Anniversaries, 10 November
John P. Marquand
The American author John Phillips Marquand was born in Wilmington, Delaware. His parents were wealthy, but they lost their fortune in the financial panic of 1907 and were forced to move to Panama – Marquand’s father was a canal engineer – and Marquand was left in the care of his eccentric aunts. He then attended Harvard on a grant, which made him a socially inferior student at the prestigious university. After graduating in 1915, he began to work as a newspaper reporter.
Marquand published his f...
Anniversaries, 10 November
Patricia Wentworth
"Patricia Wentworth" was born Dora Amy Elles in Mussoorie, India, during the British Raj. Her father was an army officer, and like her brothers she was sent to school in England. After attending Blackheath High School, London, she returned to India where she married George F. Dillon, an army officer, in 1906. He died the same year, leaving his wife with three stepsons and a newly born daughter.
Mrs Dillon moved back to London and became an author. She had an instant breakthrough with A...
Theme article
History of crime fiction
By: Johan Wopenka
Literary figure
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...