Johnson Johnson

Last updated

Johnson Johnson is the hero of a series of mystery novels written by Dorothy Dunnett (originally published under her maiden name, Dorothy Halliday). [1] Johnson Johnson is a widowed portrait painter who doubles as an agent for the British secret service. A constant theme in all the novels is his yacht, the Dolly.

Each book is told in the first person, from the viewpoint of the heroine, and opens with a comment on Johnson Johnson's bifocals.

Bibliography [2]

In this series, the date of publication is not the same as the book's order in the series.

  1. Dolly & the Bird of Paradise (later retitled Tropical Issue) (1983)
    • The heroine of this book ("the Bird of Paradise") is Rita Geddes, a Glaswegian make-up artist. The story opens when she is engaged by a famous photographer to do the make-up for a photography session being held in Johnson Johnson's apartment. Johnson has putatively just been in a plane accident, although this was actually a murder attempt. Rita is dyslexic, a fact that is not disclosed until halfway through the book, and one that puts her life in peril.
  2. Dolly & the Singing Bird (in America The Photogenic Soprano; later retitled Rum Affair) (1968)
    • The heroine of this book ("the Singing Bird") is Tina Rossi, an opera singer.
  3. Dolly & the Cookie Bird (in America Murder in the Round; later retitled Ibiza Surprise) (1970)
    • The heroine of this book ("the Cookie Bird") is Sarah Cassells, a caterer.
  4. Dolly & the Doctor Bird (in America Match for a Murderer; later retitled Operation Nassau) (1971)
    • The heroine of this book ("the Doctor Bird") is Dr. B. Douglas MacRannoch, a medical doctor. Beltanno (the reason she goes by her initials) has accompanied her father out to the Bahamas and taken a post at a hospital in Nassau. The story begins when Beltanno is flying back from New York; she saves the life of Sir Bart Edgecombe, a British agent, who has been poisoned with arsenic.
  5. Dolly & the Starry Bird (in America Murder in Focus; later retitled Roman Nights) (1973)
    • Set in Italy, the heroine of this book ("the Starry Bird") is Ruth Russell, an astronomer. Ruth is living with Charles Digham, a fashion photographer and writer of obituary verses.
  6. Dolly & the Nanny Bird (later retitled Split Code) (1976)
    • The heroine of this book ("the Nanny Bird") is Joanna Emerson, a nanny. The story opens in Winnipeg, Manitoba with Joanna being reluctantly hired as the nanny to the infant heir to a cosmetics fortune. Joanna, in addition to being a nanny, is an expert in codes, and both she and Johnson know that someone connected to the hiring is an agent for the opposite side. Like most of Dunnett's books, the story takes place in a variety of exotic locations, including New York and Yugoslavia.
  7. Moroccan Traffic (in America Send a Fax to the Kasbah) (1991)
    • The heroine of this book is Wendy Helmann, a secretary. It also has the return of Rita Geddes (the Bird of Paradise.)

Related Research Articles

Dorothy Lamour American actress and singer

Dorothy Lamour was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.

Dorothy Dunnett Scottish historical novelist

Dorothy, Lady Dunnett was a Scottish novelist best known for her historical fiction. Dunnett is most famous for her six novel series set during the 16th century, which concern the fictitious adventurer Francis Crawford of Lymond. This was followed by the eight novel prequel series The House of Niccolò. Her other work include a novel concerning the historical Macbeth called King Hereafter (1982), and a series of mystery novels centered upon Johnson Johnson, a portrait painter and spy.

Anne Gwendolyn "Wendy" Craig is an English actress who is best known for her appearances in the sitcoms Not in Front of the Children, ...And Mother Makes Three /...And Mother Makes Five and Butterflies. She played the role of Matron in the TV series The Royal (2003–2011).

Joanna David is an English actress, best known for her television work.

Birds of Prey (team) American comic series and superhero team

Birds of Prey is a superhero team featured in several American comic book series, miniseries, and special editions published by DC Comics since 1996. The book's premise originated as a partnership between Black Canary and Barbara Gordon, who had adopted the codename Oracle at the time, but has expanded to include additional superheroines. The team name "Birds of Prey" was attributed to DC assistant editor Frank Pittarese in the text page of the first issue. The group is initially based in Gotham City and later operates in Metropolis and then relocates once more to "Platinum Flats", California, a new locale introduced in Birds of Prey in 2008.

