His Name Was Death

by Fredric Brown

The title comes from Revelations 6:8, which in the King James Version says, "And I looked, and behold a pale and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him."
Hook is that each section starts with "His name was" or "Her name was." The book begins, "Her name was Joyce Dugan, and at four o'clock on this February afternoon she had no remote thought that within the hour before closing time she was about to commit an act that would instigate a chain of murders." The last section, just a couple of pages long, begins, "His name was Death, and he waited for ____."
After Dugan, the focus moves around a few other people, primarily her boss, Darius Conn, who runs a print shop. The year before he'd killed his wife and gotten away with it, and now he's feeling bold and very confident. He's got a plan, and no-one's going to get in his way.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Noir, Pulp, Classics, United States

141 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Fredric Brown was an American science fiction and mystery writer. He was one of the boldest early writers in genre fiction in his use of narrative experimentation. While never in the front rank of popularity in his lifetime, Brown has developed a considerable cult following in the almost half century since he last wrote. His works have been periodically reprinted and he has a worldwide fan base, most notably in the U.S. and Europe, and especially in France, where there have been several recent movie adaptations of his work. He also remains popular in Japan.

Never financially secure, Brown - like many other pulp writers - often wrote at a furious pace in order to pay bills. This accounts, at least in part, for the uneven quality of his work. A newspaperman by profession, Brown was only able to devote 14 years of his life as a full-time fiction writer. Brown was also a heavy drinker, and this at times doubtless affected his productivity. A cultured man and omnivorous reader whose interests ranged far beyond those of most pulp writers, Brown had a lifelong interest in the flute, chess, poker, and the works of Lewis Carroll. Brown married twice and was the father of two sons.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best known for his science fiction, Brown also wrote quite a few crime fiction novels, short original pieces that are worth reading. “His Name Was Death” was published in 1954 and is a short quick read. It is a comic caper novel about an ordinary guy who gets away with murder and lets his cleverness go to his head. Soon he has changed from being a mild-mannered printer to a criminal mastermind who keeps compounding his troubles with new crimes, each one designed to cover up the previous caper. His schemes get madder and madder until finally the house of cards can’t stand anymore.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you haven't read Fredric Brown's work, you are missing something truly exquisite. Considering that the guy absolutely hated to write, what's come out of his brain is genius. His Name was Death makes two by Brown that I've read; between this one and Here Comes a Candle, the second one was far more intense and had me heebie-jeebied all the way through, but both are super books. Now waiting in the bullpen is Homicide Sanitarium -- oh god, what a great name! -- which I'm dying to crack open soon. That should give you an inkling of how much I like this author. Better known for his SF stories, Fredric Brown is a top-notch crime writer as well.

1940s Los Angeles is the setting for this very small book, with an opening line that whets your appetite right from the start:

"Her name was Joyce Dugan, and at four o'clock on this February afternoon she had no remote thought that within the hour before closing time she was about to commit an act that would instigate a chain of murders."

It isn't long until we find out who Joyce Dugan is and what she's done to "instigate a chain of murders," albeit unwittingly. Acting out of friendship, she starts a series of events that ends up in a gut-punching shocker of a finish. At the printing shop where she works one day, in walks Claude Atkins, one of Joyce's old boyfriends from high school. He's not there to see Joyce, but to pick up a check from Joyce's boss, Darius Conn, with whom he'd recently swapped cars with a little extra coming from Darius to make up for the difference. Joyce decides to give him money out of the petty cash box but there's not enough, so after a call to her boss, she writes out a check. But Atkins needs cash for the weekend. Just then Joyce remembers the envelope full of money in the office safe; she has Atkins endorse the check and pulls out $90 in brand new ten dollar bills, leaving the signed-over check in the envelope. Now everyone's happy. But wait.

When Darius gets back to the office he discovers what Joyce has done and it's a big problem. The money Joyce gave Claude just happened to be counterfeit, part of a batch Darius was planning to parlay into a net profit of about $2500. The printing office is a front for his operation, and Joyce has just given nine of his newly-printed test bills to someone who, if he was caught with the fake money, would know just where it came from. Darius can't take that chance:

"He had to get that money back from Claude Atkins. Somehow. No matter what the risk of doing that, it couldn't be any greater than the risk of doing nothing or the risk of running.
Get it without killing if possible, but kill if that turned out to be the only way.
He'd got away with murder once, hadn't he?"

His plan: to improvise, to take the opportunity when it knocks -- even if it means he has to kill. Darius is still proud of himself -- the reader discovers early on that he's gotten away with murdering his wife just a year earlier -- so he figures if saving himself prison time for the counterfeit money means he has to kill again, well, it's what he has to do. He still gloats inwardly about having fooled the cops and acting the grieving husband; he even got to be friends with the detective handling his wife's murder case. The rest of the novel follows Darius as he tries to retrieve his fake funds -- but well, even quick-thinking Darius can't predict the hitches along the way.

