books in the series, starting with GETTING OLD IS MURDER (2005). Her GETTING OLD IS A DISASTER (2008) won the Lefty Award for Most Humorous Mystery of the Year. She was 93 at the time of her passing.