Helen McCloy

Born 6 June 1904, New York, New York; died December 1992

Daughter of William C. and Helen Clarkson McCloy; married David Dresser, 1946 (divorced 1961); children: one daughter

Helen McCloy's father was managing editor of the New York Evening Sun; her mother wrote short stories under her maiden name. A Quaker, McCloy studied at the Brooklyn Friends School in New York. At fourteen, she published a literary essay in the Boston Transcript; at fifteen, she published verse in the New York Times. McCloy lived in France for eight years, studying at the Sorbonne in 1923 and 1924. McCloy was Paris correspondent for the Universal News Service (1927-31) and the monthly art magazine International Studio (1930-31). She also was London correspondent for the Sunday New York Times art section and wrote political sketches for the London Morning Post and the Daily Mail.

McCloy returned to the U.S. in 1931 and spent several years writing magazine articles and short stories. In 1938 she published her first mystery novel, Dance of Death, featuring her detective, Dr. Basil Willing, a psychiatrist and an expert in forensic medicine; he appears in many of what are considered her strongest novels.

McCloy was rather prolific, writing dozens of detection and suspense novels, short stories, and newspaper and magazine articles. She won Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine awards for the short stories "Through a Glass, Darkly" (reprinted in The Singing Diamonds, 1965) and "Chinoiserie" (reprinted in 20 Great Tales of Murder, 1951), and the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) for the best mystery criticism. In addition, she was the first woman president of MWA and was given the organization's highest honor, being named the Grand Master in 1989, one of only eight women at the time so honored.

In general, critics have preferred McCloy's novels of detection to the novels of suspense or terror. In her best works, McCloy's success in providing interesting characters and themes is matched with her ability in plotting.
- excerpts from encyclopedia.com