Willard Huntington Wright

Before he became famous for detective fiction, Willard Huntington Wright was active in New York's avant-garde cultural world as an art critic and editor. He later adopted the pen name S. S. Van Dine, at first to conceal his identity, and used it for the mystery novels that made him widely known.

His lasting claim to fame is Philo Vance, the highly cultivated amateur sleuth at the center of a popular series of novels. Those books were a major success in the 1920s and 1930s and helped shape the classic American detective story, with their emphasis on clever deduction, style, and elaborate murder puzzles.

Born in 1888 and dying in 1939, Wright left behind a body of work that connects two literary worlds: serious criticism and bestselling crime fiction. Readers who enjoy golden-age mysteries still know him for the wit, polish, and intricate plotting of the Philo Vance books.