Rupert Holmes Books In Order

Publication Order of McMasters Guide To Homicide Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Plays

Publication Order of Anthologies

Born as David Goldstein, Rupert Holmes is a British-American author of fantasy and mystery books best known for his 2023 critically acclaimed novel Murder Your Employer. Besides book writing, Holmes is also a composer, songwriter, and dramatist. He is also famously known for his 1979 Escape (The Pina Colada Song) and “Him” 1980. His musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, earned Holmes two Tony Awards. Other popular works include Curtains, a musical mystery comedy with a book, and Remember WENN, a comedy-drama TV series that aired on AMC from 1996 to 1998.

Holmes was born in Northwich, Chesire, England. His father worked in the US Army as a bandleader and warrant officer while his mother, Gwendolen Mary, was an English but in musical as well. His family relocated to New York when he was only 6 years old. In Nanuet, New York, Holmes would attend Nyack High School and later joined the Manhattan School of Music, where he majored in Clarinet. In 1969, he married his childhood best friend, Elizabeth Dreifuss, an attorney. The couple have two sons, Timothy, who is autistic, and Nick, a filmmaker. In 2009, the family moved to Scarsdale, New York, where they have lived since the daughter’s death.

In 2003, Rupert Holmes published his debut novel, Where the Truth Lies, aka The Musician’s Daughter. The book was later adapted into a film by the same name in 2005 by Atom Egoyan. In 2005, he Swing, a release blending a book with a music CD that provides clues to the story’s mystery. His third novel was Murder Your Employer, the first in McMaster’s Guide to Homicide series, published in 2023.

In Murder Your Employer, Rupert Holmes weaves an intriguing tale that will undoubtedly intrigue readers with its unique approach. This thriller is presented as a work of fiction and the journal of a new student at The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, an underground institution focused on training individuals to murder without leaving any trace. By the end of the story, Holmes will have you questioning the boundaries between fact and fiction.

At The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, students are educated in the dark art of deletion, a preferred term for murder. The curriculum teaches the meticulous execution of homicide, emphasizing patience and planning before any murder takes place.

The narrative kicks off with a glossary of terms, offering readers six definitions that are relevant to the story. For instance, at McMasters, the term for “murder” is “deletion.” Understanding these definitions enhances the reading experience. Following this, a Foreward provides a comprehensive overview of the philosophy, history, and tenets of The McMasters Conservatory. This institution, akin to a finishing school, has a unique focus on mastering the art of homicide, which they describe as “finishing” people off.

Cliff Iverson, initially inclined to kill his employer, finds his life taking an unexpected turn. After failing to execute his murder plan, Cliff anticipates imprisonment, only to end up at the secretive McMasters Conservatory, altering the course of his life forever.
Cliff embarks on a journey through various courses to comprehend the art of murder and how to effectively target those deserving of deletion. As he progresses, Cliff shares his insights, revealing how his training transforms him into a more sinister and efficient killer. He revisits his earlier botched attempt and envisions how he could improve the murder.

The first half of the book delves into their progress, emphasizing the development of their thesis on why and how they plan to achieve their “deletion” without divulging too much detail. Cliff and his fellow students undergo training, which includes intricate deceptions to maintain secrecy. They are guided by four essential questions: Is the deletion necessary? Have you given your target all the possible chances to redeem themselves? What innocent person might suffer from your actions? Will this deletion have an improvement on the lives of others?

With a final thesis before him, Cliff must devise the perfect plan to commit murder and evade capture. He relies on fellow students and those who may offer valuable insights. However, he also becomes a target for others who aim to put their McMaster’s training into practice.
When the time comes to execute his final assignment, Cliff faces a crucial decision about whether all this training is worth it and if he wants to become the ideal murderer. Rupert Holmes skillfully creates an eerie and thought-provoking narrative, leaving much to the reader’s imagination.

The characters in the story, despite their murderous intentions, are multifaceted and easy to empathize with due to the injustices they’ve experienced. McMasters, with its picturesque campus concealed in a secret location, provides a fascinating backdrop. The classes offered encompass various techniques for committing the perfect crime, covering everything from forgery and poisoning to seduction and disguise, albeit under different, less conspicuous names tailored to each student’s chosen method of deletion.

Where the Truth Lies is set in Kings Duncombe, a pleasantly old-fashioned village where it seems like everyone knows each other’s business. It’s a close-knit community that often turns a blind eye to various misdeeds. Josie Welford, the widow of one of Britain’s most infamous criminals, arrives in the village with the hope of starting anew by becoming the licensee of the local pub, the White Hart. Josie’s presence is met with a degree of acceptance, mainly because she has kept the White Hart essentially unchanged for the time being.

However, the village’s equilibrium is disrupted when a figure from Josie’s past reemerges. Nick, once a police officer and now an Inspector for the Food Standards Agency, raises concerns about the quality and origin of the meat she purchases for the pub.

In response to his inquiries, Josie decides to switch meat suppliers, setting off a chain of events that challenge her determination and seem to upend the village’s dynamics. The story delves into the mysteries of who is involved in what and why as secrets and tensions emerge among the villagers. Josie finds herself at the center of a web of intrigue that could change King Duncombe forever.

