Charles Felix

Charles Felix was the pseudonym of Charles Warren Adams (1833–1903), an English lawyer, publisher, and writer. He is now widely identified as the author of The Notting Hill Mystery, first serialized in 1862–63 and later published as a book in 1865. The novel has earned a lasting place in literary history because it is often regarded as one of the first full-length detective novels in English.

Adams was also involved in the publishing world through Saunders, Otley & Co., and his background in law may help explain the unusually documentary style of his fiction. The Notting Hill Mystery is told through letters, reports, interviews, and other evidence, giving it a case-file feel that still stands out today.

Although not much about his personal life is widely recorded, his reputation has grown steadily as readers and critics have looked back at the origins of crime fiction. For modern listeners, he is an especially interesting figure: a once-shadowy Victorian author whose experiment with mystery storytelling helped shape a whole genre.