Clayton Hartley Matthews (24 October 1918 – 25 March 2004) was an American writer of mystery, erotic and romance novels, with more than 35 books and many short stories as Clayton Matthews. He often collaborated with his wife, writer
Patricia Matthews (Patty Brisco); and they were called "the hottest couple in paperbacks.".
Life
Clayton Hartley Matthews was born on 24 October 1918. He started writing short stories in the late 1950s. He began contributing to the ''
Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine
Michael "Mike" Shayne is a fictional private detective character created during the late 1930s by writer Brett Halliday, a pseudonym of Davis Dresser. The character appeared in a series of seven films starring Lloyd Nolan for Twentieth Century Fo ...
'' and then turned to writing paperback novels, mostly in the erotic genre, in the early 1960s.
In a
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
's local writers' group, he met writer
Patty Brisco. After his divorce, they married on 3 November 1972, and lived near
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
. In the late 1970s, his agent
Jay Garon, suggested to him and his wife to write
romance novels
A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...
. In the 1980s and 1990s Matthews and his wife collaborated on romance and mystery novels. Matthews died on 25 March 2004.
Bibliography
Short stories
*''"Stone Cold Dead"'' in ''Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'' (1958)
*''Man From U.N.C.L.E.'' (1966/Sep) (with
Joe L. Hensley
Joseph Louis "Joe L." Hensley (March 19, 1926 – August 27, 2007) was a lawyer, prosecuting attorney, member of the Indiana General Assembly, circuit court judge, science fiction fan, and writer of science fiction and mysteries. He was a long ...
,
Morris Hershman and
Steve April)
*''"The Handyman"'' in AHMM (1967/Apr)
*''"The Ultimate Death of Roger Blaine"'' in Mi''ke Shayne Mystery Magazine'' (1968/Jun)
*''"Raft of Fear"'' in ''Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'' (1970/May)
*''"The Big Stretch"'' in ''Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'' (1970/Jun) (with
Edward D. Hoch and
Brett Halliday
Brett Halliday (July 31, 1904 – February 4, 1977) is the primary pen name of Davis Dresser, an American mystery and western writer. Halliday is best known for the long-lived series of Michael Shayne mysteries he wrote, and later commissioned ...
)
*''Alfred Hitchcock'' (1970/Jun) (with
James McKimmey)
*''"Twister"'' in ''Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'' (1970/Aug) (with
M.G. Ogan and
Walter J. Sheldon)
*''"Pit of Fear"'' in ''Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'' (1974/Apr)
*''"Sweet Alice"'' in ''Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'' (1980/Oct) (with
Michael Avallone,
John Ball,
Paul Greeson,
Edward D. Hoch,
William F. Nolan
William Francis Nolan (March 6, 1928 – July 15, 2021) was an American author who wrote hundreds of stories in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, and crime fiction genres.Jason V. Brock, "Finding Sanctuary: Running from the Zone to Logan" i ...
,
James M. Reasoner,
Larry Sterling,
Mike Taylor and
J.L. Washburn)
*''"Run, Rabbit, Run"'' in ''Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'' (1981/Mar) (with
Leo Whitaker)
*''"Bucknell's Law"'' in ''Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'' (1981/Sep)
*''"Going to Pot"'' in ''Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'' (1981/Sep)
*''"The Caliber of Death"'' in ''Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine'' (1982/Jul) (with
Talmage Powell)
*''Alfred Hitchcock'' (1986/Jun) (with
Wilbur Daniel Steele
Wilbur Daniel Steele (17 March 1886, Greensboro, North Carolina – 26 May 1970, Stamford, Connecticut) was a U.S. author and playwright. He has been called "America's recognised master of the popular short story" between World War I and the Gr ...
)
*''Alfred Hitchcock'' (1973/Sep) (with
Ron Goulart and
Alan Dean Foster
Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts.
Career ''Star Wars''
Foster was the ghos ...
)
*''"Trade-Off"'' in ''Classic Pulp Fiction Stories'' (1997/Aug)
Novels
*''A Rage Of Desire'' (1960)
*''Discontented Wives'' (1961)
*''The Strange Ways of Love'' (1961)
*''Faithless'' (1962)
*''Sex dancer'' (1962)
*''The Promiscuous Doll'' (1962)
*''Nude Running'' (1963)
*''The Corrupter'' (1964)
*''Dive into death'' (1969)
*''The Mendoza File'' (1970)
*''Nylon Nightmare'' (1970)
*''Bounty Hunt at Ballarat'' (1973)
*''The Big Score'' (1973)
*''The Negotiator'' (1975)
*''Macho'' (1976)
*''New Orleans'' (1976)
*''Hong Kong'' (1976)
*''Dallas'' (1978)
*''The Power Seekers'' (1978)
*''The Harvesters'' (1979)
*''The Proud Castles'' (1986)
*''Twister'' (1986)
*''Death at the Border'' (1987)
For the Millions Series (multi-author)
*''Hypnotism for the Millions'' (1968)
*''Secret Psychic Organizations for the Millions'' (1969)
Moraghan Saga
#''The Birthright'' (1979)
#''The Disinherited'' (1982)
#''The Redeemers'' (1984)
Omnibus in collaboration
*''Hager's Castle'' (1969) (with Bill Hughes)
*''At The Border'' (2004) (with
Mark Schroder)
In collaboration with Arthur Moore
Novels
*''Las Vegas'' (1974)
In collaboration with Patricia Matthews
Novels
*''Midnight Whispers'' (1981)
*''Empire'' (1982)
*''Midnight Lavender'' (1985)
Casey Farrell Series
#''The Scent of Fear'' (1992)
#''Vision of Death'' (1992)
#''Taste of Evil'' (1993)
#''Sound of Murder'' (1994)
#''Touch of Terror'' (1995)
References and sources
Clayton Matthews in Fantastic FictionClayton Matthews on LibraryThingMystery File
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Clayton
20th-century American novelists
American male novelists
American mystery writers
American romantic fiction writers
1918 births
2004 deaths
20th-century American male writers