Stephen Marlowe

Milton Lesser c.1953

Stephen Marlowe (born Milton Lesser, August 7, 1928 in Brooklyn, NY, died February 22, 2008 (aged 79), in Williamsburg, Virginia) was an American author of science fiction, mystery novels, and fictional autobiographies of Christopher Columbus, Miguel de Cervantes, and Edgar Allan Poe. He is best known for his detective character Chester Drum, whom he created in the 1955 novel The Second Longest Night. Lesser also wrote under the pseudonyms Adam Chase, Andrew Frazer, C.H. Thames, Jason Ridgway and Ellery Queen.

Lesser attended the College of William & Mary, earning his degree in philosophy, marrying Leigh Lang shortly after graduating. The couple divorced in 1962. He was drafted into the U. S. Army during the Korean War.^[1]

He was awarded the French Prix Gutenberg du Livre in 1988 for The Memoirs of Christopher Columbus, and in 1997 he was awarded the "Life Achievement Award" by the Private Eye Writers of America. He also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America. He lived with his second wife Ann in Williamsburg, Virginia.^[2]

Selected bibliography

Lesser's novella "All Heroes Are Hated!" was the cover story in the November 1950 issue of Amazing Stories

Lesser's short novel "Secret of the Black Planet" was the cover story in the June 1952 issue of Amazing Stories

Lesser's novella "Voyage to Eternity" was cover=featured on the July 1953 issue of Imagination

Lesser's novella "Jungle in the Sky" was the cover story in the second issue of If in May 1953

As "C. H. Thames", Lesser wrote the "Johnny Mayhem" stories, which ran in Amazing in the 1950s but were not collected until 2013

As "Stephen Marlowe", Lesser wrote several hard-boiled fiction novels

As Milton S. Lesser:

• Somewhere I'll Find You (1947)
• Earthbound (1952)
• Recruit for Andromeda (1959)
• Secret of the Black Planet (1965)
• Spacemen Go Home (1961)
• Stadium Beyond the Stars (1960)
• The Star Seekers (1953)

As Stephen Marlowe:

• Catch the Brass Ring (1954)
• Model for Murder (1955)
• Turn Left for Murder (1955)
• Dead on Arrival (1956)
• Blonde Bait (1959)
• Passport to Peril (1959)
• The Shining (1961)
• The Search for Bruno Heidler (1966)
• Come Over, Red Rover (1968)
• The Summit (1970)
• Colossus- (1974)
• The Man with No Shadow (1974)
• The Cawthorn Journals (or Too Many Chiefs) (1975)
• Translation (1976)
• The Valkyrie Encounter (1978)
• Deborah's Legacy (1983)
• The Memoirs of Christopher Columbus (1987)
• The Lighthouse at the End of the World (1995)
• The Death and Life of Miguel De Cervantes (1996)

Chester Drum novels (as Stephen Marlowe):

• The Second Longest Night (1955)
• Mecca for Murder (1956)
• Killers Are My Meat (1957)
• Murder Is My Dish (1957)
• Trouble Is My Name (1957)
• Terror Is My Trade (1958)
• Violence Is My Business (1958)
• Double in Trouble (with Richard S. Prather, co-starring Prather's series character Shell Scott) (1959)
• Homicide Is My Game (1959)
• Danger Is My Line (1960)
• Death Is My Comrade (1960)
• Peril Is My Pay (1960)
• Manhunt Is My Mission (1961)
• Jeopardy Is My Job (1962)
• Francesca (1963)
• Drumbeat - Berlin (1964)
• Drumbeat - Dominique (1965)
• Drumbeat - Madrid (1966)
• Drumbeat - Erica (1967)
• Drumbeat - Marianne (1968)

As Adam Chase (writing with Paul W. Fairman):

• The Golden Ape (1959)

As Andrew Frazer:

• Find Eileen Hardin - Alive! (1959)
• The Fall of Marty Moon (1960)

As Jason Ridgway:

• West Side Jungle (1958)
• Adam's Fall (1960)
• People in Glass Houses (1961)
• Hardly a Man Is Now Alive (1962)
• The Treasure of the Cosa Nostra (1966)

As Ellery Queen

• Dead Man's Tale (1961)

As C. H. Thames:

• Violence Is Golden (1956)
• Blood of My Brother (1963)

References

1. "Introducing the Author: Milton Lesser", Imagination, July 1953, p.2
2. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/stephen-marlowe-crime-and-thriller-writer-790902.html

External links

• The Mystery*File blog: Bill Pronzini on Stephen Marlowe, 1928-2008.
• Milton Lesser at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Works by Stephen Marlowe at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Stephen Marlowe at Internet Archive
• Works by C.H. Thames at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Works by Adam Chase at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Works by Milton Lesser at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)