Doris Miles Disney
Doris Miles Disney was an American mystery writer. She wrote 47 novels, many of which were best sellers; several were made into feature films or TV movies.
In 14 of her writing years Disney published two novels, and the Times noted that "Since 1945, one or more of her books has been published each year." Her last novel was published posthumously.
About her novels
Disney's first book coincided with her daughter's 1943 birth, and most of Mrs. Disney's main characters were based on acquaintances of herself or her daughter.Disney had worked in the publicity field and in the insurance business, and three recurring sleuths in her novels were
- postal inspector David Madden
- insurance investigator Jeff DiMarco. and
- county detective Jim O'Neill.
Disney's Family Skeleton was made into the movie Stella, and Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate was the basis of an American TV film. Family Skeleton/Stella's hero Jeff di Marco included the reuse of Disney's "most famous" sleuth for Straw Man in 1951.
Reviews
Her first novel was reviewed by The [New York Times]; subsequent novels and the films made from them were regularly reviewed.Biography
She was born Doris Miles in Glastonbury, Connecticut, and married George J. Disney in 1936. She died in Fredericksburg, Virginia.Their daughter Elizabeth Disney Laing, a writer and theatrical actress, was born 1943.
The Disneys' relatives included two of Mrs. Disney's sisters, Elizabeth H. Miles and Mrs. George B. Tolve, and the Disneys had nieces and nephews, some of whom told their aunt of their disliking that she killed off too many women in her stories.
Novels
- A Compound for Death
- Murder on a Tangent
- Dark Road
- Who Rides a Tiger
- Appointment at Nine
- Enduring Old Charms
- Testimony by Silence
- That Which Is Crooked
- Count the Ways
- Family Skeleton
- Fire at Will
- Look Back on Murder
- Straw Man
- Heavy, Heavy Hangs
- Do Unto Others
- Prescription: Murder
- The Last Straw
- Trick or Treat
- Room for Murder
- Unappointed Rounds
- Method in Madness
- My Neighbor's Wife
- Black Mail
- Did She Fall or Was She Pushed?
- No Next of Kin
- Dark Lady
- Mrs. Meeker's Money
- Find the Woman
- Should Auld Acquaintance
- Here Lies...
- The Departure of Mr. Gaudette
- The Hospitality of the House
- Shadow of a Man
- Unsuspected Evil
- At Some Forgotten Door
- The Magic Grandfather
- Night of Clear Choice
- Money for the Taking
- Voice from the Grave
- Two Little Children and How They Grew
- Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate
- The Chandler Policy
- Three's a Crowd
- The Day Miss Bessie Lewis Disappeared
- Only Couples Need Apply
- Don't Go Into the Woods Today
- Cry for Help
- ''Winifred''