Unlikely Mystery Fan #1: Bill O'Reilly.

First in a series on unexpected individuals who enjoy or enjoyed mystery-related works and authors.

Who knew that Fox's Bill O'Reilly is so fond of thrillers? The list of Reilly's favorite books from his Web site includes the following mysteries or thrillers (none by women):

• The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke
• Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy
• Rising Sun by Michael Crichton
• L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy
• Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
• The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins
• The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker (first Spenser novel)

Mostly modest prices at Bloomsbury's June 30th bibliophile auction.

Among the items sold during Bloomsbury's June 30th No-Reserve Bibliophile Sale:

• Jane Annie, a comic opera penned by J. M. Barrie (of Peter Pan fame) and Arthur Conan Doyle: $75

• Hand-corrected typescripts by James M. Cain, which include an outline of The Slim Girl (later published as Galatea, 1953), 28 pages of The Lady Is a Pirate (later published as Mignon, 1962), and an outline for The Pie Rat (another version of Mignon): $600

• Group of first-edition spy novels, which includes works by Jack Higgins and James Graham (who are both Harry Patterson) and Jeffery Hudson (aka Michael Crichton): $1200

• Proof copy of Hammond Innes's first novel The Doppelganger (1936): $75
  

• Signed copies of Richard Matheson's The Twilight Zone Scripts (1998) and Collected Stories (1989): $375

• Group of mysteries, which includes Lady Cynthia Asquith's The Black Cap (1928), Edward Acheson's Murder to Hounds (1939), Carter Dickson [John Dickson Carr]'s Death in Five Boxes (1938), Ellery Queen's The Dragon's Teeth (1939), Eric Shepherd's Murder in a Nunnery (1940), and R. A. J. Walling's The Corpse with the Red-Headed Friend (1939) and Marooned with Murder (1937): $200
  

• Group of screenplays, which includes Robert Towne's Chinatown (1973): $450
  

Happy birthday, Jack Higgins; Gillian Roberts.

Thriller author Harry Patterson, who also goes by the pseudonyms Jack Higgins, James Graham, Martin Fallon, and Hugh Marlowe, turns 79 today; Anthony winner and Amanda Pepper creator Gillian Roberts, who is also known by her real name, Judith Greber, turns 69 today. Roberts, I once wrote in a Mystery Scene review, is a "diamond in the mystery world who consistently sparkles." Higgins's latest novel is The Killing Ground (with frequent protagonist Sean Dillon); Roberts's latest book is All's Well That Ends (the last Pepper mystery--sniff).