Angel's Ransom (36 page)

In 1952, the Dodges returned to the United States, staying for a time in Burlingame, California, before settling down semi-permanently in Princeton, New Jersey. Dodge picked Princeton because it was centrally located to both his New York and Philadelphia publishers. After Kendal graduated from high school in 1957 and went off to Wellesley, they sold their house and started traveling again.

For the remainder of his career, Dodge alternated between mystery and travel writing, continuing the saga of the Dodge family as they bumbled and bargained their way around the world.
The Poor Man’s Guide to Europe
, a “
tipsheet
for nickel-
nursers
and skinflints” appeared in 1953 and was so successful that Random House issued annual revised editions from 1954 to 1959. It was also a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. Although this book was a more traditional—and practical—travel book,
it too was liberally sprinkled with anecdotes of the Dodge family’s personal experiences. He also wrote numerous travel articles for various magazines, appearing as a regular contributor to Holiday Magazine from 1948 to 1968.

In 1968, David and Elva settled in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Elva died on October 17, 1973. David died less than a year later on August 8, 1974. They are both buried in San Miguel.

Although a writer by profession, Dodge’s true love was travel. He was fond of explaining that while many writers traveled in order to gather material to write about, his goal was to write in order to gather money to travel.

In 2005, Hard Case Crime reprinted Dodge’s second Al Colby novel,
Plunder of the Sun
, and in October 2006 published his last completed novel, The Last Match. The manuscript, which remained unsold at the time of his death, was discovered among his papers and is the first new Dodge material to be published in 35 years.

Randal Brandt, October 2006

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Novels

• Death and Taxes (1941)
  
• Shear the Black Sheep (1942)
  
• Bullets for the Bridegroom (1944)
  
• It
  Ain’t
  Hay (1946)
  
• The Long Escape (1948)
  
• Plunder of the Sun (1949)
  
• The Red Tassel (1950)
  
• To Catch a Thief (1952)
  
• The Lights of
  Skaro
  (1954)
  
• Angel’s Ransom (1956)
  
• Loo Loo’s Legacy (1960)
  
• Carambola
  (1961)
  
• Hooligan (1969)
  
• Troubleshooter (1971)
  
• The Last Match (2006)
  

Travel Books

• How Green Was My Father (1947)
  
• How Lost Was My Weekend (1948)
  
• The Crazy
  Glasspecker
  (1949)
  
• 20,000 Leagues Behind the 8-Ball (1951)
  
• The Poor Man’s Guide to Europe (1953)
  
• Time Out for Turkey (1955)
  
• The Rich Man’s Guide to the Riviera (1962)
  
• The Poor Man’s Guide to the Orient (1965)
  
• Fly Down, Drive Mexico (1968)