<i>Wicked</i> (Maguire novel) 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is an American novel published in 1995, and written by Gregory Maguire with illustrations by Douglas Smith. It is a revisionist exploration of the characters and setting of the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, its sequels, and the 1939 film adaption The Wizard of Oz. However, compared to the originals, the book is intended for adults, as it contains profanity and adult content, including violent imagery and sexual situations. It also presents events, characters and situations from Baum's books and the film in new ways, making numerous alterations.

<i>The Moving Finger</i> 1942 Miss Marple novel by Agatha Christie

The Moving Finger is a detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the USA by Dodd, Mead and Company in July 1942 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1943. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).

Donna Murphy American actor, singer

Donna Murphy is an American actress and singer, known for her work in musical theater. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she has twice won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical: for her role as Fosca in Passion (1994–95) and as Anna Leonowens in The King and I (1996–97). She was also nominated for her roles as Ruth Sherwood in Wonderful Town (2003), Lotte Lenya in LoveMusik (2007) and Bubbie/Raisel in The People in the Picture (2011).

Hazel Court English actress (1926–2008)

Hazel Court was an English actress. She is known for her roles in British and American horror films during the 1950s and early 1960s, including Terence Fisher's The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) for Hammer Film Productions, and three of Roger Corman's adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories for American International Pictures: The Premature Burial (1962), The Raven (1963) and The Masque of the Red Death (1964).

Dorothy Heyward

Dorothy Heyward was an American playwright.

Ellen Travolta American actress (born 1940)

Ellen M. Travolta is an American actress. Known for playing Louisa Arcola Delvecchio in Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi as well as Lillian in Charles in Charge (1987-1990).

Maggie Steed is an English actress and comedian.

Howard Kevin Stern is an American attorney based in California. He was the domestic partner, attorney and agent of the late model Anna Nicole Smith. He became known as a co-star on Smith's 2002–2004 reality television series The Anna Nicole Show. He currently works with the Los Angeles Public Defender's Office.

Dorothy Emmerson is an American actress and singer who was active in the New York City theatre scene during the 1960s and 1970s. She first appeared in the ensembles of the original 1963 Vernon Duke musical Zenda and the 1965 Lincoln Center Revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel. She next starred for a couple years in the long running Off-Broadway production The Mad Show at the New Theater. In 1968 she portrayed her first featured role on Broadway, Eileen Higby in the original production of Paul Nassau and Oscar Brand's The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N. This was followed by her portrayal of Rita in the original production of John Sebastian's Jimmy Shine in 1968–1969, where she shared the stage with Dustin Hoffman and Rue McClanahan.

Simone Elkeles American author

Simone Elkeles is an American author known for the teen romance Perfect Chemistry trilogy and How To Ruin trilogy. She is a New York Times Bestselling young adult author. Simone has won the 2010 RITA Award for Best Young Adult Romance from the Romance Writers of America for her book Perfect Chemistry. The sequel to Perfect Chemistry, Rules of Attraction, appeared on USA Today Best Sellers List and The New York Times Best Sellers List.

<i>The Suspicions of Mr Whicher</i> British series of television films

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher is a British series of television films made by Hat Trick Productions for ITV, written by Helen Edmundson and Neil McKay. It stars Paddy Considine in the title role of detective inspector Jack Whicher of the Metropolitan Police. The first film, The Murder at Road Hill House, was based on the real-life Constance Kent murder case of 1860, as interpreted by Kate Summerscale in her 2008 book The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House, which was the winner of Britain's Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction in 2008, and was read as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in April the same year.

<i>Jail Birds of Paradise</i> 1934 American film

Jail Birds of Paradise is a 1934 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short starring Dorothy Appleby plus brothers Moe and Curly Howard.

Joanna Bourne

Joanna Watkins Bourne is an American, best-selling author of historical romance novels set in Europe during the Napoleonic wars. Her novels about a group of spies have won numerous awards. Her books have been described as "witty, beautifully descriptive, [and] cleverly plotted". The Spymaster's Lady is frequently cited as a reader favorite, with a spy hero who is both 'alpha' and 'beta' and a spy heroine who is "brave and clever". Rogue Spy, which features a code-breaker and a British service agent, was listed by Library Journal as one of the ten best romances of 2014.

Jemma Churchill is an English television, theatre, film and radio actress, best known for her roles as Nanny Lyons in Upstairs Downstairs, and Ms Fellows in Waterloo Road.

References

  1. ↑ "The Dolly series". Dorothy Dunnett Society. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  2. ↑ Mandy Hicken (January 1994). Now Read on: A Guide to Contemporary Popular Fiction . Scolar Press. p.  169. ISBN   978-1-85928-008-9.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.