Mystery writer John Dickson Carr was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania in 1906. As early as high school, he was writing stories for the school magazine. He was sent to a prep school and then to Haverford College, but left after two years. In 1927, he went off to travel in Europe. During all this time, he was writing stories. On his return to Pennsylvania, he thought to make a career in writing crime fiction. In 1929, after the publication of his first novel, “It Walks by Night,” he moved to Brooklyn Heights. There he became dependent upon alcohol, a dependency that stayed with him throughout his life.
In 1932, he married Clarice Cleaves. She became pregnant and they decided to move to England, where they lived until the war. A prolific writer, Carr wrote novels, short fiction, plays and radio scripts. He became most identified with the locked room mysteries. He died in 1977 of cancer. | ||
Plot & Themes job/profession: Job/profession/poverty story Yes Period of greatest activity? - 1900+ Subject of Biography Gender - Male Profession/status: Ethnicity - White Nationality - American Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 2 () United States Yes The US: - Northeast Europe Yes European country: - England/UK Century: - 1930's-1950's Writing Style If this is a kid's book: - Age 16-Adult Pictures/Illustrations? - More 6-10 B&W How much dialogue in bio? - little dialog How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 51%-75% of book |