Anthologies#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Growing Up in the South |
1991 |
Buy |
| Murder For Love |
1996 |
Buy |
| The Best American Mystery Stories 1997 |
1997 |
Buy |
| Murder at the Foul Line |
2003 |
Buy |
| Tar Heel Dead |
2005 |
Buy |
| Twenty-Seven Views of Hillsborough |
2010 |
Buy |
Collections#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Red Clay, Blue Cadillac |
2002 |
Buy |
Savile and Mangum Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Uncivil Seasons |
1983 |
Buy |
| Time’s Witness |
1989 |
Buy |
| First Lady |
2001 |
Buy |
Short Stories/Novellas#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Red Clay |
2002 |
Buy |
Standalone Novels#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Painting the Roses Red |
1974 |
Buy |
| The Delectable Mountains, Or, Entertaining Strangers |
1976 |
Buy |
| Dingley Falls |
1980 |
Buy |
| Handling Sin |
1986 |
Buy |
| Foolscap |
1991 |
Buy |
| The Last Noel |
2002 |
Buy |
| The Killing Club |
2005 |
Buy |
| The Four Corners of the Sky |
2009 |
Buy |
Michael Malone (1942-2022) grew up in Durham, North Carolina, and never strayed far from the South in his fiction. He studied English at UNC Chapel Hill, started a PhD at Harvard, and wrote his first novel — Painting the Roses Red (1974) — partly to avoid finishing his dissertation.
His best-known fiction falls into two categories. The Savile and Mangum mystery series (three novels) follows two mismatched homicide detectives in the fictional North Carolina town of Hillston: Justin Savile V, a hard-drinking black sheep of the town’s elite, and Cuddy Mangum, a street-smart cop from the lower classes. His standalone novels range from the satirical ensemble of Dingley Falls (1980) to the picaresque comedy Handling Sin (1986), often compared to Don Quixote for its wild road trip across the South.
Malone had a parallel career in television. He served as head writer for the ABC soap opera One Life to Live from 1991 to 1996, winning a Daytime Emmy in 1994 and a Writers Guild Award in 1993. Entertainment Weekly called the show under his watch “some of the most literate drama ever to hit daytime.” He returned to OLTL briefly in 2003-2004. He taught Theater Studies and English at Duke University until his death in 2022.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has Michael Malone written?
Michael Malone has written nineteen books across five series.
What was Michael Malone's first book?
Michael Malone’s first book is Painting the Roses Red, published in 1974.
Who was Michael Malone?
Michael Malone (1942-2022) was an American novelist from Durham, North Carolina. He studied English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later taught at Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and Duke University. Beyond novels, he served as head writer for the soap opera One Life to Live, winning a Daytime Emmy in 1994. His short story Red Clay won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Short Story in 1997.