Carter Dickson

Carter Dickson is a pseudonym used by the esteemed American author John Dickson Carr, who was a significant contributor to the mystery and thriller genres. He was born on November 30, 1906, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and passed away on February 27, 1977, in Greenville, South Carolina. Dickson was known to use various pen names, including Carr Dickson, Roger Fairbairn, and Carter Dickson, to publish his works. He is highly regarded for his extensive collection of detective stories and is considered one of the most notable writers of the Golden Age mystery novels. His writings are characterized by intricate plots filled with puzzles and intellectual challenges.

Dickson was heavily influenced by the works of authors Gaston Leroux and G. K. Chesterton. He was particularly known for his expertise in locked room mysteries, a subgenre of detective fiction that features impossible crimes that are solved by detectives. One of his most acclaimed novels, "The Hollow Man" (1935) from the Dr. Fell mystery series, is widely regarded as his masterpiece and was selected as the best locked room mystery of the era by a panel of 17 reviewers and mystery authors in 1981.

In addition to modern-day mystery novels, Dickson also wrote historical mystery novels. During his writing career, he lived in England for many years, which allowed him to form close relationships with British-styled writers of mystery. As a result, many of his novels have plots based on English settings, estates, and country villages, as well as English characters. The two most famous fictional detective characters created by Dickson, Dr. Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale, are both English.