The Man Who Read Mysteries

It’s been worth the wait. One of the authors most requested by Crippen & Landru readers throughout its 25-year history has been mystery writer William Brittain, whose fiction challenges the reader with tricky plots presented in a unique style. For the first time, all of the popular “Man Who Read” stories and a selection of the Mr. Strang stories have been collected into a single volume. Both series appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine during the mid-years of the 20th century. Sadly, Brittain later forsook mystery fiction to become a children’s author, and his YA novel The Wish Giver earned him a Newbery Honor award. This collection was edited by Josh Pachter, who also wrote the introduction and compiled a bibliography of Brittain’s many publications.