Edmund Clerihew Bentley was born in London in 1875; he won a
scholarship to Merton College, Oxford and it was while studying Law
in London that he began writing for various newspapers and
magazines. Although called to the Bar in 1902, most of his working
life was spent at the Daily Telegraph, although he ‘retired’ from
journalism in 1934, with the outbreak of WWII and the call-up of
younger men, he returned as literary critic in 1939, eventually
leaving in 1947.
He made the acquaintance of G. K. Chesterton while at school and
they remained lifelong friends. Later in their lives, both also
were destined to be President of the Detection Club. Bentley
contributed to the early collaborative efforts of the Detection
Club, Behind the Screen and The Scoop in 1930 and 1931; and in 1938
edited an impressive anthology, The Second Century of Detective
Stories. But his reputation as a detective story writer rests
almost entirely on his first detective novel. He died in London in
March 1956.
‘I won't waste time saying that the plot is sound and the detection satisfying. Trent has not altered a scrap and reappears with all his old humour and charm.’ Dorothy L. Sayers
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