Created by Gil Brewer
Pseudonyms include Bailey Morgan, Eric Fitzgerald, Frank Sebastian, Jack Holland, Roy Carroll, Elaine Evans and Barry Miles, as well as the house name of Ellery Queen
(1922-83)
From the back cover:
“What I can’t stand is knowing she’s out right now playing around.” The tall, heavy-set man stared at me, his eyes burning a hole in my bullet-proof vest. “Trail her every minute, Morgan. Every minute. Don’t let her out of your sight!”
It was the easiest assignment in years. I’m Morgan – and I’m one of the guys she played with. The trouble came later – when I found out that her game was MURDER – and I was picked for the fall guy!
Brothers SAM and TATE MORGAN run the Morgan Private Investigations Agency in Tampa, Florida, Gil Brewer’s 1958 Avon PBO The Bitch, a nasty little tale that blends a failed marriage, a dame with steam to spare, insanity, stolen loot and the usual treachery and violence. Sam owns the agency, but it’s Tate who handles the first person narration. Good stuff.
Gil Brewer was a mainstay of the fifties pulp fiction scene. Besides being a regular in the hard-boiled digests of the era, under a slew of different pen names, he also cranked out thirty or so paperback originals, usually full of tough action, dark twists and a generous dollop of sleaze and tease, with such tantalizing titles as The Vengeful Virgin and Nude on Thin Ice. Some of his other private eyes include William Maddern, Lee Baron and the unfortunately named Bill Death.
NOVELS
- The Bitch (1958)
RELATED LINKS
- Bibliography: Gil Brewer’s Published Short Fiction
A great checklist, from David Rachel’s always great Noirboiled Notes. - Forgotten Writers: Gil Brewer
Bill Pronzini’s touching tribute to a writer he never quite knew. (1989, Mystery Scene)