William P. McGivern

Born in 1918, William P. McGivern was an American novelist and television scriptwriter whose career centered on mysteries, crime novels, and thrillers. He also wrote under the pseudonym Bill Peters, and sources credit him with publishing more than 20 novels.

McGivern is especially remembered for lean, hard-edged crime stories, including police procedurals that attracted attention beyond the page. Several of his works were adapted for the screen, which fits the direct, visual style readers often associate with his fiction.

He died in 1982. Though not as widely known today as some of his contemporaries, he remains a notable name in classic American suspense and noir-influenced popular fiction.