Whisman, Dale

views updated

Whisman, Dale

PERSONAL: Born in Tulsa, OK; married; wife's name Sherry; children: two.

ADDRESSES: Home—Tulsa, OK. Office—Tulsa Night Writers, 3436 South 96th East Ave., Tulsa, OK 74145. E-mail—dale@dalewhisman.com.

CAREER: Writer. Worked as a private investigator; actor in community theater and television commercials. Actor in community theater productions.

MEMBER: Tulsa Night Writers, Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc., Oklahoma Mystery Writers, and Mystery Writers of America.

WRITINGS:

Friends and Other Perishables (mystery), Five Star (Waterville, ME), 2004.

Writer of plays produced by community theater groups, including Statuesque and Are You down the Road? Also author of screenplays, including Firefly and First Walk in My Shoes.

ADAPTATIONS: Are You down the Road? was adapted by Whisman for film.

SIDELIGHTS: For eleven years, Dale Whisman was a private investigator who worked on cases involving suspected insurance fraud, arson, product liability, theft, and missing persons. Carl Jacobs, the protagonist of his debut novel, Friends and Other Perishables, is also a private investigator who becomes involved in an elaborate insurance fraud. Carl meets long-time friend and informant Jimmy Jay, also known as the "Blue Jay," but for some unknown reason, Jimmy shoots Carl in the shoulder. Carl kills his friend in self-defense and then learns that the incident is connected to the killing of another private investigator. As the number of dead bodies increases, the two policeman investigating suspect that Carl is withholding information. A Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote that Carl's narration in Friends and Other Perishables "is packed with interesting details about investigative work and about his home life with Sherry and their young daughters: a refreshing rarity in the genre."