Fruits of a Scandal

There have been more than a few reporter protagonists in mystery, crime, and thriller fiction over the decades. That lineup includes everyone from David Alexander’s Bart Hardin, Frederick Nebel’s Kennedy, and Geoffrey Homes’ Robin Bishop to Jerry Kennealy’s Carroll Quint, Robert Finnegan’s Dan Banion, Edna Buchanan’s Britt Montero, Brad Parks’ Carter Ross, and Gregory McDonald’s Fletch.

But, as I recall in my column this week for Kirkus Reviews, Republican President Richard M. Nixon’s Watergate scandal of the early 1970s spawned its own boomlet of press investigators. I highlight three books in particular from the genre’s post-Watergate era: Conflict of Interest (1976), by Les Whitten; The Henderson Equation (1976), by Warren Adler; and False Front, by Lawrence Meyer (1979).

You will find my full piece here.