Stephen Marlowe

Stephen Marlowe (1928–2008), born Milton Lesser, was an American author celebrated for his prolific contributions to crime fiction, science fiction, and literary novels. Best known under his Marlowe pseudonym, he created the enduring private detective Chester Drum, who appeared in over two dozen novels between the 1950s and 1970s. These books, including Homicide Is My Game and Violence Is My Business, blended classic hardboiled tropes with Cold War–era intrigue, often sending Drum into international settings. Marlowe's crisp prose, sardonic wit, and psychological depth distinguished him from many of his pulp contemporaries. Beyond crime fiction, he wrote historical and biographical novels, notably The Memoirs of Christopher Columbus, which won international acclaim. Over a five-decade career, Marlowe published more than fifty books under his own name and various pseudonyms, leaving a legacy as one of the most versatile and inventive American writers of his generation.