J. S. Fletcher

J.S. Fletcher English writer Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863 -1933) wrote more than 200 books on a variety of subjects, fiction and non-fiction, and was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the "Golden Age". He was born in West Yorkshire and raised by his grandmother on a farm. He studied law but became a journalist working as a London-based sub-editor. He later worked for the Leeds Mercury and Yorkshire Post covering Edward VII's coronation in 1902. He wrote numerous historical novels, many dealing with Yorkshire and was a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Fletcher wrote several novels of rural life beginning with The Wonderful Wapentake (1894). Michael Sadleir stated that Fletcher's historical novel, When Charles I Was King (1892), was his best work. In 1914, Fletcher wrote his first detective novel and went on to write more than 100 others, many featuring private investigator Ronald Camberwell.