Milton K Ozaki

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Milton K. Ozaki (June 14, 1913 – November 7, 1989) was a Japanese American writer of pulp fiction mysteries. He also wrote under the name Robert O. Saber.

Life Story

Ozaki was born in Racine, Wisconsin to a Japanese father (Jingaro Ozaki, who later changed his name to Frank) and an American mother, Augusta Rathbun. He lost a leg as a young child. In addition to his work as a writer and journalist, he operated a beauty parlor (the Monsieur Meltoine beauty salon, in the Gold Coast section of Chicago). Ozaki and his wife Dolores B. Ozaki lived at 6314 Fifth Avenue in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In the 1970s, he operated phony mail-order colleges, including the Colorado State Christian College and Hamilton State University, and he was also involved in a company marketing a device fraudulently claimed to increase gas mileage. He died in Reno, Nevada.

Writing Career

Ozaki was the author of approximately two dozen popular mid-20th century detective novels under both his given name and the pseudonym Robert O. Saber, and was one of the first American mystery writers of Japanese descent. His novels are set in the fictional, mid-sized southeastern-Wisconsin city of Stillwell, Wisconsin, which is actually a barely disguised Kenosha.

Novels

Title Year Notes
The Cuckoo Clock 1946 Also published under the title "Too Many Women" (1947)
A Fiend in Need 1947
The Ram of Aries 1947
The Black Dark Murders 1949 Also published under the title "Out Of The Dark" (1954)
The Affair of the Frigid Blonde 1950 Also published under the title "The Deadly Blonde" (1953)
The Deadly Lover 1951
The Scented Flesh 1951
The Dummy Murder Case 1951
The Dove 1951 Also published under the title "Chicago Woman" (1953)
No Way Out 1952 Also published under the title "Borrowed Time" (1955)
Murder Doll 1952
The Deadly Pickup 1953
Murder Honeymoon 1953
City of Sin 1952
Dressed to Kill 1954
Too Young to Die 1954
Shake Hands With The Devil 1954
Maid For Murder 1955
A Dame Called Murder 1955
Marked For Murder 1955
Model for Murder 1955
Sucker Bait 1955
Never Say Die 1956
A Time For Murder 1956
Case of the Deadly Kiss 1957
The Case of the Cop's Wife 1958
Wake Up and Scream 1959
Inquest 1960
Too Cute To Kill Unknown

Games

Milton K. Ozaki also designed a dice game, Murder Dice, which was similar to Yahtzee and was based on the events in a murder trial.