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The Finest Collection of Fredric Brown's Mystery Stories
"Carnival of Crime" is, to my mind, the finest collection of Fredric Brown's hard-to-find mystery stories available. Editors Francis M. Nevins, Jr. and Martin H. Greenberg have culled the best from two of Brown's previous crime collections, "Nightmares and Geezenstacks" and "Mostly Murder" to put together this compilation. If the stories are a big uneven in quality, they are all above average quality and, in some cases, truly great. Brown was noted for his ability to write the short-short and is represented here in fine form with "Nightmare in Yellow," "Granny's Birthday," "Hobbyist," and "Town Wanted," all of which are excellent. At medium and long length Brown is equally formidable, espically in "Little Apple Hard to Peel" and "Don't Look Behind You". Also included is a novellette, "The Case of the Dancing Sandwiches," which is a Brown rarity as it was only reprinted once before as a 10cent Dell paperback in 1951. Bill Pronzini has a lengthy and informative introduction, "Dreamer in Paradox," and editor Nevins, Jr. includes a comprehensive checklist of Brown's fiction for the collector as an appendix to the volume. It comes highly recommended. ... Read more

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This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Happy Ending is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Fredric Brown is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Fredric Brown then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Not up to the level of his short stories
Fredric Brown was a master of the short story, but his trademark wit and imagination often failed him when he turned to writing novels, where he did his best work in the mystery field rather than in SF.Two of the five stories here - Martians, Go Home and What Mad Universe - are considered classics. The Mind Thing is pretty decent also. But the remaining two stories are best skipped or forgotten. (And including the two shorter stories later forcibly fused together to create Rogue in Space was surely not worth the effort.) Also, the quality of the paper used in this book is noticeably worse than in three other NESFA offerings I own. The others are printed on high-quality paper; this one is on a softer, off-white stock -- almost "pulpy."

I'm giving this four stars, but it's a low four stars; really more like 3.5

A treasure
This collection gave me the opportunity to reread the great Fredrick Brown novels, which I had not read since my youth 25 or 35 years ago.I always loved the better known works "What Mad Universe" and "Martians, Go Home," but I was surprised at how powerful and emotive "The Lights in the Sky are Stars" is.

Invites both newcomers and prior fans
Martians And Madness is the second of a two-volume set gathering all of Frederic Brown's fine science fiction writings, and holds the complete novels What Mad Universe, Martins Go Home, Rogue In Space, Lights In The Sky Are Stars and The Mind Thing - plus the two novelettes Gateway To Darkness and Gateway To Glory, which were rewritten to become "Rogue In Space". Brown's satire, drama, and solid plots shine forth to invite both newcomers and prior fans. ... Read more

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The title comes from Revelations 6:8, which in the King James Version says, "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him."
Hook is that each section starts with "His name was" or "Her name was." The book begins, "Her name was Joyce Dugan, and at four o'clock on this February afternoon she had no remote thought that within the hour before closing time she was about to commit an act that would instigate a chain of murders." The last section, just a couple of pages long, begins, "His name was Death, and he waited for ____."
After Dugan, the focus moves around a few other people, primarily her boss, Darius Conn, who runs a print shop. The year before he'd killed his wife and gotten away with it, and now he's feeling bold and very confident. He's got a plan, and no-one's going to get in his way. ... Read more

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Doesn't live up to the hype
I read a lot of noir and everybody says how great His Name Was Death is. It doesn't live up to the hype. The stream-of-consciousness style of writing, total absence of chapters, out-of-nowhere twist ending and the overall lack of action conspire against it being considered a classic. It just wasn't tough, sexy or bleak enough to be a good noir. Frankly, I had a difficult time slogging through it. I much prefer the work of Jim Thompson, David Goodis, Gil Brewer, Charles Williams, Charles Willeford, etc. If you are going to buy it anyway, for goodness sake don't get the Black Mask edition because they do a terrible job on their reprints, riddled with typos, formatting errors, etc. Instead, get the 1991 Vintage Crime/Black Lizard edition with the cool B&W cover like I did. At least it will look good sitting on your shelf!

Murder leads to murder leads to murder...
Quiet reclusive printer Darius Conn is the last person anyone would suspect of being a murderer.He is mild mannered, private, and respectable.However, as usual in a Fredric Brown noir mystery novel, things aren't always what they seem.Conn has some murderous secrets.For one thing he has gotten away with the murder of his wife, and life looks good from this point on.The formerly honest businessman has turned to counterfeiting, but a couple of mistakes on his part lead to the necessity for another murder, then another...

One of Brown's most thrilling novels, in my opinion.Not every thing Brown wrote was great, but at his best none could match him.This is one of his best.

