Library Notes
July 1, 2011
Lynn Denison

We’ve all heard it said that crime does not pay. Recently I came upon some facts that may refute that theory in certain instances. In April 2011 the British newspaper The Guardian published a “Crime Writers Rich List.” The list is based on recorded sales, box office returns, license fees and company accounts. The list revealed that two living crime writers from the United States, John Grisham and Dan Brown, were in first and second place. Third and fourth place go to British authors Ian Fleming and Agatha Christie. Both of these authors are deceased but continue to live on through the successful sales of their works.

John Grisham holds the title of most successful and highest earning crime writer of all time at $600,000,000. His first book, A Time to Kill, was not a success. His next book, The Firm, spent 47 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and became the bestselling novel of 1991. His next books, The Pelican Brief and The Client, were bestsellers. A Time to Kill was then republished and this time around it was also a bestseller.
Grisham usually publishes one novel a year and to date each one has been an international bestseller. Nine of his novels have been made into films.

Dan Brown is the author of numerous #1 bestselling novels, including The Da Vinci Code, which has become one of the bestselling novels of all time as well as the subject of heated debate among readers and scholars. Some of his other books include Angels & Demons, Deception Point, Digital Fortress, and the Lost Symbol. His fortune is valued at $400,000,000.

Number three on the list with a net worth of more than £100 million is British crime writer Ian Fleming, the creator of the world’s most famous secret agent, James Bond. Fleming wrote 14 James Bond novels and to date there have been 22 official James Bond films. According to “the list” more than 100 million copies of Bond books have been sold worldwide. Some of Fleming’s works available at the library are The Man with the Golden Gun, Goldfinger, and Casino Royale.

It is not surprising that the “Queen of Crime,” Agatha Christie, is named as the fourth richest on the list with a total worth of £100 million. Her crime fiction includes 67 novels, 150 short stories, and 16 plays. The Mousetrap, her most successful play, premiered in London’s West End in 1952 and is still running after more than 24,000 performances—the longest running play ever. Christie created two of fiction’s best-loved characters: the fastidious Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and the elderly amateur sleuth Jane Marple. Christie’s own personal list of favorite novels includes And Then There Were None, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, A Murder Is Announced, and Murder on the Orient Express.

Rowan Public Library is the place to find all of the novels listed above. Many are also available in large print, as audiobooks on CDs or tape, and some movie versions on DVD. Please stop by the library soon and find out for yourself what these talented authors have created that put them at the top of the “Crime Writers Rich List.”