Today is November 2, the birthday of Ed Gorman (1941-2016). Gorman mostly wrote in the mystery and dark suspense genres, but he also wrote fantasy and science fiction, usually under the name Daniel Ransom.

Gorman wrote at short lengths as well as novels. For an excellent sampling of his shorter dark fantasy stories, check out the collection The Dark Fantastic. As much as I like his novels, I like his shorter work even better.

Gorman wrote series novels as well as stand-alones. His best-known series is probably the Sam McCain novels. They start at the end of the nineteen fifties and end in the sixties. All of the titles are song titles from the fifties and sixties.

My personal favorite series, though, are the four Robert Payne books. They are more traditional detective stories than the McCain books.

If you haven’t read Gorman, check him out.