Order of Richard S. Prather Books

Richard S. Prather (1921-2007) was an American writer known for his hardboiled detective fiction, particularly the Shell Scott series. Raised in California, Richard was an avid reader from a young age. After attending Riverside Junior College, he served in World War II as a fireman, oiler, and engineer. Following the war, he married and took a job as a civilian chief clerk at an Air Force base, but his true passion was writing full-time, which he pursued by dedicating up to 16 hours a day to it, only pausing for meals. Prather made his novel debut in 1950 with The Case of the Vanishing Beauty. He experienced a setback with Pocket Books that led him to stop writing and cultivate avocados for nine years, until he returned to writing with The Amber Effect in 1986. Below is a list of Richard S. Prather’s books in the order of their initial release:

Richard S. Prather became a published novelist in 1950 with the novel The Case of the Vanishing Beauty. Below is a list of Richard S. Prather's books in order of when they were originally released:

Publication Order of Shell Scott Collections Books

Book Title	Year	Amazon USA	Amazon UK
Hot Rock Rumble & The Double Take	(1994)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Standalone Novels Books

Book Title	Year	Amazon USA	Amazon UK
Lie Down, Killer	(1952)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Peddler (As: Douglas Ring)	(1952)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Dragnet: Case No.561	(1956)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas Books

Book Title	Year	Amazon USA	Amazon UK
The Sleeper Caper	(2009)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Anthologies Books

Book Title	Year	Amazon USA	Amazon UK
The Comfortable Coffin	(1960)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Masters of Noir, Volume One	(2010)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Shell Scott Books

Book Title	Year	Amazon USA	Amazon UK
The Case of the Vanishing Beauty	(1950)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Bodies in Bedlam	(1951)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Everybody Had a Gun	(1951)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Find This Woman	(1951)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Dagger of Flesh	(1952)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Darling, It's Death	(1952)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Way of a Wanton	(1952)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Pattern for Murder / The Scrambled Yeggs	(1952)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Always Leave 'em Dying	(1953)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Ride a High Horse / Too Many Crooks	(1953)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Pattern for Panic	(1954)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Strip for Murder	(1956)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Wailing Frail	(1956)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Have Gat - Will Travel	(1957)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Three's a Shroud	(1957)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Slab Happy	(1958)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Take a Murder, Darling	(1958)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Over Her Dear Body	(1959)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Double in Trouble (With: Stephen Marlowe)	(1959)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Dance with the Dead	(1960)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Dig That Crazy Grave	(1961)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Shell Scott's Seven Slaughters	(1961)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Kill the Clown	(1962)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Dead Heat	(1963)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Joker in the Deck	(1964)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Cockeyed Corpse	(1964)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Trojan Hearse	(1964)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Dead Man's Walk	(1965)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Kill Him Twice	(1965)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Meandering Corpse	(1965)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Kubla Khan Caper	(1966)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Gat Heat	(1967)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Cheim Manuscript	(1969)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Kill Me Tomorrow	(1969)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Shell Scott Sampler	(1969)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Dead-Bang	(1971)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Sweet Ride	(1972)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Sure Thing	(1975)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Amber Effect	(1986)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Shellshock	(1987)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Death Gods	(2011)	Buy on Amazon.com	Buy on Amazon.co.uk

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