Dorothy B. Hughes
(1904–1993) was a mystery author, award-winning poet, and literary critic. She published fourteen novels, the best known of which are In a
Lonely Place and Ride the Pink Horse. Both were made into
successful films. Her work
had a major influence on other mystery writers of the postwar era, and the
movies they inspired remain among the most respected of their genre. She was
especially influential on the next two generations of female mystery writers. In the early 1950s, she largely stopped writing fiction,
preferring to focus on criticism. She
reviewed mysteries for the Los Angeles
Times, New York Herald Tribune, and
other papers and earned an Edgar
Award for Outstanding Mystery Criticism. In 1978 the Mystery Writers of America presented her with the Grand
Master Award for literary achievement.
