I decided to finish up the W’s in Part 9 this morning, which quickly required backtracking and filling in details for two prolific and popular but now relatively forgotten authors, Patricia Matthews and Alan Sewart, along with their various pen names. (Along with, of course, the rest of the W’s.)

BRISCO, PATTY. Pseudonym of Patricia (Anne Klein) Matthews, 1927-2006, q.v. Add death date. Under this pen name, the author of four gothic romantic suspense novels included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, all in unstated collaboration with her husband, writer Clayton Matthews. One of these is shown below (Avon, pb, 1973).

MATTHEWS, PATRICIA (ANNE KLEIN) (née ERNST). 1927-2006. Add year of death. Pseudonyms: Patty Brisco, Laura Wylie, qq.v. Married Marvin Owen Brisco, 1946, divorced 1961; married writer Clayton Matthews, with whom she often collaborated, 1972. Best known for her historical romance novels, with titles such as Love’s Avenging Heart, beginning in the late 1970s; also a prolific writer of Gothic and romantic suspense novels, with over 15 included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV under her own name and two pen names. Series character Casey Farrel, at least in one book a female member of the Governor of Arizona’s task force on crime, appeared in four books, each in collaboration with Clayton Matthews. The cover image of one is shown below (London & New York: Severn House, 1994).

NASH, PADDER. Pseudonym of Alan Sewart, 1928-1998, q.v. Under this pen name, the author of eight detective novels included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. Published between 1982 and 1986 by Robert Hale in the UK, all eight feature Sgt. Boggis as the primary series character, but that each of them has the word “Grass” in the title indicates the stories are told through the eyes of a professional informer. One of these is shown below (Hale, 1982).

SEWART, ALAN. 1928-1998. Add year of death. At one time Chief Inspector of police in Bolton, Lancashire, UK. Pseudonyms: Padder Nash, Alan Stewart Well, qq.v. Under his own name, the author of 24 detective and thriller mysteries included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. Published only in the UK by Robert Hale between 1978 and 1986, the starring character in five of them is Sgt. Harry Chamberlayne, while Chief Superintendent Evans appears in another four. (Neither appears in the novel shown below, Hale, 1979.)

WELL, ALAN STEWART. Pseudonym of Alan Sewart, 1928-1998, q.v. Add year of death. Under this pen name, the author of four mystery novels included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, all published in the UK by Robert Hale between 1980 and 1984.

WHITE, VALERIE. 1915-1975. Add both dates and the following biographical data: Born in South Africa; trained as a commercial artist; stage and television actress, mostly in England. Author of three mystery novels included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      Case. Arthur Barker, UK, hc, 1954. SC: John Case.
      Case for Treachery. Arthur Barker, UK, hc, 1955. SC: John Case. “A nuclear thriller.”
      Lost Person. William Heinemann, UK, hc, 1957. Add SC: John Case. [The beautiful wife of one of the richest men in the world first disappeared from her hotel in Cannes in 1935.]

WILLIAMSON, GEOFFREY. 1897- . Year of death not known. Author of one marginally crime-related novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      -The Lovable Outlaw. William Heinemann, UK, hc, 1930. Add setting: India.

WISE, ERNIE. 1925-1999. Add year of death. Born Ernest Wiseman, he changed his name when he went into show business at a young age. As a comedian, well known as part of the comedy duo, Morecombe and Wise, considered by Wikipedia as “an institution on British television.” With Eric Morecambe, co-author of one book included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Morecambe & Wise Special. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, UK, hc, 1977, hc. A humor miscellany, including a short Sherlockian parody: “The Whitechapel Murders: A Tale of Sheerluck Holmes and Dr. Wits-end.”

WYLIE, LAURA. Pseudonym of Patricia (Anne Klein) Matthews, 1927-2006, q.v. Add year of death. Under this pen name, the author of one novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
      The Night Visitor. Pinnacle, pb, 1979. Reprinted as by Patricia Matthews, Severn House, 1988. Delete series character: Casey Farrrel does not appear, even though so stated in the CD version of CFIV.