That year he married Tina Hager and began working as a civilian chief clerk of surplus property at March Air Force Base[4] in Riverside, California.

The first Shell Scott mystery, Case of the Vanishing Beauty, was published in 1950.

It would be the start of a long series that numbered more than three dozen titles featuring the Shell Scott character.

At Prather's death in 2007, he had completed but not published his last Shell Scott Mystery.

Prather's wife, Tina Hager, died in April 2004 after 58 years of marriage.