Patricia (Anne Klein, née Ernst) Brisco Matthews (July 1, 1927, in San Fernando, California, United States - December 7, 2006, in Prescott, Arizona, United States) was an American writer of

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, romance and

mystery novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

. She wrote under the pen names P.A. Brisco, Patty Brisco, Pat A. Brisco, Pat Brisco, Patricia Matthews and Laura Wylie. She collaborated with her second husband,

Clayton Matthews 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 ...

, on romance and mystery (suspense) novels; they were called "the hottest couple in paperbacks." She also collaborated with Denise Hrivnak as Denise Matthews.

Biography

Patricia Anne Klein Ernst was born on July 1, 1927, in San Fernando, California, the daughter of Roy Oliver Ernst and Gladys Gable. Her mother enrolled her in the famous Meglin Kiddies school, but she recorded only two of her songs professionally for one demo tape. She studied at California State University, Los Angeles, where she worked as secretary to the General Manager of Associated Students by the California State College. On 21 December 1946 she married Marvin Owen Brisco, they had two sons: Michael Arvie and David Roy. By 1961, the marriage had ended in divorce. Focused on her writing career, she met the writer

in a local writers' group. After Matthews divorced his first wife, he and Patricia 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 ...

. Matthews started to write poetry, juvenile books, a play, fantasy and mystery short stories, which she signed under different names: Patricia Ernst, P.A. Brisco and Pat A. Brisco. Using the names Patty Brisco and Pat Brisco, she wrote

gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...

s. When the market for gothic novels softened, at the suggestion of the Matthews' agent, Jay Garon, she began 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 ...

under her second married name, Patricia Matthews. She and her husband also collaborated on several romance and suspense novels using the pseudonyms Laura Wylie and Laurie Wylie. She and her husband wrote five Casey Farrell mystery novels together, and she wrote three on her own, the ''Thumbprint Mysteries'', set in the American Southwest. With Denise Hrivnak, she also wrote under the pseudonym Denise Matthews. In 1989 they moved to Prescott, Arizona where they were involved in local theater productions and even produced a play of their own.Son of Patricia Matthews Her husband Clayton died on 25 March 2004. Patricia died on December 7, 2006, in the Brisco family home in Prescott, Arizona.

Awards

*1983 Reviewers Choice Awards for Best Historical Gothic *1986-87 Affaire de Coeur Silver Pen Readers Award

Bibliography

As P.A. Brisco

Single Novel

*''Harold Jensen's Hope Chest'', 1959

As Patty Brisco

Single Novels

*''Horror at Gull House'', 1969 *''Merry's Treasure'', 1969 *''The Crystal Window'', 1973 *''House of Candles'', 1973 *''Mist of Evil'', 1976 *''Raging Rapids'', 1978 *''Too Much In Love'', 1979

As Pat A. Brisco

Single Novels

*''The Other People'', 1970

As Pat Brisco

Single Novels

*''The Carnival Mystery'', 1974 *''Campus mystery'', 1978

As Patricia Matthews

Hannah Bilogy

#''Love's Avenging Heart'', 1976 #''Dance of Dreams'', 1983

Single Novels

*''Love Forever More'', 1977 *''Love's Wildest Promise'', 1977 *''Love's Daring Dream'', 1978 *''Love's Pagan Heart'', 1978 *''Love's Golden Destiny'', 1979 *''Love's Magic Moments '', 1979 *''Love's Bold Journey'', 1980 *''Love's Raging Tide'', 1980 *''Love's Sweet Agony'', 1980 *''Tides of Love'', 1981 *''Embers of Dawn'', 1982 *''Flames of Glory'', 1982 *''Gambler in Love'', 1984 *''Tame the Restless Heart'', 1985 *''Thursday and the Lady'', 1987 *''Enchanted'', 1987 *''Mirrors'', 1988 *''Oasis'', 1988 *''Sapphire'', 1989 *''The Dreaming Tree'', 1989 *''The Death of Love'', 1990 *''The Unquiet'', 1991 *''Dead Man Riding'', 1999 *''Death in the Desert'', 1999 *''Secret of Secco Canyon'', 1998 *''Rendezvous at Midnight'', 2004

Poems

*''Love's Many Faces'', 1979

Single novels with Clayton Matthews

*''Midnight Whispers'', 1981 *''Empire'', 1982 *''Midnight Lavender'', 1985

Casey Farrell Series with Clayton Matthews

#''The Scent of Fear'', 1992 #''Vision of Death'', 1993 #''Taste of Evil'', 1994 #''Sound of Murder'', 1994 #''Touch of Terror'', 1995

Anthologies in collaboration

*On Wings of Magic, 1994 (with Andre Norton and

Sasha Miller Sasha Miller is the pseudonym of American fantasy writer Georgia Myrle Miller (born October 15, 1933 in Erick, Oklahoma). She has also written under the names Georgia Sallaska, Myrle Benedict, and G. S. Madden. In 1958 and 1959 she published a t ...

)

As Laura Wylie

Single Novel

*''The Night Visitor'', 1979

References and sources

Patricia Matthews's Webpage
in Fantastic Fiction

in Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Website *International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004 by Taylor & Francis Group, Elizabeth Sleeman, Alison Neale {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Patricia 1927 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American romantic fiction writers American women novelists Writers from California 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers