Born and brought up in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Brown attended Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana. His home is now in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he divides his time between reading proofs and writing book reviews for the Milwaukee Journal, and freelance writing. He has written hundreds of short stories, which have appeared in leading detective magazines, and he has been represented in Ellery Queen's Rogues' Gallery, in the Adventure in Time and Space anthology, and in Best Detective Stories of the Year-1947.Mr. Brown believes that a good book, detective story or no, should emphasize characterization. "The straight whodunit," he says, "is an intellectual exercise for the read. A second type of mystery depends upon pace; characterization is vivid but typed, and the plot is subordinate. The third and, in my opinion, the best type, which I try to write, stresses character development." He has succeeded in following his own precepts in both The Dead Ringer and The Fabulous Clipjoint.