Richard S. Prather

Richard S. Prather (1921-2007) was an American author of hardboiled detective fiction novels. He is best known for his Shell Scott series. Growing up in California, Richard read everything he could. After attending Riverside Junior College, he served in World War II as a fireman, oiler, and engineer. He then got married and worked as a civilian chief clerk at an Air Force base. But what he wanted to do was write full-time, and that is what he did. He ended up spending 16 hours per day writing, only taking breaks to eat. Richard S. Prather made his debut as a novelist in 1950 with the novel The Case of the Vanishing Beauty. At one point, he had a dispute with Pocket Books, and gave up writing and grew avocados. This lasted nine years until 1986’s The Amber Effect. Below is a list of Richard S. Prather’s books in order of when they were first released: Notes: Ride a High Horse was also published as Too Many Crooks. Pattern for Murder was also titled The Scrambled Yeggs, and written as David Knight.