Mystery Press

Murder Draws a Crowd The Fredric Brown Mystery Library Volume One by Fredric Brown Introduction by Jack Seabrook Edited by Stephen Haffner (signed) Front Cover by John Newton Howitt Haffner Press First Edition Description: This item is for one copy (of two available for sale) of a thick heavy hardback book published by the Haffner Press in 2017. The copyright pages states ‘First Edition’. Haffner Press produces very high quality books with high quality pages sewn for durability and buckram cloth covered boards. Only 1,200 copies of this book were produced. Signed by publisher and editor Stephen Haffner on the title page with an added inscription of ‘MEOW!’ to the cat printed as part of imprint’s logo without personalization. From the front flap: This inaugural volume in the Fredric Brown Mystery Library presents the first 39 stories sold by the author to the pulp magazine markets from 1938-1942. Here you will enter Fredric Brown’s Depression-era worlds of murder and deceit, suspense and terror, courage and betrayal. Worlds filled with unusual heroes and psychologically-disturbed characters: Dynamic newspapermen, underappreciated policemen, neurotic night watchmen, and nosy insurance salesmen pitted against equally unusual gangsters, murderers, kleptomaniacs, bank-robbers, and more. Brown’s two rare Western stories are included, along with his first sales to the Horror-pulps, and an appendix showcasing the hilarious misadventures of traveling salesmen in the normally mundane world of drilling and excavation. In his introduction, biographer Jack Seabrook provides context and an amazing amount of information on Fredric Brown and his markets of the day. Table of Contents: • The Moon for a Nickel, Detective Story Magazine Mar. 1938 • The Cheese on Stilts, Thrilling Detective Jan. 1939 • Blood of the Dragon, Variety Detective Feb. 1939 • There Are Bloodstains in the Alley, Detective Yarns Feb. 1939 • Murder at 10:15, Clues Detective Stories May 1939 • The Prehistoric Clue, Ten Detective Aces Jul. 1940 • Trouble in a Teacup, Detective Fiction Weekly Jul-13-1940 • Murder Draws a Crowd, Detective Fiction Weekly Jul-27-1940 • Footprints on the Ceiling, Ten Detective Aces Sep. 1940 • The Little Green Men, The Masked Detective Fall 1940 • Town Wanted, Detective Fiction Weekly Sep-7-1940 • Herbie Rides His Hunch, Detective Fiction Weekly Oct-19-1940 • The Stranger from Trouble Valley, Western Short Stories Nov. 1940 • The Strange Sisters Strange, Detective Fiction Weekly Dec-28-1940 • How Tagrid Got There, unpublished until 1986 • Fugitive Imposter, Ten Detective Aces Jan. 1941 • The King Comes Home, Thrilling Detective Jan. 1941 • Big-Top Doom, Ten Detective Aces Mar 1941 • The Discontented Cows, G-Men Detective Mar. 1941 • Life and Fire, Detective Fiction Weekly Mar-22-1941 • Big-League Larceny, Ten Detective Aces Apr. 1941 {as by Jack Hobart} • Selling Death Short, Ten Detective Aces Apr. 1941 • Client Unknown, The Phantom Detective Apr. 1941 • Your Name in Gold, The Phantom Detective Jun. 1941 • Here Comes the Hearse, 10-Story Detective Jul. 1941 {as by Allen Morse} • Six-Gun Song, 10-Story Detective Jul. 1941 • Star-Spangled Night, Coronet Jul. 1941 • Wheels Across the Night, G-Men Detective Jul. 1941 • Little Boy Lost, Detective Fiction Weekly Aug-2-1941 • Bullet for Bullet, Western Short Stories Oct. 1941 • Listen to the Mocking Bird (NT) G-Men Detective Nov. 1941 • You’ll End Up Burning!, Ten Detective Aces Nov. 1941 • Number Bug, Exciting Detective Winter 1941 • Thirty Corpses Every Thursday, Detective Tales Dec. 1941 • Trouble Comes Double, Popular Detective Dec. 1941 • Clue in Blue, Thrilling Mystery Jan. 1942 • Death is a White Rabbit, Strange Detective Mysteries Jan. 1942 • Twenty Gets You Plenty, G-Men Detective Jan. 1942 • Bloody Murder, Detective Fiction Jan-10-1942 Appendix: Fredric Brown in Trade Magazines, Part One • The “V.O.N. Munchdriller” stories from The Driller • The “William Z. Williams”” stories from Excavating Engineer Condition: Binding – fine, new, unread, only removed from the shrinkwrap to get them autographed. Dust jacket – fine, new, not price clipped, in dust jacket protector. Our Business Policies: Use the Contact Seller link near the top of this listing to see our FAQs, which should answer most questions about our business and listing policies. We have moved the extensive text we used to have here to those FAQs. Shipping and Packing: General Information: We always ship in sturdy new boxes with premium heavy duty packing tape, bubblewrap and filler to keep the item(s) away from the sides of the box. The pictures below show the boxes that we use for shipping. A Note On Customs: When customs forms are required for a shipment, we fill them out honestly, stating that the contents are merchandise and giving the price you paid for the item (not including the shipping) as the value. 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