Walter S. (Walter Sidney) Masterman

Born in Wimbledon on December 19, 1876, Walter S. Masterman was an English author whose work ranged across mystery, fantasy, horror, and science fiction. Sources on his life agree on his broad career outline, and reference works note that he was educated at Tonbridge School and Weymouth College before entering Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was known as a football player.

Reference sources also describe him as a former army officer and place his fiction mainly in the interwar years. He wrote a run of thrillers and mystery novels in the 1920s and 1930s, often blending crime plots with sinister or supernatural ideas. That mix gave books such as The Yellow Mistletoe and other strange thrillers their distinctive tone.

He died in 1946. While he is not as widely known today as some of his contemporaries, he still has a following among readers who enjoy classic British crime fiction with an unusual, creepy edge.