 Brown's first mystery novel, "The Fabulous Clipjoint", won the Edgar Award for outstanding first mystery novel.It began a series starring Ed and Ambrose Hunter, and depicts how a young man gradually ripens into a detective under the tutelage of his uncle, an ex–private eye now working as a carnival concessionaire.Many of his books make use of the threat of the supernatural or occult before the "straight" explanation at the end.