After Holmes appeared, the scientific detective became all the rage. Either the detective went forth armed with his ruler and his magnifying glass, or he sat at home and thought about evidence which had been gathered by others. All of this was building up to the appearance of the Golden Age of mystery fiction.
C. L. Pirkis (1841 - 1910) In 1893, Pirkis published the first Loveday Brooke story in Ludgate Monthly magazine. This was the first story of a woman detective which was written by a woman. The Loveday Brooke stories were compiled into the book The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective in 1894. Catherine Louisa Pirkis also wrote romantic melodramas and was the author of fourteen books. The Loveday Brooke book was her last, and she retired from writing in 1894. The Experiences of Loveday Brooke may be found at Manybooks
George R, Sims (1847 - 1922) In 1897, Sims published Dorcas Dene, Detective: Her Life and Adventures. This book was so popular that he published another collection of Dorcas Dene stories the next year. Dorcas Dene had been an actress before becoming a professional detective and she has a "Watson" named Saxon who writes of her adventures. Sims was a prolific writer and wrote more than 30 plays. His biography may be found at BookRags. More about Dorcas Dene may be found at the Golden Age of Detection website.
Robert Barr (1850 - 1912) - Barr wrote offbeat and ironic mysteries which featured his detective Eugene Valmont who was arrogant and impeccable. It has been said that Valmont was the inspiration for Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. Barr was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His family moved to Wallacetown, Ontario in 1854. Barr attended Toronto Normal School and earned a teaching certificate in 1873. He taught in schools in Wallacetown and Windsor. He had submitted articles to The Detroit Free Press and in 1876, he went to work for the Free Press. In 1881, he established a branch of the paper in London. In 1892, he and Jerome K. Jerome founded The Idler, a glossy magazine which was a great success. Barr's first book of short stories was published in 1883, and his first novel was published in 1894. The Triumphs of Eugene Valmont was published in 1906.
Robert Barr - More biographical information, and many short stories may be found at this site of The Literature Network
R. Austin Freeman (1862 - 1943). British physician, author, and creator of Dr. Thorndyke, an early scientific detective.
who was introduced in The Red Thumb Mark (1907). In the book The Singing Bone (1912), Freeman also invented the "inverted" detective story in which the reader witnesses the crime. The emphasis of the book is thus on how the murderer will be caught instead of who the murderer is. Freeman was born in London, and studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons. He worked as a physician in Africa for seven years, but returned to England because of his poor health which eventually forced him to give up medicine completely.
R. Austin Freeman - a biography and links to his writing available online from The Literature Network.
ManyBooks - has several Freeman books in e-book format.
Arthur Morrison (1863 - 1945). Morrison was a dramatist, journalist, art expert, and author. He was born in London, and worked as a journalist before the publication of Tales of Mean Streets was published
in 1894. This book and others he wrote depicted the life of the people of the slums of London, and were instrumental in bringing about social reform. He is best know for his detective stories about Martin Hewitt, a
private detective. Hewitt is similar to Holmes in his method of solving crimes, though he lacks the strong personality of Holmes. Martin Hewitt, Investigator (1894) is the first book of Hewitt stories.
For more information and bibliography, take a look at the Arthur Morrison pages at the Art in the Blood web site. ManyBooks has several of Morrison's books.
Melville Davisson Post (1869 - 1930). Post was born in Romines Mills, West Virginia. He grew up in a rural environment, and graduated from West Virginia University. He practised criminal law for eleven
years, and was active in politics. Post is best known for his short stories, and was quite a successful writer in his day. He is perhaps best known for the characters of Uncle Abner, an upright man who lived
during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, and for Randolph Mason, a crooked lawyer. For more biographical information.. Some of his books may be found at ManyBooks.
Israel Zangwill (1864 - 1926). Zangwill was the son of Russian Jewish refugees who migrated to London. He devoted his life to promoting Jewish causes. He also supported women's suffrage, and opposed the League of Nations. His Big Bow Mystery (1891) was the first novel-length locked room mystery.
His biography is available from the Virtual Jewish Library and some of his books are available at ManyBooks.
Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1865-1947). Hungarian-born Baroness Orczy wrote a series about the Old Man in the Corner. This detective solved crimes by logic alone and only rarely left the corner of his favorite London tea shop. She also wrote a series of stories about Lady Molly Robertson-Kirk who heads the "Female Department of Scotland Yard" (1910). Baroness Orczy is also the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
ManyBooks - You will find Lady Molly and other books here.
