A master of ingenuity and plotting in both the short story and novel
who wrote psychological thrillers (sometimes featuring a private
investigator or an amateur sleuth), frequently dealing with the theme
of revenge.
A three-time winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe
Award. In 1981, he received the Myster Writers of America's Grand
Master Award.
His first published story, "The Specialty of the House," appeared in
1948 in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and won the Ellery Queen Award
for Best First Story.