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Compliments of a Fiend

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In one of his books on the paranormal, Charles Fort wrote of the disappearance in Mexico of the author Ambrose Bierce. He then mentioned the disappearance (several years later and almost a continent away) of another man named Ambrose, and asked whether there might not be an Ambrose Collector at work.

It is against this backdrop that a gentleman calling himself Ambrose Collector telephones the Starlock Detective Agency asking for an operative who had experience with carnivals. Starlock dispatches Am(brose) Hunter, and he falls off the face of the earth.

When Ed Hunter begins to miss his Uncle Am, a mutual friend opines that he must have been gotten by the Ambrose Collector. With only this clue to go on, Ed begins the search for his uncle.

The investigation lurches along with no apparent progress, but all the while Ed is unwittingly gathering clues. When Ed solves the problem of the missing 45 minutes, the clues fall into place.

Now Ed must not only find his uncle, but also survive the discovery.

In addition to writing pulp detective fiction, Fredric Brown also wrote science fiction. Seemingly every one of his detective novels has some elements of science fiction. "Compliments of a Fiend" has the science fiction element at its very core.