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Publication Order of Frank Burly Books
| The Time Machine Did It | (2004) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| How I Conquered Your Planet | (2006) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Exploding Detective | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Dead Men Scare Me Stupid | (2008) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Earth Vs. Everybody | (2009) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Last Detective Alive | (2010) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Fifty Foot Detective | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Million Dollar Policeman | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Detective Made Easy | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Monster That Wouldn't Sink | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Earth's Biggest Fan | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Burly Go Home | (2017) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Spy With No Pants | (2021) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Dead Detective Mountain | (2023) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Double Wonderful | (2005) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Animal Report | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Squirrel Who Saved Practically Everybody | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
John Swartzwelder is an American comedy writer and novelist. He is probably most recognized for his work on The Simpsons, one of the most popular animated television shows of all time.
John was born in Seattle, Washington. He started out his career working in advertising in Chicago. While he was there, he would end up writing a novelty song that became a hit at the local club scene. He would later be hired to work on Saturday Night Live as a writer in the mid-eighties. He would also contribute to the Army Man magazine by fellow writer George Meyer, which ended up leading to him joining up with the original writing team for The Simpsons, starting in 1989. He would develop a multi-million dollar pilot episode in 1996 for a comedy Western series.
He would be part of The Simpsons as a writer and producer until 2003. He would also later be part of The Simpsons movie. He has written the most episodes for The Simpsons with 59 full episodes and contributions made to many others over any other writer. Most of those episodes were written in the first ten seasons of the show, which was referred to often as the golden age for the show. Once he retired from the show, he started a career writing self-published absurdist novels. He is known for the Detective Frank Burly series, which started out with The Time Machine Did It. He has also written books such as The Squirrel Who Saved Practically Everybody, a standalone.
John is held in high esteem among fans of comedy and his colleagues. He is known as well for being reclusive. His first interview was given in 2021 to The New Yorker.
He promoted the latest book in his Detective Frank Burly series ‘Dead Detective Mountain’ in 2003 with the author coming onto the scene via jet pack and going on to sign copies at the Mall of America’s Barnes & Noble store.
Earth’s Biggest Fan is story 9.2 in the Frank Burly series by John Swartzwelder. This is a story that introduces readers to the main character of Frank Burly for the first time. He’s a detective who is slow-witted but has the gumption to get the job done. What will happen in this adventure? Read this book to find out!
Burly Go Home is the tenth book in the Frank Burly series by John Swartzwelder. The adventures of Frank Burly continue as he tries his best to solve cases in this absurd rollicking story that fans of mystery and humor will love.
Book Series In Order » Authors »


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