Donald Sutherland Bain (March 6, 1935 – October 21, 2017) was an American author and ghostwriter, having written over 115 books in his 40-year career.[1][2]
Early life and education
Bain was a native of Mineola, New York and graduated from Purdue University in 1957 where he studied speech and drama.[3] While there, he earned his pilot's license through the Air Force ROTC.[4]
A spin-off book series based on the Murder, She Wrote American crime drama television series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher.
The Case Against Private Aviation (1969) – byline: Donald Bain
Long John Nebel (1974) – byline: Donald Bain
The Control of Candy Jones (1976) – byline: Donald Bain
Club Tropique (1978) – byline: Donald Bain
War in Illinois (1978) – byline: Donald Bain
Charlie & the Shawneetown Dame (2004) – byline: Donald Bain
Caviar, Caviar, Caviar (1981) – byline: Gerald M. Stein & Donald Bain
The "Girls" in the Newsroom (1983) – byline: Marjorie Margolies
The World’s Best Bartenders’ Guide (1998)– byline: Joseph Scott & Donald Bain
Margaret Truman's Experiment in Murder (2012)
Margaret Truman's Undiplomatic Murder (2014)
Margaret Truman's Internship In Murder (2015)
Margaret Truman's Deadly Medicine (2016)
Margaret Truman's Allied in Danger (2017)
Unacknowledged books
A ghostwriter is often required to be anonymous as a part of the contract to write the book. Some sources claim Bain is the author of most of the mystery novels attributed to Margaret Truman. While Bain initially denied this,[5] he wrote a column in the March 14, 2014 issue of Publishers Weekly and finally acknowledged writing "27 novels in the Margaret Truman Capital Crimes series (mostly bylined by Truman, my close collaborator – my name is on only the most recent entries, released after her death)."[6]
Personal life
Bain died of congestive heart failure on October 21, 2017, in White Plains, New York at the age of 82.[1]