(1906-?)
McKnight was a chronic gambler and racetrack denizen, and a notable handicapper in his day who wrote for racing papers and magazines. Little more is known about his personal life. In his fifties, coming to the conclusion that his pen was a surer bet than the nags, he set up shop with Ace topics and started turning out paperback mysteries. Ace published all 11 of McKnight’s crime novels, about half of them set around the sleazy milieu of the racetrack, making amateur sleuths out of a horse trainer (Murder Mutuel), a track security consultant (A Slice of Death), and, of course, a handicap-per (Drop Dead, Please). The topics were caustic and amusing, and the inside info came straight from the horse’s mouth.
Works
- Bikini Bombshell, The (1959);
- Downwind (1957);
- Drop Dead, Please (1961);
- Flying Eye, The (1961);
- Homicide Handicap (1963);
- Kiss the Babe Goodbye (1960);
- Murder Mutuel (1958);
- Running Scared (1960);
- Slice of Death, A (1960);
- Stone Around Her Neck, A (1962);
- Swamp Sanctuary (1959)
