Soji Shimada is credited with the revival of the Golden Age style of mystery writing in Japan:the New Orthodox or Shin Honkaku style.. The publication of his masterpiece The Tokyo Zodiac Murders in 1981 challenged the social school of writing dominant at the time and encouraged a new generation of Golden Age authors. Would that the same had happened here….
One of only a handful of French mystery writers to produce short stories (the others being Maurice Leblanc, Pierre Boileau and Paul Halter), Pierre Very is best known to French locked room fans for his prize-winning Le Testament de Basil Crookes and Les Quatre Vipères.
M. Török is a versatile and well-respected figure in French cultural circles. He is a celebrated film critic, radio producer and film director of note, having been nominated for the Golden Palm for Best Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival for La Ligne de Sceaux. In addition to his directorial talents, he also wrote the screenplay for A Bad Son. He is equally well-known in literary circles, his biography of Pierre Benoit, author of l’Atlantide, having been honored by the Académie française.
Paul Halter was born in Hagenau, Alsace, in 1956. He pursued technical studies before joining the French Marines in the hope of seeing the world. Disappointed with the lack of travel, he left the military and, for a while, sold life insurance while augmenting his income playing the guitar in the local dance orchestra. he gave up life insurance for a job in France Telecom and, upon discovering the writings of John Dickson Carr, gave up the guitar for the pen.
Paul Halter, a Master of Locked Rooms.
Paul Halter’s own website
