The legendary Bill Crider is the prolific author of several crime fiction series featuring Sheriff Dan Rhodes (the 24th of which was published this August); Professor Carl Burns; PI Truman Smith; and Sally Good, along with numerous short stories and works in other genres including YA, westerns, horror, and more. He's also had an influential blogging and social media presence and supported other authors and crime fiction in general through the years. Bill has been battling cancer for a while and sadly, had to move into hospice recently. In honor of his many contributions to Patti Abbott's "Friday's 'Forgotten' Books" feature, Patti asked that we focus on Bill's works for today's blog posts. We also wish him the best and hope that his journey, no matter where it leads, will be filled with peace and the knowledge he has entertained and helped so many people with his writing, wit, and class.

I first entered the crime fiction realm as a short story writer, and that format is still near and dear to my heart. Bill has certainly contributed his share of offerings to the genre such as those featured in several anthologies I've noted on the blog before, "The Santa Claus Caper" in Christmas Stalkings (ed. Charlotte MacLeod and Martin Greenberg), a story featuring Carl Burns; "The Werewolf’s Christmas” from The Gift of Murder (ed. John Floyd, with proceeds benefiting Toys for Tots); "A Visit to the One-Eyed Man" in Noir Riot (from the 2014 Noir Con); "Their Fancies Lightly Turned" in Discount Noir (ed. Patti Abbott and Steve Weddle); the "Adventure of the White City" from Sherlock Holmes in America (ed. Greenberg, Jon Lellenberg, and Daniel Stashower), and "Code Red: Terror on the Mall," originally in Cat Crimes IV and later in Danger in D.C. (both edited by Greenberg and Ed Gorman).

It's that last story that drew my attention today because the theme of the anthology was "cat crimes." If you've followed Bill on Facebook, then you'll know about his VBK's, the "very bad kittens." Following the death of Bill's wife, Judy, in 2014, Bill found a little bedraggled furball on his street and decided to rescue it. When he went outside the next morning (or shortly thereafter), he found two additional kittens that had apparently been abandoned. So, kind-hearted Bill kept all three kittens and has chronicled their lives and mischief ever since.

Bill's contribution to the Cat Crime IV/Danger in D.C. anthologies is a comedic turn titled "Code Red: Terror on the Mall," and features the "first cat" at the time (Bill Clinton's Socks), and a terrorist plot to blow up the President's cat and the Washington Monument. The terrorists in question call themselves the Bloody Swords of Allah and when they commandeer the Washington Monument, they also happen to snag the President's cat. The President, painted as a bit of a macho cowboy, insists on accompanying the FBI agents who climb to the top of the Monument (all 897 stairs) while toting an M16 rifle. After several Secret Service agents are shot by the bad guys, the President takes over and helps capture the criminals with a little help from the cat, who jumps on one of them.

You only have to read through a little bit of Bill's blog and his Facebook posts to get a picture of his pervasive sense of humor and love of all cultural whimsy and the bizarre. I think that's what is so present in this particular short story and makes it such a fitting symbol of Bill, namely cats + wry observations. Kirkus Reviews once referred to his "gently humorous series," Publishers Weekly extolled his "clear-eyed observations of human nature," and Reviewing the Evidence called him "an expert storyteller." If you haven't already picked up a Bill Crider short story or novel, you should rush out right now and do so. You can find a partial bibliography on his website and on Fantastic Fiction.