Dennis Lynds

Dennis Lynds (1924-2005) was a renowned author of mystery fiction. Raised in New York City, he earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart during World War II, before returning to New York to become a magazine editor. He published his first book, a war novel called "Combat Soldier", in 1962, before moving to California. Under the pseudonym Michael Collins, Lynds published the Edgar Award-winning "Act of Fear" (1967), which introduced his best-known character: the one-armed private detective Dan...See more

Dennis Lynds (1924-2005) was a renowned author of mystery fiction. Raised in New York City, he earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart during World War II, before returning to New York to become a magazine editor. He published his first book, a war novel called "Combat Soldier", in 1962, before moving to California. Under the pseudonym Michael Collins, Lynds published the Edgar Award-winning "Act of Fear" (1967), which introduced his best-known character: the one-armed private detective Dan Fortune. The Fortune series would last for more than a dozen novels, spanning three decades, and is credited with marking a more politically aware era in private-eye fiction. Besides the Fortune novels, the incredibly prolific Lynds wrote science fiction, literary fiction, and several other mystery series. He died in San Francisco in 2005. See less