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      The Fabulous Clipjoint

      by Fredric Brown
      Published
      Jan 1948
      Main Genre
      Mystery Mystery
      Rating
      Pages
      132
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      Series
      An Ed and Am Mystery

      About This Book

      "Ingenious . . . Plunges the reader into a desperate, working-class America now better known through William Lindsay Gresham's precisely contemporary novel Nightmare Alley and such film-noir classics as Out of the Past and The Postman Always Rings Twice." —Washington Post

      "[Fredric Brown is] my favorite writer of all time." —Mickey Spillane

      When Wally Hunter is found bludgeoned to death in an alley in Chicago's near north side, his 18-year-old son, Ed, and carney brother, Ambrose, team up to find out who killed him. Winner of the 1948 Edgar Award, The Fabulous Clipjoint was Fredric Brown's first novel, launching the Ed & Am Hunter mystery series and establishing Brown as one of the 20th century's finest crime writers.

      "[Ed & Am are] an engaging pair of detectives . . . [Fredric Brown is] a real pro—a natural storyteller." —New York Times

      "[E]nough good people put Brown on their must-read lists and then become evangelists to keep his name alive on the same high shelf as Hammett, Thompson, Ross Macdonald, and other crime icons." —Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune

      Series Placement

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      Genres & Themes

      Genres

      Suspense

      Subgenres

      Mystery

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      First Edition Feb 2009 Blackmask.com ISBN 1596541199
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      Oct 1986 David R. Godine Publisher ISBN 0879235977
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      Jan 2001 Ballantine ISBN 0345252179
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      Apr 2013 Black Curtain Press ISBN 1617209880
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      Apr 2013 Black Curtain Press ISBN 1617209732
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      Nov 2021 Penzler Publishers ISBN 1613162545
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      Jan 1979 Gregg Press ISBN 0839825412
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      Feb 2002 RosettaBooks ISBN 0795303726
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      Jul 2010 RosettaBooks ISBN B003XRELWK
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      Sep 2011 Lulu.com ISBN 1447695046
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      Sep 2015 NightHawk Books ISBN B014TOF304
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      Oct 2016 Hauraki Publishing ISBN 1787201309
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      Oct 2016 Hauraki Publishing ISBN B06XJWST24
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      Jan 2019 Wildside Press ISBN B07N495MPP
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      Nov 2021 Penzler Publishers ISBN 1613162553
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      Feb 2026 Top Five Books ISBN 193893833X
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      May 2026 Transworld (UK) ISBN 1529981220
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      Jun 2009 Wonder Audiobooks LLC ISBN B002E04DWU
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