BOOK TALK # 69

Fletcher Flora…

Fletcher Flora was born in Parsons, Kansas in 1914. Flora began writing soon after returning from World War II. His crime and mystery short stories and novels were published in magazines like Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Mr., Cosmopolitan, and in Alfred Hitchcock’s mystery anthologies. He received the Cock Robin Mystery Award for his first hard cover novel, Killing Cousins in 1960. Flora wrote over 150 short stories and 13 novels during his writing career. Three of his works are published under the house name, Ellery Queen. Timothy Harrison was also a pseudonym for his work, Hot Summer.

• Most of Fletcher Flora’s book covers were from paintings by the well-known artist Robert Maguire.

“Quite a few empty beer cans accumulated in the passing of quite a bit of time, and at some point in the passing of the time, Jolly came over and lay down on the ground with her head in my lap. Sid lifted his arm from his eyes and looked at us and lowered his arm again and entered another period of not moving. Fran and Harvey kept talking with each other, and every once in a while Fran would rub a hand over Harvey’s whiskers for the sensation it gave her.”

From The Brass Bed, 1956

Fletcher Flora was born in Parsons, Kansas, in 1914, and educated at the University of Kansas. He married Betty Ogden in 1940 and they had three children. After being drafted into the Army during World War II—serving as a sergeant in the Far East and sustaining severe injuries—Flora was appointed an educational adviser to the Dept. of the Army at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he taught military prisoners until 1963. A liberal Democrat, Flora began his writing career in 1950 with a series of sardonic short stories, and wrote his first novel in 1954 called Strange Sisters, a lesbian‐themed story of mental breakdown. This was the first of 21 character‐driven, off‐beat novels, including three "Ellery Queen" mysteries, in addition to over 150 published short stories. Flora passed away from a heart attack in 1969.

“It doesn’t please me to abuse you. I am only telling you what I believe, as you asked me to, and I will tell you that Jason believes it also. In some details, however, he is mistaken. He thinks that I may be an accessory, which is not true, and he thinks that Sid was killed because he tried to blackmail you for money, which is also not true. He was killed, as I am certain, because he tried through his knowledge of the drowning of Kirby to make a place for himself in your fine brass bed.”

From The Brass Bed, 1956

Correction: Apparently the book “The Brass Bed,” is a reissue by Wildside Press, though the book design leaves little to be desired.

~Theresa Griffin Kennedy