Anthony Berkeley Cox (Anthony Berkeley, Francis Iles) was a journalist with a satiric bent, a mystery critic, and a major detective story writer and innovator whose career and wit gave new life and appeal to the detective story form at the start of its Golden Age. He was also the founder of the first and most important mystery writers' organization, London's famous Detection Club, which is still in existence. His best and most famous works-The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929), Malice Aforethought (1931), Before the Fact (1932), and Trial and Error (1937)-are reprinted at frequent intervals.

Cox was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Unlike many authors, especially today, Cox disliked personal publicity and made strenuous efforts to protect his privacy. It is known that he attended University College, London, and served in the British army in France during World War I, and he is reported by several sources to have studied...