Johnson Johnson is the hero of a series of mystery novels written by Dorothy Dunnett (originally published under the pseudonym, Dorothy Halliday). Johnson Johnson is a portrait painter who doubles as an agent for the British secret service. A constant theme in all the novels is his yacht, the Dolly.

Each book is told in the first person, from the viewpoint of the heroine, and opens with a comment on Johnson Johnson's bifocals.

Warning: Spoilers follow

Bibliography

In this series, the date of publication is not the same as the book's order in the series. It gets more confusing, since each book is set in the time it is written. Some of the characters reappear in later books.

  1. Dolly & the Bird of Paradise (later retitled Tropical Issue) (1983)
  2. Dolly & the Singing Bird (later retitled Rum Affair) (1968)
    • The heroine of this book ("the Singing Bird") is Tina Rossi, an opera singer.
  3. Dolly & the Cookie Bird (later retitled Ibiza Surprise) (1970)
    • The heroine of this book ("the Cookie Bird") is Sarah Cassells, a caterer.
  4. Dolly & the Doctor Bird (later retitled Operation Nassau) (1971)
    • The heroine of this book ("the Doctor Bird") is Dr. B. Douglas MacRannoch, a medical doctor. Beltanno (the reason she goes by her initials) has accompanied her father out to the Bahamas and taken a post at a hospital in Nassau. The story begins when Beltanno is flying back from New York; she saves the life of Sir Bart Edgecombe, a British agent, who has been poisoned with arsenic.
  5. Dolly & the Starry Bird (later retitled Roman Nights) (1973)
    • Set in Italy, the heroine of this book ("the Starry Bird") is Ruth Russell, an astronomer. Ruth is living with Charles Digham, a fashion photographer and writer of obituary verses.
  6. Dolly & the Nanny Bird (later retitled Split Code) (1976)
    • The heroine of this book ("the Nanny Bird") is Joanna Emerson, a nanny. The story opens in Winnipeg, Manitoba with Joanna being reluctantly hired as the nanny to the infant heir to a cosmetics fortune. Joanna, in addition to being a nanny, is an expert in codes, and both she (and Johnson) know that someone connected to the hiring is an agent for the opposite side. Like all of Dunnett's books, the story takes place in a variety of exotic locations, including New York and Yugoslavia.
  7. Send a Fax to the Kasbah (later retitled Moroccan Traffic) (1992)
    • The heroine of this book is Wendy Helmann, a secretary.

Due to Dorothy Dunnett's death in 2001, it is unlikely that any of the unresolved plot threads will be resolved, such as Johnson's romance with Joanna, or the mysterious death of his wife.