Making the rounds on various blogs and websites this evening is the news that mystery & SF writer Joe L. Hensley died on Monday, August 27, 2007, of complications from leukemia.

   Excerpted from the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) blog:

    “A retired lawyer, prosecuting attorney, Indiana General Assembly Member, and former Circuit Court Judge, he wrote science fiction and crime fiction as Joe L. Hensley and Louis J. A. Adams. His first published novel was The Color of Hate, published by Ace in 1960. He went on to publish 20 more novels and collections, over half of them in the Donald Robak series, plus approximately 100 short stories.

    “His final novel, Snowbird’s Blood is scheduled for release by St. Martin’s Press in early 2008.”

   Harlan Ellison describes the loss of his lifelong friend on Ed Gorman’s blog, followed by Ed’s own reactions.

   With a small overlap with his science fiction, here below is a list of his crime-related fiction, expanded from Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin.

   His most frequently used series character is Donald Robak, a crusading defense attorney and state legislator who lives in Bington, Indiana.

  HENSLEY, JOE L.; [i.e., Joseph Louis Hensley] (1926-2007); Attorney, judge and legislator in Indiana.

* The Color of Hate (Ace, 1960, pb) [Indiana] Revised version published as: Color Him Guilty. Walker, 1987.

The Color of Hate

* Deliver Us to Evil (Doubleday, 1971, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* Legislative Body (Doubleday, 1972, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* The Poison Summer (Doubleday, 1974, hc) [Indiana]
* Song of Corpus Juris (Doubleday, 1974, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* -The Black Roads (Laser, 1976, pb) [Future]
* Rivertown Risk (Doubleday, 1977, hc) [Indiana]
* A Killing in Gold (Doubleday, 1978, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana] Gollancz, 1979.

A Killing in Gold

* Minor Murders (Doubleday, 1979, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* Final Doors (Doubleday, 1981, hc) [Indiana] Story collection.
* Outcasts (Doubleday, 1981, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]

Outcasts

* Robak’s Cross (Doubleday, 1985, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* Robak’s Fire (Doubleday, 1986, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]

Robak's Fire

* _Color Him Guilty (Walker, 1987, hc) [Georgia] Revised version of The Color of Hate (Ace, 1960).
* Fort’s Law (Doubleday, 1987, hc) [Indiana] Hale, 1991.
* Robak’s Firm (Doubleday, 1987, hc) [Indiana] Story collection: Donald Robak in several.
* Robak’s Run (Doubleday, 1990, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* Grim City (St. Martin’s, 1994, hc) [Kentucky]
* Robak’s Witch (St. Martin’s, 1997, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* Loose Coins (with Guy M. Townsend) (St. Martin’s, 1998, hc) [Memphis, TN]
* Deadly Hunger and Other Tales (Five Star, 2001, hc) Story collection: Donald Robak in several.
* Robak in Black (St. Martin’s, 2001, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]

Robak in Black

* Snowbird’s Walk (St. Martin’s, 2008, hc)