E(rnest) W(illiam) Hornung (1866-1921). English born author who married Constance Doyle, the sister of Arthur Conan Doyle. Hornung was in poor health most of his life, but in spite of this he served in World War I. Hornung's most famous character is Raffles, the gentleman crook who first appeared in The Amateur Cracksman in 1899. Hornung had lived in Australia for three years, and used the background that he acquired there to write several novels about crime in
Australia.
His biography may be found at The Literature Network.
E. Phillips Oppenheim(1866- 1946) English author of mystery, crime, and espionage novels. Oppenheim wrote over 100 novels, and did very well financially. His stories often told of life among the rich which was something which he was enjoying himself.
E. Phillips Oppenheim - A biography and some of his works online. From the Literature Network
Ernest Bramah (1867 - 1947). Author of stories
featuring Max Carrados, a blind detective, and novels about the Chinese detective Kai Lung. Bramah was born in Manchester, England. Bramah dropped out of high school to become a farmer. When farming failed, he turned to journalism. First, he worked for a small newspaper, and then became the secretary to the publisher Jerome K. Jerome. He left that position to became an editor for a magazine for clergymen, and held this position for the rest of his life. While he held this postion, he started writing mystery stories. His first novel, The Wallet of Kai Lung was published in 1900. He was an avid coin collector and wrote a book on English copper coins.
Many Books - Several of his books are available here.
Gaston Leroux - (1868 - 1927). Author of The Mystery of the Yellow
Room (1907) which is the first mystery in which the person investigating the crime is the murderer. Leroux is also the author of
The Phantom of the Opera (1911).
Gaston Leroux - a biography and links to online works from The Literature Network.
ManyBooks - Several of Leroux's books are available.
Sexton Blake was one of the most popular fictional detectives of the early 20th century. Sexton Blake stories were written by several authors and first appeared in 1893. Blake was a pulp fiction version of Sherlock Holmes with an office on Baker Street in London. There were also movies and TV shows of Blake stories.
Sexton Blake - This story of the Sexton Blake publications.
Jacques Futrelle (1875-1912). American journalist and author who is best known for his stories featuring Professor Van Dusen (the Thinking Machine). Futrelle was born in Pike County, Virginia. He worked for the Boston American in which many of his stories appeared. Futrelle died when the Titanic sank. His wife, May, survived.
The Proceedings of Old Bailey London - Proceedings of trials from 1674 - 1913. This is a work in progress and not all years have been entered yet. There is background information about this period and a section for teachers who wish to use it with their classes.
Dying Speeches and Bloody Murder - Crime broadsides collected by the Harvard University Law Library. These are penny papers published in the 1800's describing crimes and executions.
Some Southern Broadsides - Early crime broadsides from the Southern States. This is from a blog by Laura James.
The Word on the Street - Broadsides from the National Library of Scotland covering the period between 1650 and 1910. You will find quite a few about crime and bodysnatching.
Papers Past - A digitised collection of New Zealand newspapers from 1840 to 1915. This collection may be searched for any crime of interest to you.
Dime Novels and Penny Dreadfuls - Popular reading from 1860 to 1920. These were an inexpensive way to read crime stories. This site is by Stanford University.
Why We All Love a Victorian Murder - "Sexual repression, dark alleys, great detectives, ornate prose. No wonder the 19th century is our template for crime fiction". This is an article by James McCreet in The Guardian, May 15, 2011.
Classic Crime Fiction - Author biographies and bibliographies, articles on the history of the mystery novel, and book cover illustrations. This site is well worth a visit.
Mystery Timeline - Introduction to the
history of mystery novels.
Det.Novel - A history of the detective novel. This site is by William Marling.
Crime Fiction - A database of authors and detectives
with lists of works and links to related web sites. Many authors of the Golden Age are listed
here.
The Mystery File - This site has book reviews, author interviews, and mystery readinglists. There are also articles on older mystery novels, mystery series, and TV mystery characters.
Mysteries in Foreign Lands - The history of mystery novels in non-English speaking countries. This is by G. J. Demko.
The Golden Age of Detection Wiki - Information about authors and books, but since this is a wiki, the reader should question the reliability of the information.
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Hungarian-born Baroness Orczy wrote a series about the Old Man in the Corner. This detective solved crimes by logic alone and only rarely left the corner of his favorite London tea shop. She also wrote a series of stories about Lady Molly Robertson-Kirk who heads the "Female Department of Scotland Yard" (1910). Baroness Orczy is also the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
History of the Mystery Novel