author
Annie Haynes
1864–1929
A little-known pioneer of British crime fiction, she wrote brisk, cleverly plotted mysteries in the 1920s that still feel fresh. Her books helped shape the early detective novel, with a sharp eye for suspense and human motive.
1 Audiobook
The Crow's Inn tragedy
by Annie Haynes
About the author
Annie Haynes was a British mystery writer, born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, in September 1864 and dead on March 30, 1929. Sources agree that very little is known about her life, but they do show that she came from a family connected to Leicestershire and later lived in London, where she moved in literary circles.
Her first crime novel, The Bungalow Mystery, appeared in 1923 and was a success. She went on to write a run of detective novels during the 1920s, including books featuring Inspector Stoddart, and her work is now often seen as part of the early development of Golden Age crime fiction.
Haynes's career was cut short by her death in 1929, but her novels have been rediscovered by modern readers through reprints. A contemporary publisher devoted to reviving classic crime notes that no known photograph of her survives, so a verified portrait could not be confirmed.