Shell Scott was the best-known creation of fiction writer Richard S. Prather

Richard S. Prather

Richard Scott Prather was an American mystery novelist, best known for creating the "Shell Scott" series. He also wrote under the pseudonyms David Knight and Douglas Ring.- Early life and career :...

. A Southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

 private eye

Private investigator

A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...

, 6-foot-2 ex-marine

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

, he was featured in three dozen novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

s published over a span of nearly 40 years. The character remained 30 years old throughout.

Shell Scott novels

• Case of the Vanishing Beauty — 1950
• Bodies in Bedlam — 1951
• Everybody Had a Gun — 1951
• Find This Woman — 1951
• Dagger of Flesh — 1952
• Darling, It's Death — 1952
• Pattern for Murder a.k.a. The Scrambled Yeggs (as David Knight) — 1952
• Way of a Wanton — 1952
• Always Leave 'em Dying — 1954
• Pattern for Panic — 1954
• Ride a High Horse a.k.a. Too Many Crooks —1956
• Strip for Murder — 1956
• The Wailing Frail — 1956
• The Deadly Darling — 1957
• Have Gat - Will Travel (short stories) — 1957
• Three's a Shroud (novelettes) — 1957
• Slab Happy — 1958
• Take a Murder — 1958
• Over Her Dear Body, 1959. Shell takes a dive off a yacht to find who killed a real estate agent. He's almost drowned, shot, stabbed, and car-bombed before he finds the trail to a billion dollar freeway scam.
• Double in Trouble (with Stephen Marlowe) — 1959
• Dance with the Dead — 1960
• Dig That Crazy Grave — 1961
• Shell Scott's Seven Slaughters (short stories) — 1961
• Kill the Clown — 1962
• Dead Heat — 1963
• The Cockeyed Corpse — 1964
• Joker in the Deck — 1964
• The Trojan Hearse — 1964
• Dead Man's Walk — 1965
• Kill Him Twice — 1965
• The Meandering Corpse — 1965
• The Kubla Khan Caper — 1966
• Gat Heat — 1967
• The Cheim Manuscript — 1969
• Kill Me Tomorrow — 1969
• The Shell Scott Sampler (short stories) — 1969
• Dead-Bang — 1971
• The Sweet Ride — 1972
• The Sure Thing — 1975
• The Amber Effect — 1986
• Shellshock — 1987

Shell Scott Mystery Magazine

The Shell Scott Mystery Magazine was published under the imprint of the LeMarge Publishing Corporation, the name being somewhat of an anagram of publisher Leo Margulies

Leo Margulies

Leo Margulies was an American editor and publisher of science fiction and fantasy pulp magazines.- Career :...

' name. It lasted 9 issues in 1966.

External Links

• The Richard S. Prather / Shell Scott Website