Books: A Dickens from Detroit

For Mystery Writer Elmore Leonard crime pays and plays

For 20 years, he has watched the creators of Lew Archer and Travis McGee pick up all the applause and critical esteem. No longer. At 58, after 24 novels in 32 years, Elmore Leonard has finally won it all: money, raves and, this month, an Edgar—the Mystery Writers of America version of the Oscar. No more is he the hard-cover talent with the paperback rep. His most recent books have been phenomenal sellers, four major publishers are reissuing 14 of his works, and Avon has just paid $363,000 for paperback rights to his...