Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was an English writer Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at 12. He joined the army at 21 and was a war correspondent during the Second Boer War for Reuters and the Daily Mail. Struggling with debt, he left South Africa, returned to London and began writing thrillers to raise income, publishing books including The Four Just Men (1905). This thriller by Edgar Wallace is a perfect example of the Edwardian era's suspense novels which were the most popular form of fiction after the pulp romances of that time. Great plot and pacing.