Percy James Brebner

Born in Islington in 1864, he was educated at King's College School and worked in the Share and Loan Department of the Stock Exchange before turning to fiction. His books ranged across adventure, mystery, and romance, and his earlier novels were published under the name Christian Lys.

He is especially remembered for creating Professor Christopher Quarles, a scholarly master detective often compared with the great fictional sleuths of his era. Brebner's stories were widely read in magazines and books, and several of his titles have remained in circulation through public-domain archives.

He died in 1922, but his novels still offer a lively window into late Victorian and Edwardian popular fiction, with fast-moving plots, hidden schemes, and a strong taste for suspense.