Books by Bob Stanhope

According to Wikipedia a mid life crisis effects about 10%% of the population and occurs at approximately the age of 46. It's supposedly caused by a realization of one's mortality, dissatisfaction with a career, maturation of children, or some regret over a life situation. For men it can last from 3 to 10 years and the American stereotype is that the afflicted buys a sports car. Radio Daze is a description of what might have been Bob's mid-life crisis when he left a stable, secure career as a high school math teacher for a job in broadcasting. It details his experiences in radio (and a little TV) that started in college and then, after an 18-year break, continued until he was almost 50. Included are stories of good and bad bosses, eccentric and funny colleagues, strange business decisions, and the general chaos of being live on the air every day. While the specifics might be unique to Bob, the book makes it clear that broadcasting is a medium that attracts a very unusual group of people.

This is the eleventh of a series of novels that revolve around JP Parker a 100 year old retired New York City private detective from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. The novels are his first person recollections as told to a young writer. Parker is hired by his long-time attorney, Annie Cleghorn, when an old client of hers, currently serving a life sentence for murder, finally agrees to reveal the alibi that he's inexplicably kept secret for 16 years. After travelling upstate to see him in prison their efforts are derailed by his suspicious suicide. This investigation drags them into a second murder mystery and a complex mix of financial malfeasance, murder, family secrets, a radical militia, politics, and terrorism. Simultaneously, when JP and his wife's attempt to adopt a child fails, Doris makes a fateful decision that could destroy their young marriage. While desperately trying to resolve everything the detective is uncomfortably forced to confront his true feelings for the woman he thought he loved.