5 Authors Who Took Over the Family Business

Dick Francis’ Racing Mysteries, by Felix Francis
Dick Francis led one of those remarkable lives that make you feel kind of lazy when you read about them, from his service with the RAF in World War II to his career as a steeplechase jockey, culminating in his wild success as a writer of crime novels centered on the horse-racing world. His son Felix helped his father with research, and Dick used Felix’s training as a scientist to flavor several of his later books. In 2007, a few years before his father’s death, Felix stepped up as a cowriter of Dead Heat, and has emerged as a successful scribe in his own right, continuing to pen mysteries set in the racing world in the spirit and style of his father, with each new book respectfully presented as “Dick Francis’s.”

The Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee series, by Anne and Tony Hillerman
Tony Hillerman, a Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster and internationally popular author, passed away in 2006, leaving behind plenty of popular best-selling mysteries—including 18 novels featuring Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee, and the Navajo Tribal Police, books celebrated as much for their fascinating exploration of modern Navajo culture as for their mystery cred, several of which were adapted into films. His daughter Anne picked up his pen after he passed away in 2006 and has continued the series, publishing Spider Woman’s Daughter in 2013 and Rock with Wings in 2015 to critical acclaim and the approval of her father’s fans.

Trauma, by Michael and Daniel Palmer
Daniel Palmer was one of the most successful thriller writers of the last few decades, publishing nearly 20 novels and spending plenty of time on the bestseller lists. His 1991 novel Extreme Measures was made into a movie starring Gene Hackman. Palmer was also a doctor, and his son Michael worked in the technology sector before the 2000 dotcom bust sent him looking for a new career path. He pursued writing, cowriting two short stories with his father. When Daniel passed away, Michael took over the unfinished manuscript he had been working on, Trauma, and finished it, publishing it this year—alongside his own novel, Constant Fear. Unless there are more unfinished manuscripts lurking around the Palmer home, it seems likely Palmer’s collaboration with his father will be a one-off—but a highly successful one.

The Last Full Measure, by Jeff Shaara
Michael Shaara was a brilliant historian who won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with his celebrated novel The Killer Angels, set during the Battle of Gettysburg. The prolific Shaara also wrote science fiction and sports stories, but his Civil War novels were his most popular, and his son Jeff—a celebrated writer in his own right—has continued his father’s work, penning a prequel (Gods & Generals) and a sequel (The Last Full Measure) to The Killer Angels that are as well-regarded as the original. Possessing his father’s aptitude for research, accuracy, and exciting writing, his books stand as equals to his father’s work.

The Dixie Hemingway Series, by Blaize & John Clement
Blaize Clement didn’t publish her first novel until she was 73 years old, and then embarked on an intense half-decade of writing, putting out seven (and a half) novels in her popular Dixie Hemingway series, cozy mysteries about a former police deputy making a living—and solving crimes—as a pet sitter with a lot of gumption (and cat treats in her pockets). Her son John took her unfinished eighth novel after her death, then signed on to write two more, which have been warmly received by Dixie’s fans. Considering how late in life Blaize found her literary voice, and how involved John was with her writing as she struggled through cancer treatments and later hospice care, it’s a happy ending both the Clements and their fans deserve.