Anniversaries, 1 November
Arthur Morrison
Arthur Morrison was one of Britain's best-known authors around the turn of the last century on account of his realistic portrayals of London's East End and his stories about the private detective Martin Hewitt.
Morrison was born in Poplar, a working-class district in London's East End. His father was an engine fitter. Morrison was ashamed of his background, and he later invented details about his childhood and parents. As a result, little is known about his early life except that he did...
Theme article
History of crime fiction
By: Johan Wopenka
Literary figure
Tom Thorne
Gender: Male
Tom Thorne is a middle-aged, somewhat worse for wear detective inspector in London. In the early books he is dull and conventional. However, his creator, Mark Billingham, has subsequently turned him into a multi-faceted character with bad as well as good qualities. He is persistent and conscientious, but he can also be short-tempered, grumpy and prone to making disastrous mistakes. Well into the...