David Unger PhD Mystery Series

Gilgamesh was the first grown up book I tried to read. It taught me I wasn't ready to take that first step

My handwriting hasn't gotten any better but people still want me to sign books.

David Unger

Author David Unger talks #ALessoninWooWooandMurder on #ConversationsLIVE Host Cyrus Webb welcomes author David Unger to to discuss his writing journey and new book A LESSON IN WOO-WOO AND MURDER.

If you happen to live in the vicinity of Huntington Beach, CA I will be speaking at the library there May 25th. You can get tickets here -

Authors Luncheon - May Mysteries Mystery authors Jennifer J. Chow and Dr. David Unger join us for our May Authors Luncheon

You need to use your detective skills to see what's listed in the yellow pages. Mystery buffs may want to check the small print...

Book signing Los Angels Festival of Books

What the Woo?

The hits keep coming...

Opening Day!

How much s*x is too much s*x?

Spring training is upon us and frankly I don't feel like I need to train anymore for spring. Put me in coach, I'm ready.

My next book A Lesson in Woo-Woo and Murder is coming out this May and in need of a cover. These are the two finalists. I’d welcome your thoughts. Whichever one wins out will end up being slightly modified, but you have the essences here. Thanks for your feedback.

Ben has been giving me some well-needed advice.

Excerpt from A Lesson in Reunions and Murder
"When I saw you heading out, I decided to follow and see what you’re up to. What are you up to?”
“What I’m up to is no concern of yours.”
“That’s mostly true. Unless it has to do with the murders. Why can’t you talk straight with me?”
“You must be a lousy therapist.”
“Excuse me? Sure, I’m not the best but I’m not lousy.”
“Right there is a perfect example.”
I couldn’t argue with her. I have a tendency to think everything is about me, and right there I demonstrated it. It’s not the best tendency for a therapist to have, but it's saved my life a time or two.

You go to any of your reunions? They say twenty to thirty percent do. That’s not a high percent. There are many contributing reasons why people are not that interested. Usually if you have any close continuing relationships with a classmate you don’t need to go the reunion to meet up. You go to reconnect and maybe rekindle or at least re-visit an era of your life. We all have our reasons for going or not going, but in the book there were overriding reasons to be there.

Excerpt from A Lesson in Comedy and Murder
The tall one spoke. “We heard you catch murderers.”
“It’s happened a time or two.”
“Not all murders get solved.”
“I gather most.”
“Yeah, most. And if there are any happening locally they ought to be in that majority. You know what I’m saying?”
“Majority rules.”
He looked at me the way a lot of people look at me. They can’t tell if I’m being a wiseass, stupid or honest. Usually it’s some of each.
“Don’t forget that,” he said.

I once heard there were two things everyone should have at the ready – a joke and a magic trick. I suppose there are other things one could have at the ready. In my books I discovered I needed a gumshoe travel kit. I have a marginally magic trick I can pull out on occasion and a joke at my disposal. I can’t show you the trick and you’ll have to read the book to discover the joke. I’ve told it numerous times with decent results, but none as good as when I said something funny to a high school friend which made the pickle he was eating come out his nose. That’s been a high bar I’m just as glad I haven’t surpassed, although I have tried a few times.

I had such a good time writing A Lesson in Mystery and Murder and having a Who’s Who of sleuths join in the action, I wanted to do something like that again. In A Lesson in Cowboys and Murder t I opted for famous cowboys – Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, The Lone Ranger, Annie Oakley and others. I mixed them together and lo and behold one of them turned out to be a murderer.

I heard about the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering a few years ago. I have a couple of friends who are poets and I spoke with them about us going and having a bit of an adventure. Unfortunately, the Gathering is in Elko, Nevada which may be convenient for cowboys but it wasn’t for us. I did some homework and found out that the inaugural Gathering was happening a few months after the Dodger’s Adult Fantasy Camp. Being a writer I get to go to all manner of places and do all manner of things that otherwise have not made their way into my life.

You probably are familiar with what a baseball diamond looks like but take a closer look at this picture of Holman Stadium where the Dodgers held spring training in Vero Beach. You may notice something unusual about the dugouts. They're actually dug out of the infield and offer little relief, especially when murderer is afoot.

For those baseball fans who remember when.https://youtu.be/cZuCxUd9n5w

Excerpt from A Lesson in Baseball and Murder
I looked for Danny, who’d said he’d be wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers hat and looked like Robert Redford. I thought it would be easy to spot him, but he wasn’t the only Brooklyn loyalist. Of the few I spotted, none looked like Robert Redford. The one who looked more like Danny DeVito waved me over.

Many accomplished authors have written about baseball. It is such a metaphor for life that you often hear people using phrases particular to the sport. “I hit it out of the park,” “I struck out,” “It ain’t over till it’s over,” and my favorite, “Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical.” Well, the last one is not a common expression but I find a lot of wisdom in it. It seemed natural to me that if I was going to be a writer I needed to take myself out to the ballgame.

How fun must it be for a book narrator to get to flex their language muscles. My narrator, Jake Austin Robertson, majored in Slavic languages at Princeton and is an accomplished actor. Getting to voice Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Inspector Clouseau and other international sleuths was great fun. If you wanted to try an audio version this would be a great place to start.

Agatha Christie wrote “cozy” mysteries where the action took place in a confined space – a train, a boat and a small island come to mind. There is a genre of books that are considered cozies and I kind of fit/don’t fit in that group. Cozies tend to have little violence, little s*x, little drugs and little foul language. When I say little some people say no. My books tend to happen in one area, have no violence, a little occasional s*x for which I am grateful, some lightweight (to my mind) drug use and a healthy portion of four-letter words. Cozy purists might not swarm to them, but they're not unlike the actual world I see around me.

A Lesson in Mystery and Murder is a pivotal book in the series as it introduces three characters who will have recurring roles. I was very excited about this book. First because I wanted it to take place at the Mystery Writers Annual Conference. Then I thought of great detectives - Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Inspector Clouseau, Phillip Marlow and others and wanted them to be in attendance. And indeed they showed up.

Excerpt from A Lesson in Therapy and Murder
When I saw you heading out, I decided to follow and see what you’re up to. What are you up to?”
“What I’m up to is no concern of yours.”
“That’s mostly true. Unless it has to do with the murders. Why can’t you talk straight with me?”
“You must be a lousy therapist.”
“Excuse me? Sure, I’m not the best but I’m not lousy.”
“Right there is a perfect example.”