Considering the edge of darkness that you ride as you read through the novel, Brown is very economic in terms of story telling -- the novel is sleek, with absolutely nothing unnecessary weighing down the plot, a lesson many modern crime novelists really need to learn. The dimly-lit, seedy bars along with the city streets and back alleys of Los Angeles give an honest feel for place and time which enhances the story. He manages to hold you in suspense all along the way without resorting to the burdensome backstory to make his characterizations work, there is no unnecessary exposition, and there's even a good measure of black, sardonic humor thrown into this book. And then the classic Fredric Brown ending -- well, it's truly what you would least expect.

Highly, highly recommended.

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Limited to 200 copies, signed by Ed Gorman and illustrator Gwabryel. Introduction by Ed Gorman.

This is copy 184 of 200 signed numbered copies.

[Simon Wigzell · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first non-science fiction novel by Brown. As long as I've been reading sci-fi I've liked his short stories with their twists and the satirical novels, but it wasn't until I accidentally stumbled upon "His Name Was Death" in the shape of a very cosy old pocket book at a book sales a few days ago that I decided to give his hardboiled stories a chance.

I'm glad I did because this quick read is an almost perfect little package. It's written from different characters' perspective but it is undoubtedly about the murderer Darius Conn, whose first murder is more or less accidental (or however you want to put it), after which he realizes that it wasn't that hard to do a criminal act → he decides to change his life through less than legal means.

What follows is something reminiscent of some the Coën brothers' movies, like "Blood Simple" or "Miller's Crossing": A small insignificant act snowballs into a cascade of violence, all through what Conn thinks of as following the only logical choice if he wants to continue his career/life. A gives B gives C, and there is no time where he can jump of the destiny storm sweeping him along.

The book encourages you to read it fast and that is for the best because I'm not sure the ending makes sense if you really think about it, but I cannot fault the book for that. It's not meant to be read slowly and analyzed, but instead intended for a thrilling evening's read. It's very much in the vein of other hardboiled entertainment from the era with lots of boozing at bars, driving of cars (drinking and driving is never a problem here), and allusions to sex (I was honestly a bit surprised at how outspoken the novel is about sexual desire, from men & women alike). So no real surprises there; if you are fine with the genre this is a very nice example of it. And there is even a little of the Fredric Brown I know from science fiction with that ending I mentioned, so hooray for that 😉

[Holger Haase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favourite Brown but even an average Brown is head and shoulders above most other authors and I enjoyed it enough to read it one sitting (which for me is a rare occasion). It's got a fantastic format. Every chapter is through the eyes of a different character (and often victim) and contains a twist that I had genuinely no idea was going to come.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Methodical (sometimes maddeningly so) and brilliant.

[Ben Loory · Rating 3 out of 5]

another really fun book by fredric brown. this one sorta dissolves when you think about it afterward (what exactly was the guy's plan??), but the idea is great and i really enjoyed the frantic thinking-in-circles... for a while.

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 2 out of 5]

This 1954 thriller was sadly not thrilling.

A man who owns a print shop murdered his wife a year earlier after catching her in bed with another. He committed the crime and was never suspected. Now he figures he's due to make some money, much more than his shop has ever produced, so he decides to print up some counterfeit tens and pass them off. Unfortunately, his one employee cashes a check for a friend and twenty of the fake tens are out of his hands. Now he has to get them back, and he's more than willing to kill anyone that can trace him to the funny money.

This had an excellent premise, but too much time is spent in different characters' points of view and the story just slogs along. I will say that the twist of the final chapter is outstanding, but it took too long to get to this payoff.

Not a long book, only 120 pages, but definitely not a great book.

[Randy Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Excellent Crime Thriller That Delves Into The Mind Of A Murderer

In this thriller, Brown follows a murderer as he plots and carries out a series of killings of people he hardly knows just to cover up yet another crime he’s engaged in. The chapters, all told in the third person, jump from character to character to tell the story in a fast-paced and entertaining way. But we spend a lot more time with the killer than anyone else, and this allows Brown to delve into his way of thinking and the way he justifies his crimes. It’s a fascinating portrait of a man who kills out of what he perceives to be necessity but is really just fear. The novel also has a well-plotted and satisfying ending. Any fan of crime fiction should enjoy this book.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is a lot of fun. It's slightly overwritten even at the small length it is, but that's a small complaint, and there is a reason for it, somewhat. Darius Conn had killed his wife a year ago and got away with it by a stroke of luck. He now thinks he is a master criminal and has started counterfeiting after making a 10 dollar bill plate. Though his assistant at the print shop mistakenly uses some of the counterfeit bills to pay off someone for him, and that starts a series of crimes, including more murder to try and cover up.

