Squire Adams

Created by Horace Brown
Pseudonyms include Leslie Allen
(1908-96)

SQUIRE ADAMS only appeared in just one story, The Penthouse Killings (1950), but it was a doozy — an action-packed cheesiest with plenty of pulpy, clever twists. The entire book takes place in a single day, and Squire only has until 5 pm to solve a murder case or he will lose his New York P.I. license. That would be a busy enough day by itself, but it is also day Squire is to marry his sweetheart!

Doncha just hate when that happens?

It’s a little clumsy in parts but still a good, quick read.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Horace Brown, it turns out, was a Canadian newspaper reporter and editor. In the thirties and forties he wrote radio scripts for the CBC, and began selling short stories to general interest magazines such as Saturday Night and Star Weekly, before starting his own pulp magazine publishing company. Global Publishing Company, located in Pickering, Ontario. Global put out pulp titles like All-New Western Stories and the short-lived and apparently self-published Original Detective Stories, which Brown both “edited” and wrote. In fact, the latter published Squire Adams’ debut, “Murder à la Carte”. This “Book Length Novel” was revised and published as the standalone novel The Penthouse Killings a couple of years later.

Meanwhile, under the pen name of “Leslie Allen,” Brown wrote Death of a Prime Minister (1948) and a private eye novel Murder in the Rough (1946), featuring Napoleon B. Smith. Under his own name, he wrote The Corpse Was a Blonde (1950), and the novelization of the 1947 film noir Whispering City. He later served as a city alderman in Toronto, where he gained some notoriety in the early seventies for slapping a fellow alderman in the face.

NOVELS

• Murder à la Carte (1948, Original Detective Stories; aka “The Penthouse Killings” | Buy this book 
  This “Book Length Novel” was revised and published in 1950 as The Penthouse Killings.

Report respectfully submitted by Dale Stoyer, with additional biographical material by Kevin Burton Smith. A special tip of the touque to Brian Busby of The Dusty Bookcase for the trail of breadcrumbs.