The Time Machine Did It

"The Time Machine Did It" (ISBN 0-9755799-0-8) is a novel by American writer John Swartzwelder, known for his writing for the animated television series "The Simpsons". The novel was published in 2004.

Combining elements of science fiction and detective stories, Swartzwelder presents a comic novel full of jokes and humorous situations. The main character is a klutzy detective named Frank Burly and his pursuit of a time machine.

This was Swartzwelder's first book. It was followed by in what became a series of novels featuring Burly: "How I Conquered Your Planet" (2006, ISBN 0-9755799-4-0), and "The Exploding Detective" (2007).

Its title appears to be a reference to the famous mystery fiction revelation, "The butler did it!".

During one of the commentary tracks for the Complete Seventh Season of The Simpsons, David S. Cohen said that John was a novelist and that he had two books out on Amazon. They were The Time Machine Did It, and Double Wonderful. He recommends that you read The Time Machine Did It first, but they are just so funny that it is like another universe packed with like 200 pages of nothing but Swartzwelder jokes. He also adds "Your head will explode".