Friday, June 19, 2009

Father's Day Mysteries

Father's Day: another holiday, another list. Although not as many mysteries as for Mother's Day, there are a few. Not a lot of originality in the titles, but quite a variety in types of books.

Father’s Day by John Calvin Batchelor
Father’s Day by Rudolph Engelman
Father’s Day: A Mystery by Keith Gilman
Dear Old Dead by Jane Haddam
The Father’s Day Murder by Lee Harris
Dead Water by Victoria Houston
Father’s Day Murder by Leslie Meier
Father’s Day by Alan Trustman

I posted this list the other day, but as I was working on my DyingforChocolate Blog, I started to reminisce about my father. I think similar comments belong here. My father, Joseph Rudolph, passed away 7 years ago, but it seems like only yesterday. He encouraged and supported me throughout my varying careers and educational pursuits, and he always told me I could accomplish anything and succeed in whatever I tried.

One thing we shared in common was our love of mysteries. Over the years my taste in mysteries has changed. I read more hardboiled, dark mysteries now like he always did. You can't imagine how many times I finish a book, and I say to myself, "I have to send this to Dad. He'll love it." My father engendered a love of mysteries in me through his collection of mystery novels and Ellery Queen Magazines.

Here's to you, Dad, on Father's Day!

As his gravestone reads,

Beloved husband, father, grandfather
Beloved physician, teacher, friend
A man who practiced chesed*
And loved his fellow men

*kindness, pure giving

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