Five Stars. ... Read more

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Good vintage stuff from the pen of a master pulp writer.
This compilation of six of Fredric Brown's rarer mystery stories is volume number five in publisher Dennis McMillan's Fredric Brown Pulp Detective Series.McMillan did a great service in the 1980's and 90's by reprinting a good deal of Brown's pulp fiction magazine mystery and thriller stories.This is one of the more obtainable volumes from that series.Some of the others are quite rare and expensive.Besides the title story, which is a novelette set in the world of the traveling carnival, or "carnie", there is "Double Murder", "Two Biers for Two", "See No Murder", "Fugitive Imposter", and "Client Unknown".While none of these stories rises to the level of Brown's great novels or classic science fiction stories, such as "Arena", all are interesting period pieces, still readable after 60 years.Each has Brown's trademark unusual twist or ending, and in some, such as the title story and "Client Unknown" one can see the beginnings of some of the ideas and characters that would later become the "Ed and Am Hunter" novels.If none of these names mean anything to you, I firmly suggest that you get a hold of as much Fredric Brown literature as possible and start reading.You won't be disappointed.While the novels are probably the best place to start, this collection is certainly a good intro to the early Brown.

In addition to the stories themselves, all of which were originally printed in Detective pulp magazines in the 1940's and 50's, there is a wonderful introduction by Richard A. Lupoff, a famed writer in various genres, much as Brown himself was.Lupoff examines the direction the mystery story took in America after the pulp influence of Chandler and Hammett, along with Brown's own comments on how he arrived at his ideas and plots.There is also an interesting comment or two on the differences in character development in the short story vis-à-vis the novel.Once again, highly recommended.

Good vintage stuff from the pen of a master pulp writer.
This compilation of six of Fredric Brown's rarer mystery stories is volume number five in publisher Dennis McMillan's Fredric Brown Pulp Detective Series.McMillan did a great service in the 1980's and 90's by reprinting a good deal of Brown's pulp fiction magazine mystery and thriller stories.This is one of the more obtainable volumes from that series.Some of the others are quite rare ...Besides the title story, which is a novelette set in the world of the traveling carnival, or "carnie", there is "Double Murder", "Two Biers for Two", "See No Murder", "Fugitive Imposter", and "Client Unknown".While none of these stories rises to the level of Brown's great novels or classic science fiction stories, such as "Arena", all are interesting period pieces, still readable after 60 years.Each has Brown's trademark unusual twist or ending, and in some, such as the title story and "Client Unknown" one can see the beginnings of some of the ideas and characters that would later become the "Ed and Am Hunter" novels.If none of these names mean anything to you, I firmly suggest that you get a hold of as much Fredric Brown literature as possible and start reading.You won't be disappointed.While the novels are probably the best place to start, this collection is certainly a good intro to the early Brown. ... Read more

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A very inspirational piece. ... Read more

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Three murders were too many for Ed Hunter. Not even a dazzling redhead from the carnival's girl show could keep Ed altogether happy--not with a murderer running loose. Then Ed found it was up to him and his Uncle Am to find the killer among the freaks and strippers of the carnival--a killer who chose his victims according to size!
Ed and his Uncle Am are back, working in a travelling carnival through the Midwest. Bodies, though smallish in stature, keep piling up, and Ed finds himself head over heels in love. Fascinating for the insights into carnival life that this book provides. ... Read more

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Lateral Logic Puzzle
In a lateral logic puzzle, the author gives you a set of seemingly incongruous facts forming a "fair play" mystery.If you can fit the facts together correctly, you can solve the mystery.

"Dead Ringer" is a lateral logic puzzle.All the pertinent facts are there.You just have to recognize which ones are relevant and the solution is obvious.At least it's obvious after Ed and Am Hunter explain how the facts fit together.

A naked midget is found stabbed to death at the carnival.Later a chimpanzee drowns, and finally a child dies.Through the first two deaths, Ed and Am Hunter mind their own business.The third death stirs them to action, and the mystery is quickly solved.They arrive at the solution independently, but Am gets there a little quicker than Ed.

It's not great detective fiction, but it will give the reader an insight into life in the fifties--inside and outside a carnival.Ed and Am form a congenial team. Not quite on a par with Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe, but likeable nonetheless. ... Read more

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Neat collection of pulp mystery/suspense stories
Fredric Brown's bread and butter was the mystery story which turned on an ironic element.*Thirty Corpses Every Thursday* collects his better stories, and midway through each one, you'll wonder how he's going tofinish it off. He manages, and all these stories are satisfying. ... Read more