 First edition cover | |
| Author | John D. MacDonald |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Travis McGee |
| Genre | Mystery |
| Publisher | Fawcett Publications |
Publication date | June 6, 1964 [1] |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 158 |
| ISBN | 978-0-449-22438-0 |
| OCLC | 34612267 |
| Preceded by | Nightmare in Pink |
| Followed by | The Quick Red Fox |
A Purple Place for Dying (1964) is the third novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald.
McGee is drawn away from his usual haunt of Florida by a job offer from Mona Yeoman, who suspects that her estranged husband has stolen from her considerable trust fund. Before the investigation begins, Mona is murdered before McGee's eyes by an unseen gunman. By the time he summons the police to the scene, her body has disappeared. McGee then sets out to solve her murder.
The back of the first edition reads, "McGee did not like Mona Fox Yeoman. She seemed artificial and self-important. She was provocative rather than seductive, a dare more than a desire. She made a man want to shake her up, to mat that twenty-five dollar hairdo and knock that lady-of-the-manor style of hers on its can. --- But nobody ever would. Because in one minute she was a big creamy bitch standing right next to McGee - and suddenly she was fallen cooling flesh skittering into the dust with a hole as big as your fist through her wishbone. For McGee that should have been it. The client was dead. No fee. No tears. Forget it, bot. Pick up and pack out. --- Yeah. Sure. You better believe it. --- Not McGee."
The book takes place in "Esmeralda County." The state is not mentioned, but it states that the county is fairly populous. There is an Esmeralda County in Nevada, but it is the least populated county in Nevada. Other geographic references in the book, such as the Phoenix airport, seem to indicate the book takes place in Arizona.
Although Tales from Margaritaville was published by Jimmy Buffett in 1989, he wrote an updated preface published in 2002. In it he tells a story of finding a copy of A Purple Place for Dying at a flea market in Huahine in French Polynesia. Jimmy Buffett writes, "Six thousand miles away from slip F-18 at the Bahia Mar yacht basin in Ft. Lauderdale, I read the opening lines. That afternoon, leaning against a palm tree, I finished the book, and as beautiful as paradise was, Travis McGee had rekindled my love for the quirky and insane things that were Florida to me, and I missed them."
Although Buffett refers to McGee in Florida, this Travis McGee novel does not take place in Florida, but rather in the American West.
John Dann MacDonald was an American writer of novels and short stories. He is known for his thrillers.
The Deep Blue Good-by is the first of 21 novels in the Travis McGee series by American author John D. MacDonald.
Nightmare in Pink is the second novel in the Travis McGee series written by John D. MacDonald. It was published concurrently with the first book in the series, The Deep Blue Good-by. In Nightmare in Pink, McGee is asked by a friend from his military days to help his sister Nina in the investigation of her fiancé's death and the large sum of money involved. The book's title is a reference to the inclusion of hallucinogenic drugs as a plot device in the climax. Much of the action takes place in New York City and upstate New York, a departure from McGee's usual haunts in Florida.
The Quick Red Fox (1964) is the fourth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. In it, McGee is hired to aid a fictitious Hollywood star named Lysa Dean who is being blackmailed with revealing photographs.
A Deadly Shade of Gold (1965) is the fifth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot revolves around a solid gold Aztec statuette, and takes McGee from his home of Florida to Mexico and Los Angeles. The cover bills this novel as a "double-length adventure" and is about twice as many pages as the previous Travis McGee novels.
Bright Orange for the Shroud (1965) is a sixth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot follows McGee as he attempts to salvage the money of friend Arthur Wilkinson after the man is defrauded in a semi-legal confidence scheme involving a land deal.
Darker than Amber (1966) is the seventh novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot begins when McGee and his close friend Meyer are fishing underneath a bridge and a young woman, bound and weighted, is thrown over the bridge. It was adapted into a 1970 film of the same name.
Darker than Amber is a 1970 film adaptation of John D. MacDonald's 1966 mystery/suspense novel, Darker than Amber. It was directed by Robert Clouse from a screenplay by MacDonald and Ed Waters.
One Fearful Yellow Eye (1966) is the eighth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot revolves around McGee's attempts to aid his longtime friend Glory Doyle in her quest to uncover the truth about her late husband and the blackmail which made over half a million dollars of his fortune disappear. It is largely set in Chicago, rather than the usual McGee haunt of Florida. When Fortner Geis dies, it becomes clear that his fortune was swindled out of him in his last months. McGee tracks down the money and eventually builds a romantic relationship with Fortner's daughter, Heidi Trumbill.
Pale Gray for Guilt (1968) is the ninth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot revolves around McGee's investigation into the death of his close friend Tush Bannon, who he suspects has been murdered because of his refusal to sell his waterfront property to developers. In terms of series continuity, Pale Gray for Guilt is particularly important in that it involves a love interest, Puss Killian, who is central to the final book: The Lonely Silver Rain.
The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper (1968) is the tenth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot focuses on McGee's investigation of a beautiful young woman who is mysteriously losing her mind without any apparent physical or mental disease. Along the way, he discovers various troubling facets to the small Florida town where she resides.
Dress Her in Indigo (1969) is the eleventh novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald.
The Long Lavender Look (1970) is the twelfth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. After the preceding book, Dress Her in Indigo, which was largely set in Mexico, The Long Lavender Look not only returns to McGee's usual haunt of Florida, but is almost entirely set in one tiny town deep in the rural part of the state.
A Tan and Sandy Silence (1971) is the thirteenth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. The plot begins with Harry Broll, husband of McGee's longtime friend Mary, shows up at his houseboat The Busted Flush with a gun, threatening McGee and accusing him of hiding Mary aboard. The rest of the novel involves McGee's search for Mary.
The Turquoise Lament (1973) is the fifteenth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. It focuses on McGee's involvement with an old acquaintance, Pidge, who believes her husband Howie Brindle is trying to kill her to acquire her considerable inheritance. It takes place primarily in Hawaii and other Pacific Rim islands, particularly American Samoa.
The Dreadful Lemon Sky (1975) is the sixteenth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. It is the 87th novel in The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time as compiled by the Mystery Writers of America.
The Empty Copper Sea (1978) is the 17th novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. In it, McGee looks into the apparent drowning of Hub Lawless in a boating accident. His $2 million insurance policy leads some to believe he has faked his death.
Cinnamon Skin (1982) is the twentieth novel in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. Like a few other books in the series, McGee ends up traveling to Mexico to solve a crime. His friend Meyer's niece is killed by a bomb on the John Maynard Keynes, Meyer's houseboat, with two other people. As Meyer and McGee investigate the explosion, they discover her husband, Evan Lawrence, did not die, and instead had a dark and dangerous past.
The Last One Left (1967) is a mystery novel by John D. MacDonald. The plot is similar to the notorious real-life events on the sailing ship Bluebelle when, in 1961, the captain killed his wife and four passengers and set a surviving child adrift to die, all in an unsuccessful attempt to cash in his wife's life insurance policy.
Travis McGee is a 1983 American TV movie based on the 1978 novel The Empty Copper Sea by John D. MacDonald. It was the second film adaptation of the Travis McGee series. It was made by Warner Bros.