VERMONT MAGAZINE Winter 2022 | Page 50

MURDER THEY WROTE

Hy Conrad

Hy Conrad was born in Lancaster , Pennsylvania in 1950 . He began acting in local plays as a young child , eventually landing a significant role in a National Tour of the musical Oliver at the age of 14 . Although Conrad continued to work as an actor for the next 15 years , he always knew that he wanted to branch out and broaden his creative horizons . In 1980 , he secured his first job as a professional writer when he wrote the book , lyrics , and music for a musical version of Much Ado About Nothing , called Ta-Dah !
The following year , a chance opportunity allowed Conrad to fully transition into his promising new writing career . According to Conrad , one of Ta-Dah !’ s financial backers was also involved in the development of an ambitious interactive LaserDisc film project . After Ta-Dah !’ s Off-Broadway run came to a conclusion in 1981 , the backer contacted Conrad and asked him if he had any ideas about potential interactive film projects that could make use of LaserDisc ’ s novel technological breakthroughs . Their initial conversation led to the eventual development of the MysteryDisc interactive movie game franchise .
Conrad was then hired as the head writer and designer for MysteryDisc ’ s first two interactive movie game series : Murder , Anyone ? and Many Roads to Murder .
Conrad subsequently lent his creative talents to dozens of interactive game development projects for Milton Bradley , Parker Brothers , and Hasbro .
In the early 1990s , Conrad was approached by Sterling Publishing , who asked him if he was interested in writing a series of short “ solve-it-yourself ” mystery books . His first full-length book , Almost Perfect Murders , was published in 1995 . Over the next decade , Conrad wrote 11 additional “ solve-it-yourself ” mystery books for Sterling Publishing for both children and adults , including Almost Perfect Crimes , Whodunit – You Decide ! and Kids Whodunits : Catch the Clues !
After Conrad had built an established name for himself as a short story writer and interactive game designer , his career took an unexpected turn when the creator and executive producer of the beloved mystery television show Monk came across Almost Perfect Murders in a bookstore in 2001 . After Monk ’ s producer , Andy Breckman , read Almost Perfect Murders , he reached out to Conrad and offered him a job as a television writer . Conrad accepted the offer , and ended up working as a writer for Monk for all eight seasons of the show . Conrad was also a Co-Executive Producer of the show in its final two seasons , while continuing to work as a writer . Throughout the course of his tenure at Monk , Conrad received three Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations for Best Television Episode Teleplay in 2003 , 2005 and 2007 . Monk ’ s lead actor , Tony Shalhoub , also won three Primetime EMMY ® Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Show in 2003 , 2005 , and 2006 . After Monk ’ s final season aired in 2009 , Conrad continued to remain active as a television producer and writer . He served a consulting producer for USA Network ’ s police drama White Collar in 2010 , and also served as a Co-Executive Producer for the Netflix drama-comedy The Good Cop in 2018 , which starred Tony Danza and Josh Groban .
From 2013 to 2015 , Conrad wrote four original novels based on the character of Adrian Monk . He received a Scribe Award for Best Original Novel in 2014 for the first of his four Monk-based books , Mr . Monk Helps Himself . In 2015 , Conrad released the first novel in his Amy ’ s Travel Mystery series , Toured to Death . As an avid traveler , Conrad was able to draw on his own personal memories to create a series of narratives that were both believable and engaging . “ When a writer pulls details from their own experiences , it adds depth to the story . If you just make things up with no basis in reality , it often ends up coming off as cliché . I find that basing things off of real-life experiences results in better characters and plot lines .”
Conrad prides himself on his ability to build credible and engrossing plots that incorporate elements of both classical mystery structure and observational humor . Conrad ’ s most recent novel , The Fixer ’ s Daughter , perfectly exemplifies those creative qualities . The story is the first in his Callie McFee Mystery series , which tells the story of the journalist daughter of an influential Texas politician who has fallen from grace . After Callie McFee ’ s father leaves politics behind to work as a high-level corporate “ fixer ,” Callie uncovers a dastardly plot to destroy evidence in a murder case that involves a prominent CEO . As she inches closer toward the truth , she uncovers a compromising secret about her father that further threatens their mutual safety and stability . According to Conrad , the second novel in the Callie McFee Mystery series , Sins of The Family , will be released in February 2022 . Sins of the Family involves the same characters and will add new layers of depth and intrigue to the story as it continues to unfold .
A significant portion of Conrad ’ s most recent novel , Sins of the Family , was written from the comfort of his Southern Vermont home in Pownal . Conrad first came to Southern Vermont when he was visiting Williamstown , Massachusetts , with
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