Doris Miles Disney
Doris Miles Disney was an American author born in 1907 in Glastonbury, Connecticut. After working in an insurance office, she began her writing career following her marriage to George J. Disney in 1926. Throughout her life, she published a total of 47 mystery novels and several short stories, gaining recognition for her engaging storytelling. Notably, her first series features police officer Jim O'Neill, whose character evolves alongside his personal life. Disney's second and most famous series introduces Jefferson "Jeff" DiMarco, an insurance claims adjustor entangled in investigations of fraud and murder, characterized as an independent outsider. In addition to her series, she wrote numerous standalone novels that often explored suspenseful themes and social issues, frequently featuring children or the elderly in pivotal roles. Disney's versatility is evident in her willingness to blend genres and create diverse characters, with many of her works receiving positive reader feedback. One of her notable novels, "Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate," was adapted into a successful television film, further cementing her place in crime literature.
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Doris Miles Disney
Writer
- Born: December 22, 1907
- Birthplace: Glastonbury, Connecticut
- Died: March 8, 1976
- Place of death: Fredericksburg, Virginia
Biography
Doris Miles Disney was born in the rural area of Glastonbury, Connecticut, in 1907. She attended school in Glastonbury and then worked in an insurance office in Hartford, Connecticut, until married George J. Disney in 1926. They had one daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1943, the same year Disney published A Compound for Death. Her writing career, begun after she was married, made it possible for her to support herself and her daughter while her husband served in the Navy during World War II and later, when she was a widow for many years. She spent most of her life in Connecticut, but then moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia, which was reflected in a change in settings for her works. Most of the earlier ones are set in New England. She published a total of forty-seven mystery novels and a few short stories.
Jim O’Neill, a police officer in Connecticut, is featured in her first book, which became a series of five. O’Neill meets his wife-to-be in the first novel, and by the fifth has a happy family life. Disney’s second series, which she started in 1946 after the second Jim O’Neill novel, introduced her most famous character, Jefferson “Jeff” DiMarco. DiMarco is an insurance claims adjustor who investigates frauds and suspicious deaths for his company. He is portrayed as an outsider and as a loner who values his independence, although in the first book, Dark Road, he falls in love with a murderer. In the eight books in series, DiMarco, like Jim O’Neill, also develops as a character, though definitely not with the same happy family ending. A shorter series of three novels, of special interest to philatelists, features United States Postal Inspector David Madden. His cases concern persons who use the mail to defraud, including blackmail and threatening letters, and in the process he provides information about procedures and laws related to the U.S. Postal Service.
Disney’s other thirty-one crime novels are non-series. Some of them move away from conventional mysteries and become more suspense- and thriller-oriented. Children and elderly people are frequently potential victims, or they may serve as amateur sleuths or be responsible for solving crimes. In The Departure of Mr. Gaudette, for example, a boy who is only seven years old starts an investigation when he insists that his elderly friend would not have left without telling him goodbye. The books offer considerable variety. A few are historical fictions set in the past, but most of them convey current problems and social commentary. Disney varied her approach to writing the novels, refusing to be confined by typical conventions of the genre, and she created a surprising range of characters. The books were generally quite well received by readers. One of her best-known books is Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate, published in London, England, under the title Death by Computer, which was made into a successful television film.