Explore the Golden Age of Mystery
A curated archive of classic detective fiction, legendary authors, and timeless stories that defined the Golden Age of mystery literature.
Before The Golden Era
Edgar Allan Poe
Detective fiction in the English-speaking world is considered to have begun in 1841 with the publication of Poe’s
Charles Dickens
Another early example of a whodunit is a subplot in the novel Bleak House (1853) by Charles Dickens.
Wilkie Collins
Dickens’s protégé, Wilkie Collins – sometimes referred to as the “grandfather of English Detective Fiction”
Benjamin Farjeon
A prolific pre-golden age novelist who was said to be admired by Dickens. It is easy to see why. Farjeon’s Great
Arthur Conan Doyle
In 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, arguably the most famous of all fictional detectives.
E. C. Bentley
Edmond Clerihew Bentley was a journalist, novelist and sometime mystery writer. He only wrote three standalone
Bernard Capes
Bernard Capes was another prolific author of forty books including romances, history and at least fifteen mysteries.
The Golden Era 1920 - 1940
Agatha Christie
One of the Queens of crime fiction. 75 novels, 28 short story collections and The Mousetrap,
Dorothy L. Sayers
Another “Queen of Crime” with 18 books, several plays, movies and radio programs.
Margery Allingham
Margery Allingham, another of the four Queens of Crime (Christie, Sayers, and Ngaio Marsh
Ngaio Marsh
Ngaio Marsh is the fourth Queen of Crime. I have always considered Marsh a 1950’s and
Edmund Crispin
Edmund Crispin was the pseudonym for Robert Bruce Montgomery, an English crime writer
Josephine Tey
Josephine Tey was the pseudonym used by Elizabeth MacKintosh for her eight mystery
Michael Innes
Michael Innes was the pen name for John Innes Mackintosh Stewart, a Scottish novelist
Patricia Wentworth
Patricia Wentworth was the pen name of Dora Amy Elles, a prolific author of mystery and
Joseph Jefferson Farjeon
Son of Benjamin Farjeon, namesake of Grandfather Joseph Jefferson, 19th century
Cecil Street
Cecil John Charles Street originally wrote mystery novels as John Rhode whose
G K Chesterton
G.K. Chesterton was another prolific writer of 80 Books, numerous short stories, poems,
Anthony Berkeley Cox
Anthony Berkeley Cox wrote mystery novels primarily under the pen names Anthony
Freeman Wills Croft
Freeman Wills Croft was a mystery writer with some 35 books, numerous short stories,
Henry Wade
Major Sir Henry Lancelot Aubrey-Fletcher wrote under the pen name of Henry Wade. He
Georgette Heyer
Georgette Heyer (married name Rougier) was another prolific writer of more that fifty
Annie Haynes
Annie Haynes is a perfect example of the resurrection of reputation due to the availability
E. C. R. Lorac
E.C.R. Lorac is the pen name for Edith Caroline Rivett, a prolific author of golden age
G.D.H. and Margaret Cole
The Coles were a husband and wife writing team, somewhat unusual for the Golden Era.
A.A. Milne
A prolific author of plays, poems, magazine stories, and newspaper articles but best known
John Dickson Carr
This site is arbitrarily limited to writers from the United Kingdom with the single exception of
Ronald Knox
Father Ronald Knox was a brilliant Classics scholar at Eton College and Balliol College,
Francis Duncan
Golden Age mystery writer Francis Duncan was himself the source of a modern mystery.
R.A.J. Walling
R.A.J. Walling (1869–1949) was an English journalist who began writing detective novels late in
Victor L. Whitechurch
Victor L. Whitechurch, an English clergyman and author active in the early
Baroness Orczy
Baroness Orczy, best known for her swashbuckling Scarlet Pimpernel series, also
Anthony Wynne
Anthony Wynne (pseudonym of Robert McNair Wilson, 1882–1963), a Scottish-born doctor
Edgar Wallace
Edgar Wallace, dubbed the “King of Thrillers,” was a hugely prolific British author whose mysteries
After the Golden Era
Colin Watson
After the Golden Era, and to the present day, mystery novels have seen ever more graphic crime scenes and sexually explicit narratives.
Christianna Brand
Christianna Brand was a prominent British Golden Age mystery writer (1907–1988), celebrated for her clever plotting, psychological insight,
Clifford Witting
Clifford Witting (1907–1968) was an English mystery writer of the Golden Age tradition, best known for his 16 detective novels published between 1937 and 1964.