Brett Halliday *

a.k.a. David Dresser, Asa Baker *, Don Davis *, Anthony Scott *

Author Code: ABRE

Halliday grew up in West Texas. As a youth, he lost an eye in a barbed wire accident and was forced to wear am eyepatch for the rest of his life. He en;listed in the Army when he was only 14. He then returned home and completed high school. He then travelled throughout the South West working at various jobs. He went to Tri-State College of Engineering and received a certificate in civil engineering. He then worked as a surveyor and engineer in Texas for several years before turning to writing in 1927. Halliday was married three times, but the most notable was to Helen McCoy in 1946. They established a literary agency called Halliday & McCoy. He created the fictional private detective character Michael Shayne, during the late 1930s and it was rejected over twenty times before being published. Shayne then appeared in numerous works including radio programs in the 1940s. A number of films were also made, featuring actors such as Lloyd Nolan, Hugh Beaumont, Jeff Chandler and Richard Denning. In 1958, Halliday ceased writing and turned over the task to ghost writers to continue the series. He was a founding member of the Mystery Writers of America in 1954. His other works include Dividend on Death (1030), The Private Practice of Michael Shayne (1940), The Corpse Came Calling (1942), Murder is My Business (1945), What Really Happened (1952), Stranger in Town (1955), Shoot the Works (1957) and Murder and the Wanton Bride (1958).