Brett Halliday
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Halliday was best known for his long-lived series of Mike Shayne novels. Most of his novels were written under the pen name of Davis Dresser but he also wrote non-series mysteries, westerns and romances under the pen names Asa Baker, Matthew Blood, Kathryn Culver, Don Davis, Hal Debrett, Anthony Scott, Peter Field, Hal Debrett, Don Davis, and Anderson Wayne. The Shayne series went on to be highly successful and twelve motion pictures were made, seven of them featuring Lloyd Nolan as Shayne. Five of the Nolan films, which were produced by 20th Century Fox, have been released on DVD: ”Michael Shayne, Private Detective”; ”Sleepers West”; ”Dressed to Kill”; ”Blue, White and Perfect”; and ”The Man Who Wouldn’t Die”. After the Fox series ended, five more Shayne films were made by PRC which featured Hugh Beaumont as the detective. There was also a TV series in 1960, starring Richard Denning. The 2005 film ”Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” is based partly on Halliday’s novel ”Bodies Are Where You Find Them”. Dresser was a founding member of the Mystery Writers of America, and in 1954 he and McCloy were given Edgar Awards for their critical writings on the genre. He lived in Santa Barbara, California, until his death at the age of 72.
Armed … dangerous … | At the point of a .38. | Blonde cried murder. | Blood on biscayne bay. | Blood on the black market. | Blood on the stars. | Blue murder. | Bodies are where you find them. | Body Came Back. | Call for michael shayne. | Careless Corpse. | Caught dead. | Corpse Came Calling. | Corpse That Never Was. | Count backwards to zero. | Counterfeit wife. | Date with a dead man. | Death has three lives. | Die Like a Dog. | Dividend on death. | Dolls are deadly. | Fit to kill. | Fourth down to death. | Framed in blood | Guilty as hell. | Homicidal Virgin. | I come to kill you. | Kill all the young girls. | Killers from the Keys. | Lady, be bad. | Last seen hitchhiking. | Marked for murder. | Mermaid on the rocks. | Michael Shayne’s Long Chance. | Michael shayne’s 50th case. | Million dollar handle. | Murder Takes No Holiday. | Murder Wears a Mummer’s Mask. | Murder and the Married Virgin. | Murder and the Wanton Bride : | Murder by Proxy. | Murder in Haste. | Murder is my business. | Murder spins the wheel. | Never kill a client | Nice fillies finish last. | One night with nora. | Pay-Off in Blood. | Private practice of Michael Shayne : | Redhead for michael shayne. | She woke to darkness. | Shoot the works | Shoot to Kill. | Six seconds to kill. | So lush, so deadly. | Stranger in Town. | Target : | Taste for violence. | Tickets for death. | Too Friendly. | Violence is golden. | Violent world of michael shayne. | Weep for a Blonde | What really happened. | When Dorinda Dances. | Win some, lose some.