The Mystery Genius of Fredric Brown

One of the most versatile authors of all time, Fredric Brown sold more than 300 stories across a diversity of genres such as science fiction, fantasy, hardboiled detective, mystery and adventure. He was a master of the plot twist with a wicked sense of irony that is evidenced in many of his clever story titles.Fredric Brown was born in Cincinnati in 1906, grew up there and worked as an office worker for the first 12 years of his working life. He later worked as a proof reader for the Milwaukee Journal. He sold his first short story Monday's Off Night in 1937 but it wasn't until the next year when his short story The Moon For A Nickel was published in Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine that he took up writing full-time.His first published novel was Mitkey Astromouse in 1941 but his second novel, The Fabulous Clipjoint was the story that launched his career. This was the first book of his celebrated hardboiled mystery series featuring Ed and Am Hunter and earned him
the 1947 Edgar Award for best first mystery novel. The series features Ed Hunter and his uncle Am who are first brought together to solve the murder of Ed's father. Their combination of youth and experience make a strong pairing with unique dynamics that has rarely been matched since.The other six novels of the Ed and Am Hunter series are The Dead Ringer (1948), The Bloody Moonlight (1949), Compliments Of A Fiend (1950), Death Has Many Doors (1951), The Late Lamented (1959) and Mrs Murphy's Underpants (1963).Apart from the Ed and Am Hunter series, Fredric Brown went on to write 16 other crime novels, hardboiled and otherwise. Among the best of these were The Screaming Mimi (1949), Knock Three-One-Two (1959) The Deep End (1952) and my personal favourite Night of the Jabberwock (1950).Fredric Brown's books are well worth reading for anyone who appreciates hardboiled mysteries from the golden era.In 1984, Dennis McMillan began a 20 volume project in which all of Fredric Brown's
best detective short stories that had never before been reprinted were published. These books have since become extremely sought after by fans of Fredric Brown with values skyrocketing. The titles of some of these volumes are indicative of the wit in which Brown chose some of his story titles, to whit, Thirty Corpses Every Thursday, Pardon My Ghoulish Laughter, The Gibbering Night and Three Corpse Parlay.There is enough of Fredric Brown's mystery work out there to keep fans and collectors searching for many years. But the real pleasure is in the reading and Fredric Brown had an ability to surprise his readers completely with some of the most unexpected endings imaginable.

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