RIP Mary Daheim
Mary Daheim passed away in 2022. She was a mystery writer living in Seattle. I have read most of her books. I have greatly enjoyed each of them.
She wrote two series of books. Her fans could easily tell which series a book belonged to by the title.
One series took place in Alpine, a small fictional town in the Cascade Mountains. The books in the series all had a three-word title. The start of each title was The Alpine. The third word of the first book was Advocate. The third word of the second book was Burglar. The third word of the titles continued in alphabetical order until the 26th one was Zen.
Daheim’s other books were known as the Bed and Breakfast series which is in the cozy mystery genre. A cozy mystery often has a female main character, who starts off single, a romantic subplot that might lead to marriage, minimal graphic violence, and humor. Fans can often identify a cozy mystery by its title that includes a pun.
The main character in the Bed and Breakfast series is Judith McMonigle, the proprietor of a Bed and Breakfast in Seattle. Eventually, she marries Joe Flynn in one of the books.
Some of Daheim’s Bed and Breakfast titles are Lady Macdeath, Legs Benedict, This Old Souse, Snow Place to Die, A Streetcar Named Expire, Hocus Croakus, Wed and Buried, September Mourn, Auntie Mayhem, and All the Pretty Hearses.
Daheim includes puns within her books. Those puns are often intended for readers familiar with the Puget Sound region. For example, Whidbey Island is just west of Everett, WA. In her books, Daheim calls it Whoopie Island.
Often the titles in a cozy series follows a theme. An example of cozy titles fitting a theme are the ones with dog references in David Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter series. They include Silent Bite, Dachshund Through the Snow, Bark of the Night, Deck the Hounds, The Twelve Dogs of Christmas, and Best of Snow.
Instead of a theme, Daheim’s titles were often related to the events in that particular story. Suture Self takes place in a hospital when Judith has her hip replaced and other patients suddenly die unexpectedly. In Dead Man Docking, Judith McMonigle Flynn and Renie, her cousin, are booked to go on a cruise. In Bantom of the Opera, a narcistic opera star books a room in Judith’s bed and breakfast. The Wurst is Yet to Come takes place during Octoberfest at a small town in the Cascade Mountains with a Bavarian themed downtown section popular with tourists.
There are many more examples of cozy mystery titles with puns in my new book Comedy Techniques for Variety Artists. One of the exercises in that book is to go to a bookstore or library to browse the mystery section looking for cozy mystery titles. That is a great way to study comedy. The rest of the exercise is to either write additional titles for one of the series that you find or write titles for a series and theme that you create yourself.
I included this exercise in the book because it is an excellent way to practice writing comedy.
In addition, a variety artist will sometimes create a prop book. Instead of using a generic title for the book, you can add additional humor by giving it a title containing puns. This can add texture to your act. It can also be an element that children will overlook but adults will find entertaining. So, in addition to being good practice, the exercise can lead to something that a reader might use in entertaining their audiences.
An excellent place to see book title puns in use is the que and loading area for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland. While standing in line, you can look in the window of Mr. Toad’s library. That is the room where the attraction cars are loaded. Each book on the shelf has a title that is a pun. I think many people don’t notice, but I enjoy reading the book titles while I am waiting to board the attraction. Here are some of the titles: Frogean Psychology, A Tadpole Grows in Brooklyn, and For Whom the Toads Croaks.
RIP Mary Daheim. Thank you for the pleasure that you brought to me and your other fans.
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