Romances from a Detective’s Casebook Series by Dick Donovan

J.E. Preston Muddock, born in England during the year 1843, wrote under the name Dick Donovan for his thriller and juvenile audiences. Muddock himself was a man who often attempted to shroud himself in mystery, creating lies about himself and distributing them to the public, such as claiming the wrong birthdate (1842, instead of 1843). Since his death, however, more truths of his life have come into the public eye, such as the fact that Muddock spent many years in Calcutta, India, and studied civil engineering. He also worked for the East India Company up until the Indian Mutiny, an event that would impact much of his writing. He died in 1934.