William G. Tapply Books In Order

Publication Order of Brady Coyne Books

Publication Order of Brady Coyne/J.W. Jackson Books

Publication Order of Stoney Calhoun Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

William G. Tapply was an American legal mystery writer best known for writing the “Brady Coyne Mystery” series. William was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, before his family moved to Lexington. He lived with his mother Muriel and his father H.G Tapply, who used to write a weekly column for “Field and Stream”. He went to Lexington High School and in 1958 enrolled at Amherst College, before he proceeded to Harvard, from where he graduated with a Master’s in Education. Over the course of 25 years, the master has published more than 40 novels in mystery and fly-fishing. More than half of his novels feature Brady Coyne, the lawyer turned detective who investigates a series of bizarre mysteries. In addition to his novels, William also wrote for “Field and Stream magazine” and published essays. He has also published several short stories that involved a Maine fishing guide named Stoney Calhoun, who lost his memory after a tragic event. Tapply wrote his debut novel “Death at Charity’s Point” in 1984 and form then went on to become one of the most prolific mystery writers.

Before becoming a professional author, Tapply worked at his old alma mater Lexington High School as an administrator and teacher. He also taught English at Emerson College and the Massachusetts’s Clark University in Worcester. Interviews with his former employer at Emerson College described the budding author and professor as a wonderful teacher that helped mentor many young writers. One of his biggest contributions to the teaching profession was the 2004 published book “The Elements of Mystery Fiction” that he wrote to help budding authors navigate the writing and publishing processes. His last ever published work was “Outwitting Trolls” that came out in 2010. His debut novel “Death at Charity’s Point” was the winner of the 1984 Scribner Crime Novel Award. Tapply was married to Vicki Stiefl, a mystery writer and editor with whom he had five children. He met his wife in 1992 when they were both members of a writing group. His wife asserted that they would help each other a lot in their careers, with Tapply being an exceptionally good mystery-writing teacher. William Tapply died of Leukemia in July 28, 2009 at his New Hampshire farm.

The Brady Coyne series of novels were Tapply’s most known series of novels having comprised more than half of his works. Brady Coyne is a Boston lawyer turned detective that works with the wealthy Boston elites. Coyne has variously been described as a skillful mix of the physical versus intellectual, frivolous versus serious, and professional versus amateur. For the laid back Coyne, his legal career is just a means to finance his beloved pastime of fly-fishing, which he engages in as much as he can. When we are first introduced to Brady Coyne, he is working at his small one-man organization with only a secretary as his only employee. Even as he is quite successful, his success did not come about by design as he was introduced to his first lucrative client by accident. Unlike the typical legal thriller protagonist, most of Coyne’s work involves state planning and the writing of wills of elderly clients rather than investigating crime scenes. In fact, a lot of his work has to do with giving personal advice and holding the hands of his elderly clients.

Just like his writer William Tappy, Brady Coyne loves to fly-fish and he will sneak out of the office from time-to-time to find a quiet river. He is in his mid-thirties at the beginning of the series, though his age remains relatively unchanged throughout the course of the series. He is a ladies man who is always watching out for an attractive man. Nonetheless, he has not always been single, as he is divorced and has a rather awkward relationship with his former wife, who has custody of their two children. While he loves to think of himself as a worldly man, he cannot cook to save his life. As such, most of his meals are at fast food places like McDonalds or Burger King. When he is not disposed to eat out, he prefers eating straight out of the can food such as “Dinty Moore Beef Stew”. In creating Brady Coyne, Tapply went against convention to make one of the most relatable of protagonists.

“Death at Charity’s Point” the debut novel in the Brady Coyne series of novels introduces Brady Coyne, a Boston lawyer looking into the suspicious suicide of a prep school teacher. Brady Coyne stumbled into success when he got Florence Gresham and several of her wealthy friends as clients more than a decade ago. He now acts as the private lawyer to some of New England’s richest people, given his reputation for discretion that he has patiently cultivated over the years. Mrs. Gresham who is his first ever rich client is an uncouth and unflappable client though she has never been one to be tardy with a check. He has been with her through the loss of her first son who died in Vietnam, and her husband’s suicide a few years later. Through it all, she has always been strong until George her second son allegedly commits suicide when he jumps off the cliff at Charity’s Point. The police quickly conclude that the man killed himself but Mrs. Gresham says that she knows her son would never take his own life. As Brady begins to investigate the prep schoolteacher who comes with a squeaky-clean history, he begins to unearth some dark secrets. George Gresham may not have taken his life but he sure has many secrets.

“The Dutch Blue Error” is the delightful second novel in the series that has Brady trying to resolve a murder by finding the world’s rarest stamp. The stamp has the smudged picture of an ancient king is dark blue with uneven edges due to age. While it does not look like it is worth anything, the “Dutch Blue Error” would sell for a million dollars since it is a philatelic freak. The stamp belongs to a Boston banker named Ollie Weston, who will do anything to get it back. A fellow collector contacts him asserting that he has a second copy of the valuable stamp, which would certainly destroy the value of the Weston’s stamp. Weston engages the services of Brady Coyne to go pick up the copy for a quarter of a million dollars. However, the collector is savagely murdered just before they can make the exchange and the stamp is nowhere to be found. If Brady can find the killer he will locate the stamp, but to find it he may have to risk his own life.