Brett Halliday
1904-1977
Pseudonyms: Asa Baker, Matthew Blood (with Walter Ryerson Johnson), Hal Debrett (with Kathleen Rollins Dresser) and Anderson Wayne
 

Pseudonym of Davis Dresser. He was born in Chicago, but he grew up in Texas. He graduated from Tri-State College in Civil Engineering. He worked for a time as a engineer and as a surveyor. In 1927, he started to write. In 1946 he married Helen McCloy. He is the creator of 'Mike Shayne', a private detective. Dresser also wrote under the pseudonyms 'Asa Baker', 'Matthew Blood' (joint pseudonym with Walter Ryerson Johnson), 'Hal Debrett' (joint pseudonym with Kathleen Rollins Dresser), and 'Anderson Wayne'. Walter Ryerson Johnson and Robert Terrall also wrote novels under the Halliday name.
 

Titles and year of publication:
 

 1) Dividend on Death  1939
 2) The Private Practice of Michael Shayne  1940
 3) The Uncomplaining Corpses  1940
 4) Bodies Are Where You Find Them  1941
 5) Tickets to Death  1941
 6) The Corpse Came Calling (Also published as: The Case of the Walking Corpse [1943])  1942
 7) Blood on the Black Market (Also published as: Heads You Loose [1958])  1943
 8) Michael Shayne Investigates (Contains: Bodies Are Where You Find Them and The Corpse Came Calling)  1943
 9) Murder Wears a Mummer's Mask (Also published as: In a Deadly Vein [1956])  1943
10) Michael Shayne Takes a Hand (Contains: Murder Wears a Mummer's Mask and Blood on the Black Market)  1944
11) Michael Shayne's Long Chance  1944
12) Murder and the Married Virgin  1944
13) Marked for Murder  1945
14) Murder Is My Business  1945
15) Blood on Biscayne Bay  1946
16) Counterfeit Wife  1947
17) Blood on the Stars (UK Title: Murder Is a Habit [1951])  1948
18) Michael Shayne's Triple Mystery (novelets)  1948
19) Call for Michael Shayne  1949
20) A Taste for Violence  1949
21) This Is It, Michael Shayne  1950
22) Framed in Blood  1951
23) When Dorinda Dances  1951
24) What Really Happened  1952
25) One Night with Nora (UK Title: The Lady Came by Night [1954])  1953
26) She Woke to Darkness  1954
27) Death Has Three Lives  1955
28) Stranger in Town  1955
29) Armed...Dangerous... (by Robert Terrall)  1956
30) The Blonde Cried Murder  1956
31) Shoot the Works  1957
32) Weep for a Blonde  1957
33) Fit to Kill (by Robert Terrall)  1958
34) Murder and the Wanton Bride  1958
35) Date with a Dead Man  1959
36) Die Like a Dog  1959
37) Target: Mike Shayne (by Robert Terrall)  1959
38) Dolls Are Deadly (by Walter Ryerson Johnson)  1960
39) The Homicidal Virgin  1960
40) Murder Takes No Holiday (by Robert Terrall)  1960
41) The Careless Corpse  1961
42) Killers from the Keys (by Walter Ryerson Johnson)  1961
43) Murder in Haste (by Robert Terrall)  1961
44) Murder by Proxy  1962
45) Never Kill a Client  1962
46) Pay-Off in Blood  1962
47) The Body Came Back  1963
48) The Corpse That Never Was  1963
49) Too Friendly, Too Dead  1963
50) Michael Shayne's 50th Case  1964
51) A Redhead for Mike Shayne  1964
52) Shoot to Kill  1964
53) Nice Fillies Finish Last (by Robert Terrall)  1965
54) The Violent World of Michael Shayne (by Robert Terrall)  1965
55) Murder Spins the Wheel (by Robert Terrall)  1966
56) Guilty As Hell (by Robert Terrall)  1967
57) Mermaid on the Rocks (by Robert Terrall)  1967
58) So Lush, So Deadly (by Robert Terrall)  1968
59) Violence Is Golden (by Robert Terrall)  1968
60) Lady, Be Bad (by Robert Terrall)  1969
61) Fourth Down to Death (by Robert Terrall)  1970
62) Six Seconds to Kill (by Robert Terrall)  1970
63) Count Backwards to Zero (by Robert Terrall)  1971
64) I Come to Kill You (by Robert Terrall)  1971
65) Caught Dead (by Robert Terrall)  1972
66) Blue Murder (by Robert Terrall)  1973
67) Kill All the Young Girls (by Robert Terrall)  1973
68) At the Point of a .38 (by Robert Terrall)  1974
69) Last Seen Hitchhiking (by Robert Terrall)  1974
70) Million Dollar Handle (by Robert Terrall)  1976
71) Win Some, Lose Some (by Robert Terrall)  1976
As 'Asa Baker'
 1) Mum's the Word for Murder  1938
 2) The Kissed Corpse  1939
As 'Matthew Blood' (with Walter Ryerson Johnson)
 1) The Avenger  1952
 2) Death Is a Lovely Dame  1954
As 'Hal Debrett' (with Kathleen Rollins Dresser)
 1) Before I Wake  1949
 2) A Lonely Way to Die  1950
As 'Anderson Wayne'
 1) Charlie Dell  1952

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