The Amazing Mr. Rifkin

“Shepard Rifkin, who turns 90 this year, is not famous – but he's led one of the most interesting lives of any author I know,” says Charles Ardai of Hard Case Crime. “During World War II, he survived being torpedoed in the North Atlantic; after the war ended, he joined the crew of the famous S.S. Ben Hecht” -- the sister ship of the Charles MacArthur? -- “which was captured while trying to run the British blockade of Palestine...”

As a birthday present, Hard Case is rescuing from out-of-print limbo what could well be Rifkin's best mystery. The Murderer Vine is about the killing of three young Civil Rights workers in Mississippi, and the father of one of them who hires a New York private eye to find the men responsible -- and not come home until they are dead.

Happy 90th, Mr. Rifkin. Keep writing.