Highly recommended, it has a great ending that I didn't see coming.

[Williwaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This enjoyable, short novel of 1954 was recently reprinted by Centipede Press in a fancy, limited edition. I was familiar with Fredric Brown as the author of countless witty, short science fiction stories; and as an author who had a penchant for surprise or ironic endings. Until reading this book, my intake of Brown was limited to his science fiction offerings.

So when I saw this book on the Centipede Press website, I thought perhaps I should purchase it and see why it was worthy of being reprinted in a limited, cloth edition. I also wanted a taste of how Brown would handle a crime story.

One very nice feature of the Centipede Press edition is that about 33 original paperback covers and hardback dust jacket covers from early editions of Brown's work are reproduced in color on the first few pages. I'm a sucker for vintage book cover design, and there are lots of great examples here, so I'm definitely swooning over this.

But enough of form. Let's get to the substance. "His Name Was Death" is written in a clean, simple style. Perhaps the most interesting thing about it is Brown's frequent change of viewpoints. The reader spends a fair amount of time in the heads of about nine different characters. Three of them end up dead, but only after the reader has had time to get attached to them (except for the murderer, who is absolutely psychopathic). Brown paints very convincing portraits of each character. With the exception of the murderer, they are completely ordinary, innocent, working-class folk with simple goals.

"His Name Was Death" is an expertly crafted crime novel that in some ways reminds me of the work of Cornell Woolrich (in particular, "The Bride Wore Black," which also uses the technique of shifting viewpoints of soon-to-be murder victims, and also pulls a surprise ending). In a nutshell, the whole plot emerges from the crime of printing counterfeit money, and the criminal's attempts to cover his tracks after some of the money gets distributed accidentally.

If you like intricately plotted crime novels, this would definitely be your cup of tea. It's heavy on interior monologue, so it lacks the atmospheric description that you'd expect to find in the novels of Chandler or Goodis. But this is nevertheless a highly entertaining book with an unforgettable ending. Take it to the beach if you can find a cheap copy! You won't regret it.

[Michael Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A "Roman noir" without a femme fatale. A story illustrating how serendipity is the puppeteer of our lives.

Counterfeiting, young love, greed and hubris make for a potent cocktail of murder and mayhem. (The events reminded me of the farcial parties on the sit-com FRAZIER - detailed and smug planning are no guarantee of success.)

A quick read set in 1951 Los Angeles; I half expected DRAGNET'S Joe Friday to drop by seeking "Just the facts, Ma'am".

My copy is from the BLACK LIZARD series of hard-boiled reprints. Highly recommended.

[Two Envelopes And A Phone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darius Conn owes Claude Atkins some money. Atkins stops by Conn’s place of business to collect, but Conn isn’t there. Instead, he gets to catch up with old flame and young widow Joyce Dugan, who works for Darius Conn. Claude and Joyce get re-acquainted - this even results in a date to meet again - and Joyce gets some cash out of the boss’s safe, after calling for permission to settle the debt. Claude leaves happy, especially because he talked Joyce out of issuing him a cheque. This is the catalyst for a murder spree…

It was fun re-reading this one decades later, after discovering the Brit sort-of versions of this - anything from Mr. Bowling Buys A Newspaper, to Malice Aforethought, to even A Judgement in Stone. But this one has a wonderful structure all its own: it almost made me read Accordion Crimes, by Proulx. I had so much fun watching the money, or portions of it, move from character to character in His Name Was Death, that I thought “well, maybe it would be fun to read a novel that follows wherever an accordion goes”. I never did read Accordion Crimes, maybe if it had been an alto sax or a sackbut…

So yeah, when that money gets out in the world by a fluke (when it should have been a cheque), it stays the focus of the narrative, as perspective shifts between various characters that come into contact with it. It quickly becomes apparent that we are bouncing between murderer and potential victims, and more than that, Brown is weaving many threads together to make the reader a sweater by the end. Though this never really qualifies as a whodunit, there is a heck of a final twist; I wish that I had forgotten the surprise at the end of this one, as well as the twist at the conclusion of The Far Cry, as that is the only thing that came close to marring both these re-reads. Fredric Brown’s much-appreciated curse: I can’t ever forget his best final revelations.

The Far Cry was the first Fredric Brown novel I ever read - the Black Lizard line of Crime novels available in the 1980s provided a wide selection of unknowns to young me, and for whatever reason, I ignored Whittington, Cain (no, the other one), Marlowe, and all the other options, in favour of Fredric Brown. Had not heard of him, didn’t know anything about his writings. The Far Cry impressed me - I even felt a physical chill at the final reveal - and I lent it to someone who loved it even more than me. In fact, their assessment made me appreciate it more…just as I was getting to His Name Was Death. When I finished His Name Was Death, I felt totally blown away - decades later, and I have re-read the pair of them. The Far Cry is a terrific achievement, but even now, I think His Name Was Death has the edge simply because More Happens. The Far Cry is not slight, or slow, or draggy, or padded (at that page count, how could it be!?)…but His Name Was Death has all the inventiveness and shock-value of The Far Cry, but - what can I say - More Happens. How many murders can a murderer commit before anyone looking from the outside can see the tiny poisonous particles that bind the randomness together? Or is this one with a clean getaway…?

