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Portrait image of Wilkie Collins

Sample of authors

Collins, Wilkie

The British author Wilkie Collins (William Wilkie Collins) wrote a series of extremely successful novels as well as a number of short stories and plays. T.S. Eliot later described his novel The Moonstone (1868) as "the world's first, longest and best detective story". Collins was one of the most popular authors of his time, both at home and abroad. He was close to Charles Dickens and a notorious...

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Literary figures

Philo Vance

Gender: Male

Conceited and garrulous but with a very good all-round education, he is an amateur detective featured in a dozen orthodox whodunnits by S.S. Van Dine (pseudonym for Willard Huntington Wright). Philo Vance come from a ‘fine’ family, is well educated, very rich, mainly spends his time collecting art etc. and writing scientific articles in various subjects. He is of average height, slim, elegant, wit...

Further reading