With his dapper attire and wall-to-wall bookshelves, he could pass for "Professor Plum, in the library, with the candlestick."
But he's not.He's George Easter, in the mail, with an impressive little mystery magazine.
The publication is called Deadly Pleasures and is produced in Bountiful. And it is slowly engaging America's mystery reading and writing community like a good police procedural.
"When I started, some people were not very encouraging," says Easter. "Mystery readers read mysteries by the hundreds, but I was told only tens of people want to read about them. But I've always wanted to have a voice. And I've had a good time putting the magazine out."
To make sure the magazine was savvy and good quality work, Easter -- a thorough soul -- turned himself into an encyclopedia. His personal library looks like something Carnegie may have funded, and even casual conversations can turn into crash courses in mystery genre.
"The reason mystery novels are so popular," he says, "is because they are stories with a beginning and an end. And mystery novels today are more character-driven."
As for Deadly Pleasures, the magazine is a potpourri of interviews, reviews, stories about collecting, letters, calendars and tidy sidebars and columns with names like "Reviewed to Death."
The publication has to be diverse, of course, just to keep up with the diversity that has taken over the field.
According to Easter, the mystery has worked itself into every walk of life. There are the traditional police procedurals and psychological thrillers, of course, but today, shelves also fill with "history mysteries," "celebrity mysteries" (i.e. Willard Scott's "weather mystery" and Martina Navratilova's "tennis mystery"), "literary mysteries" and mystery novels keyed to people's hobbies -- what Easter calls "cozy gimmicks," like "quilting mysteries," "fly-fishing mysteries," "needlepoint mysteries" and "cooking mysteries."
There are even "Y2K mysteries."
"Male private eyes are somewhat out of favor right now," Easter says. "Only the top writers -- writers like Robert B. Parker -- still sell well. Female private eyes, however, are very popular, perhaps because 70 percent of mystery readers are women. The decline of the spy novel has led to legal thrillers. And the old masters, like Agatha Christie, are still read."
As for Sherlock Holmes, Easter says he remains the "single most popular figure in mysteries."
"The first mystery convention I attended was a revelation," says Easter. "All these people interested in one little area of literature. There is even a network of mystery bookstores now. It's the one type of bookstore that's not being threatened by the big chains."
Along with the mystery boom, a secondary industry has sprung up: mystery novel collecting. First editions of early Sue Grafton and Tony Hillerman novels can fetch hundreds of dollars. First editions of the earliest Stephen King can reach four figures. Even some recent tomes bring a healthy price.
"My advice to collectors is to collect what you really like," says Easter. "If the street value of the book comes down, you still have something that you personally value."
Local readers may also be interested to learn a subgenre of "Mormon mysteries" is cropping up. Robert Irvine, J.R. Levitt, Gary Stewart, Ann Wingate and Leonard Tourney are names to look for there. Many mainstream mystery writers, however, haven't kept up with the times. Easter is dismayed at how often they portray Mormons as cardboard cut-outs from a past era.
In the end, one reason the mystery novel has taken over is it has found a way to become personal for each reader. Talking in terms of "best and worst" is fruitless. Everyone has a unique taste, and every list of "bests" is different.
And what is Easter's taste?
He confesses a love of British mysteries -- perhaps even more than American mysteries. And he lists Michael Connelly, Minette Walters and Walter Mosley as favorite writers, though he's quick to point out Mosley's work is very rough, too "hard-boiled" for many readers.
"I'm fortunate many of my readers also share my tastes," he says.
If you want to know if you're one of those readers, you should know that readers meet at the Salt Lake City library, 7 p.m., on the first Thursday of each month, for a "Books to Die For" discussion. (Next meeting is April 1.)
And you should know that Easter's Deadly Pleasures is available by subscription. A sample copy is $3.50. Send pertinent information to George Easter, DP, Box 969, Bountiful, UT 84011.
But don't try to call or write him at his home.
Easter is unlisted.
Bountiful's "man of the mysteries" is something of a "mystery man" himself.