#stewart sterling

Stewart Sterling (Prentice Winchell), Five Alarm Funeral. Ace Books D-515, 1961. (First published 1942)

The detective whose exploits are dealt with in this story is Chief Fire Marshal Ben Pedley of New York. It is his duty to investigate all fires of incendiary origin and to apprehend the persons responsible for them.

Stewart Sterling (1895-1976) was the pseudonym of Prentice Winchell, who also wrote under the names of Spencer Dean and Jay de Bekker. Winchell was born in Illinois and worked as a journalist. He preferred to write about non-typical investigative bodies, the NY Harbor Police and Fire Brigade, for instance.