Photo: AP / TT
Sample of authors
Hammett, Dashiell
American detective writer, born in St. Mary's County in Maryland. He grew up in Baltimore where his family moved when he was seven years old. Dashiell Hammett dropped out of school when thirteen and got on with odd jobs before ending up a private detective at Pinkertons. He worked as a detective primarily in San Francisco and then used his experiences in his novels. During the First World War,...
Literary figures
Melita Pargeter
Gender: Female
Mrs Melita Pargeter refuses to accept that her deceased husband was the man he was: a smart thief and fraudster. He left her a fortune and a promise from his gang to help her. She is, says author Simon Brett, a friendly, white-haired elderly lady, whose ample appearance hides a will of steel, great stubbornness and a sharp tongue – which makes her a formidable amateur detective.