Rupert Holmes is a historical mystery and general mystery fiction author, composer, dramatist, and singer-songwriter. He was born to an American army band leader in Cheshire, England who met his mother while he was working in the United Kingdom.
The author grew up in the New York suburb of Myack and went to Syracuse University Crouse College of Music to learn to be a clarinetist. Later, he studied music theory at the Manhattan School of Music only to find that his love of storytelling was just as strong as his love for music.

He began to tell his stories through story songs as he became a seventies-era pop singer and songwriter. While he was still a teenager he was already conducting and arranging for the likes of Gene Pitney, The Platters, and The EDrifters. He also worked with big names such The Cuff Links which was at the time a Top 40 Pop group.

At some point, he, ventured into singing as he was the lead singer of The Street People which would ultimately go defunct. He released “Widescreen” his first solo album under Epic Records in 1974. The New York Daily News called the album one of the top ten albums of the year and he was critically praised by several prestigious outlets.

Over the years, Rupert Holmes performed in all manner of venues televised and live. He performed at venues such as The Tonight Show, The Today Show, Carnegie Hall to The Bottom Line among many others.

During the 1970s and the 1980s, his top-notch production skills came into high demand and he produced several critically acclaimed albums. He was involved in the production of “Tigers and Fireflies” by Lynsey de Paul and this resulted in “Hollywood Romance,” the radio hit.
In addition to production, he was also involved in songwriting on some of the albums that he worked on. In 1975, he teamed up with Jeffrey Lesser to produce Trouble by Sailors the UK band.

During the 1980s and the 1990s, he pivoted as he played in comedy clubs and cabarets for the most part in New York. He gained a lot of popularity performing autobiographical comedies that he often illustrated with his songs.
It was also during this time that he became a playwright debuting with “The Mystery of Edwin Drod” among several other works such as the Tony Award-nominated “Say Goodnight Gracie.”

As a playwright, he adapted the works of the likes of Agatha Christie, R.L. Stine and John Grisham for Broadway. Rupert would ultimately pivot toward writing for TV and then into fiction novels.

At the turn of the new millennium. Holmes got into novel writing. He published “Where the Truth Lies” in 2003 and the work went on to be a Top Ten Debut on Booklist. The novel was made into a movie that starred Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth.
“Swing” his second novel earned him critical acclaim and New York Times reviewer called it sophisticated, smart, imaginative, and impressively elaborate. He has also published short stories that have been in prestigious anthologies such as “On a Raven’s Wing” and “Best American Mystery Stories.”

His very first attempts at writing story songs were featured in “Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.” Ultimately, The “New York Times” commissioned Rupert Holmes to pen a tribute in the Leisure and Arts section to celebrate the 100th birthday of Irving Berlin.
He published “Murder Your Employer” his debut novel of the “McMasters Guide to Homicide” in 2023.

Rupert Holmes’ novel “Murder Your Employer” is a novel that showcases the diabolical imagination of Rupert Holmes the award-winning playwright, and novelist. He harks back to the fact that almost everyone had wondered what things would be like if a person that is the object of their affliction vanished.

The setting of the work is The McMasters Conservatory which is all about the execution of people who are deemed to be bad for the world and their communities. To get in, students need to have an ethical reason for making someone who deserves no better than death disappear.
The location of the Poison Ivy League University is not known, even by the many students that choose to go there. As such, many students often find themselves practice targets of a fellow classmate.

For students that get into the college, the graduation thesis has to be written on how to get away with the murder of a person whose demise will result in the world becoming a much better place. Students that get into this college will get an education they will never forget.
Combining genuine intrigue, breathtaking twists, and witty wordplay, this work takes its readers into a very unique world. Inside that world are some of the most well-intentioned killers you could ever imagine.

“Swing: A Mystery” by Rupert Holmes is a work set in the swinging big band era that introduces Ray Sherwood. He is an arranger and jazz saxophonist that is haunted by personal tragedy.

A talented and beautiful Berkeley student named Gail Prentice asks for his help in coming up with an original composition. The composition is set to debut at San Francisco Bay’s newly created Treasure Island.

Working with the beguiling coed, he is drawn to her beauty and diverted away from his worries. Within moments of meeting, Ray is a witness to a horrible sight as a woman plunges to her death from the Tower of the Sun, which is one of the most iconic emblems on the island.
It is not long before Ray is in a maze of spiraling secrets and suddenly he does not know what to believe. Even Gail’s connection to the dead woman and her intentions toward him has become very murky.

As events race toward the ultimate climax, Ray will have to unlock a dark puzzle that will have some sinister implications that may be greater than anything he could have conceived.

“Where the Truth Lies” by Rupert Holmes introduces a free-spirited and vivacious young journalist named O’Connor. She has a reputation for doing some very in-depth celebrity interviews abnd is now hellbent on uncovering secrets buried by comic Lanny Morris and singer Vince Collins.

The handsome showbiz team had at some point been inseparable but had been driven apart following an unexplained and bizarre death in which one of them may have been the killer.

As O’Connor dives into the intricate mystery, she increasingly finds herself in the tentacles of the two men. She comes to know a lot more about them and soon is fearful that she knows too much.

Full of dark thrilling suspense and comedy, it is a work that is sure to leave its readers reeling.