I’m a diehard Fred Brown fan…so of course I say if you can’t get ahold of His Name Was Death, The Far Cry is not a case of settling. Or if these two elude you, get Knock Three-One-Two, or Night of the Jabberwock, or Madball, or The Screaming Mimi, or The Fabulous Clipjoint, or Murder Can Be Fun, or Here Comes A Candle. But always keep an eye out for His Name Was Death. It has survived the re-read as one of my Ten favourite Crime & Mystery novels I ever read.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I take a peculiar pleasure in reading books that were published in 1954, the year I was born. This thriller was published in 1954. Brown was a very good professional writer. He pumped out a stream of mysteries, thrillers, and science fiction novels and short stories. He had a macabre sense of humor and a sharp fast paced style.

This novel is about Darius Conn. He is introduced on page 8. "You would never in a thousand years guess that he was a murderer and a criminal. You would have thought him dull, plodding, and honest. And up to the time when a year ago almost to the day, he had killed his wife, you would have been completely correct."

The murder of his wife sets him off. When he gets away with it, he decides he is smart enough not to be a sucker anymore. The rules don't apply to him. He begins meticulously planning a big caper. He runs a printing office which is a natural cover for counterfeiting.

The clerk in his shop makes an innocent mistake which could expose his plan and put him in jail. He decides, in his new cold-blooded persona, that he has to clean up the mess in any way necessary.

Brown unwinds the plot twist by twist. He captures the marginal Los Angeles post-war world. A good mechanic made $50 a week and a room was twenty bucks a month. Everybody was hustling and $90 was a big amount of money. The story lurches from bars to cheap hotels to boarding houses.

Brown sets up a group of sympathetic characters who are stalked by Conn, without ever knowing about it. Unlike most 1950s novels with this kind of title, this is not a particularly gory story, but it is very creepy.

Brown ends with a solid surprise ending that I did not see coming. Another solid 1954 book.

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darius Conn has managed to get away with murder. He killed his two-timing wife and lucked out with his alibi. Now he's decided that crime will work for him. He's started forging money, but his well-meaning secretary accidentally gives several of the notes away. Conn has to recover them, and if it means another murder or two - so what?

We follow his path as he tries to cover up his crimes and understand that events are spinning out of his control as he thinks just another murder will set things right. Fredric Brown is an absolute master at this kind of tale, and this is one of his best.

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read several Frederic Brown titles. In those (including The Murderers) Brown takes great interest in getting inside the heads of the killers, who all are convinced of their plan's ultimate success and cleverness. It inevitably backfires in a surprise ending.

[Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great one from the out of print, under-appreciated writer.

[Amethyst Travis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy it.

[Saretta · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever, as usual!

It takes skill to create such a great mystery in 120 pages. I couldn't stop reading until I was done!

[David Way · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid short book with a great ending!

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet, one of the best crime novels from the fifties. Darius Conn owned a small print shop and, when his secretary innocently cashes a check from cash in the safe, it sets Conn off on a series of murders to cover it up and recover the counterfeit money he was making before it could get out.

Basically an honest businessman up until he murdered his shrew of a wife the year before, and gotten away with it, the next murder wasn't as hard, And the next.

The ending took me by surprise. Didn't see it coming.

[Kamakana · Rating 3 out of 5]

241110: great hook, great plot, great economy with words. maybe i would prefer the characters more fully drawn, the sentiment less cliche. but then plot is all that matters. propulsive. absurd. very black humor. very fun in a macabre way, this recount of a murderer’s thoughts. good to the last page.

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not one of Fredric Brown's cult following and realize they will never understand my reaction of this skillfully written book, which is mild annoyance. It is overblown, overdemanding of my credulity, and the plot is overdeveloped, which is to say, contrived. Venerate Brown all you want, and I can't deny Brown's skill in developing this story or as a stylist, but I'll get off here, please.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A noir classic with a simple yet effective formula.

[elderfoil...the whatever champion · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wicked procession of events that follows Death through marriage, bars, dates, jobs..........and, of course, murder.

[Gabriel Hardman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lean, smart book that ranks with Patricia Highsmith's work. Among the best crime/suspense novels I've read.

[Irishgal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great twisty little yarn that is so good at capturing a long ago time period

[Clifdisc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is infinitely more fun if you imagine the protagonist is Walter White. Still, I found the book a bit tedious.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating little book, loved the flow of the story and the twist at the end.