Richard Belzer Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Richard Belzer is an actor, comedian and author best known for his work as detective Munch on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.” The author was born and brought up in Bridgeport, Connecticut to a middle class family until everything fell apart and his family lost everything. Growing up, he was close to his father who had made a very successful career as a salesman selling vending machines. But he never liked his mother who was often physically abusive. The family kitchen was always the toughest room in the house since he had to make his mother laugh to reduce the probability of getting hit. Since he usually acted as a smart ass he never lasted in the many schools he was sent to. This would persist throughout his teenage years as he got kicked out of Dean Junior College where he was the leader of a demonstration. But doing this, he laid the foundation for a very successful career. Nonetheless, he would be sidetracked into other careers such as jewelry salesman, census taker, dock worker and Bridgeport Post as a reporter.

When Richard Belzer was still in his twenties he lost his mother to breast cancer and his depressed father committed suicide a few years later. Shocked out of his reverie by the deaths, he decided to try to get into the show business, which is something he had always wanted to do. He studied acting for a few months and got his first job as an actor in the 1973 feature film “Groove Tube.” As the film became popular, Belzer became even more confident that he decided to try his hand at standup comedy. It was not long before he was working at comedy clubs in New York which he did for five years. He made a name on an act of distrust and disdain of everything and anything disseminated by the media or by the government. He soon became famous for his insatiable appetite for news and astute political observations. This got him a job with the “Bridgeport Post,” where he worked as a reporter. He also wrote for other venerable newspapers around the United States. Given the several jobs he worked, he got a lot of comedic material that he would then spin into his comedy and later into his novels.

Belzer had his career made when he was cast in “Homicide: Life on the Street” where he would be a lead character for all seven seasons of the series. He would then transfer to “Special Victims Unit” and moved from Baltimore to New York City. He became a regular on “Special Victims Unit” and over the seasons, Detective Munch would be promoted from lowly constable to sergeant. Richard Belzer portrayed the character for more than two decades and beat Frasier Crane portrayed by Kelsey Grammer and Matt Dillion portrayed by James Arness, who were the only ones with comparable stints. The character was also featured in “Law & Order,” “The X-Files,” “Arrested Development,” “The Beat,” “The Wire” and “Exit Strategy.” He remains the only fictional character to reprise a role on eight shows on HBO, NBC, UPN, and FOX. He made his fiction writing debut with the novel “I am Not A Cop” that he published in 2008.

“I Am Not a Cop!” by Richard Belzer is a fascinating thriller that speculates on how it would be if he was a real police officer. At the opening of the story, medical examiner Rudy that is a former Russian immigrant has gone missing. Several days later, Belzer gets a letter from Rudy that has a riddle. The police are not interested in the case and so he decides to investigate. Before he retired from acting, he acted out the role of a police officer for more than a dozen years and was known personally to many police officers in New York. One of them who actually works as a police detective keeps telling him that he is not a cop and that he should leave the work to the real professionals. He is aware that he is not a professional police officer but no one is going to stop him from resolving the mystery and finding his friend. His escapades involve Chinese martial arts, a sleazy reporter, Russian spies, the Russian mafia and the diamond trade. Like a man possessed, he makes use of everything he learned as a fictional policeman from diamond lore to police procedure in the search for his friend.

Richard Belzer’s “I Am Not a Psychic!” opens to Belzer getting a call from two friends each wanting him to go west and he obliges. One of the friends needs him to go to Los Angles where there is a cold case laded with conspiracy. The other friend who happens to be his old mentor is working on a telethon and needs his help writing it. While on his way to Los Angeles, a friend is killed and even though he would rather let the police handle it, the man’s psychic girlfriend believes he is the best man for the job. She also tells him that he should investigate the cold case too. Things get very interesting when bodies start piling up. To make matters worse, an asinine comedian that is schedule to act on the telethon is giving him a lot of trouble. His Vegas friend also has a heart scare to make things even more interesting.