Arthur J. (Arthur John) Rees

Born in St Kilda, Melbourne, in 1872, Arthur J. Rees worked in journalism before making his name in fiction. He spent time on the staff of The Melbourne Age and later the New Zealand Herald, bringing a newspaperman’s sense of pace and observation to his writing.

Rees is remembered chiefly for mystery and detective fiction. His novels include The Hampstead Mystery (written with John R. Watson), The Mystery of the Downs, The Shrieking Pit, The Hand in the Dark, and The Moon Rock. His stories often mix careful clue-based plotting with a touch of local legend and unease, giving them both puzzle value and atmosphere.

His work was well regarded in its day: Dorothy L. Sayers noted his skill as a crime writer in the introduction to Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror. Rees died in 1942, but his books remain part of the long tradition of classic detective fiction.