Helen McCloy was born in New York City in 1904, daughter of a writer and a newspaper editor. Having read Sherlock Holmes as a young girl, McCloy retained an interest in mysteries and began to write them in the 1930s, after a career in journalism. Her first novel, Dance of Death, was published in 1938 and featured psychologist sleuth Dr Basil Willing, who appeared in twelve of her novels and several short stories. In 1950 she became the first woman to serve as president of Mystery Writers of America. In 1953 she received an Edgar from the same organization for her critiques. Her last book - featuring Dr Basil Willing - was published in 1980 and she died in 1994.