author
Kay Cleaver Strahan
1888–1941
A sharp, early mystery writer from Oregon, she is best remembered for creating crime analyst Lynn McDonald and for winning a major detective-fiction prize in the late 1920s. Her work sits comfortably in the classic puzzle-mystery tradition, with a clear eye for suspense and structure.
2 Audiobooks
Footprints
by Kay Cleaver Strahan
The Desert Moon mystery
by Kay Cleaver Strahan
About the author
Born in La Grande, Oregon, on January 4, 1888, she became an American writer of short stories and mystery novels. She was especially associated with detective fiction during the interwar years, when clever plotting and tightly worked-out mysteries were winning devoted readers.
She created the character Lynn McDonald, a "crime analyst" featured in her fiction. Her novel The Desert Moon Mystery was published as the first title in Doubleday's Crime Club line, and her locked-room mystery Footprints won the 1928 Scotland Yard Prize.
She died on August 14, 1941. Though not as widely known today as some of her contemporaries, her work remains of interest to readers who enjoy Golden Age mysteries and the history of women writing crime fiction.