author
E. C. (Edmund Clerihew) Bentley
1875–1956
Best known for the landmark mystery Trent’s Last Case, he also gave the world the playful poetic form called the clerihew. His writing mixes wit, elegance, and a light touch that helped shape both detective fiction and English literary humor.
2 Audiobooks
Trent's Last Case
by E. C. (Edmund Clerihew) Bentley
The Woman in Black
by E. C. (Edmund Clerihew) Bentley
About the author
Born in London in 1875, Edmund Clerihew Bentley was an English novelist, journalist, and humorist who usually published as E. C. Bentley or E. Clerihew Bentley. He studied at Merton College, Oxford, and became known early on for inventing the clerihew, a short, comic verse form built around a person's name.
Bentley is most closely associated with Trent’s Last Case (1913), a detective novel often described as a classic of the genre. Its charm comes not just from the puzzle, but from Bentley’s style: intelligent, amused, and willing to play with the expectations of a traditional mystery.
Alongside his fiction, he worked as a journalist and wrote light verse and essays, building a reputation as a man of letters with a sharp but friendly sense of humor. He died in London in 1956, leaving behind a body of work remembered for both literary wit and lasting influence.