Moray Dalton was the pen name of Katherine Mary Deville Dalton Renoir, a renowned English author born in Hammersmith, London, in 1881. She was the only child of a Canadian father and an English mother. Dalton began her writing career with two well-received early novels, "Olive in Italy" (1909) and "The Sword of Love" (1920), but her career in crime fiction did not start until 1924.
Dalton's crime fiction writing was particularly notable, as she published twenty-nine mysteries, the last one in 1951. The majority of these works featured her recurring sleuths, Scotland Yard inspector Hugh Collier and private inquiry agent Hermann Glide. Dalton's writing was well-received during her lifetime, and she was included in the list of major English crime writers of her time. Her fans used to finish reading her novels in just two nights, attesting to her ability to keep readers engaged and hooked.
In addition to her writing, Dalton was also a wife and mother. She married Louis Jean Renoir in 1921 and had a son a year later. The family lived on the south coast of England for the majority of her life following the marriage. Dalton's writing career came to a close in 1951, and she died in Worthing, West Sussex, in 1963. Despite her success during her lifetime, Dalton is now included among the forgotten mystery writers, a sad reality that often befalls even the most talented of authors. Nevertheless, her contributions to the genre of crime fiction remain significant, and her works continue to be read and appreciated by fans of the genre.