Dorothy B. Hughes (August 10, 1904 May 6, 1993) was an American crime writer,

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. ...

, and historian. Hughes wrote fourteen crime and detective novels, primarily in the

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

and noir styles, and is best known for the novels ''

In a Lonely Place ''In a Lonely Place'' is a 1950 American film noir directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, produced for Bogart's Santana Productions. The script was written by Andrew P. Solt from Edmund H. North's adaptation of ...

'' (1947) and '' Ride the Pink Horse'' (1946).

Early life

Born Dorothy Belle Flanagan in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

, she studied

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...

and after graduating from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

with a B.J. degree in 1924 worked in that field in

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. She did graduate work in journalism at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

and at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

without receiving degrees from either institution.

Career

Hughes's first published book, ''Dark Certainty'' (1931), a volume of poetry, won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition. In 1940, she published her first mystery novel, ''The So Blue Marble''. She published eight more mystery novels in the 1940s. She also wrote a history of the University of New Mexico and a critical study of writer

Erle Stanley Gardner Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of nonfiction b ...

. In 1951 she received an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

in the category of Outstanding Mystery Criticism, and in 1978 she was given the MWA's Grand Master award. Hughes acknowledged the influence of such writers as

Eric Ambler Eric Clifford Ambler OBE (28 June 1909 – 22 October 1998) was an English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels, who introduced a new realism to the genre. Also working as a screenwriter, Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for bo ...

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

, and

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...

. Her writing style and suspenseful plots exemplify the hardboiled genre of crime and detective novels, and her literary career associates her with other female crime writers of the 1940s and 1950s, such as Margaret Millar, Vera Caspary, Elisabeth Sanxay Holding, and Olive Higgins Prouty. In his afterword to a reissue of her last novel, '' The Expendable Man'' (1963),

Walter Mosley Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is an American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private inv ...

wrote that her fiction "captures an unease under the skin of everyday life in a way that is all her own."'' The Expendable Man, ''NYRB, New York, 2012 Hughes was a successful writer and popular during her day. Three of her novels were made into feature films: ''

The Fallen Sparrow ''The Fallen Sparrow'' is a 1943 American spy film starring John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, Patricia Morison, and Walter Slezak. It is based on the novel of the same name by Dorothy B. Hughes. Nazi spies pursue an American, John "Kit" McKittrick, ...

'' (1943), starring

John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle, March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...

; ''

'' (1950), directed by Nicholas Ray and starring

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

; and '' Ride the Pink Horse'' (1947), directed by and starring Robert Montgomery, which was remade for television in 1964 as '' The Hanged Man''. Hughes made her home in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label= Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. The name “S ...

, which she used as the setting of several novels. From 1940 to 1979 she reviewed mysteries for '' The Albuquerque Tribune'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', the ''

New York Herald-Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'' and other newspapers. Over the course of her career, she wrote a total of fourteen novels, the majority of which were published between 1940 and 1952.

Death

Hughes died on May 6, 1993, in

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 ...

, from complications following a

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

Published books

*''Dark Certainty'' (1931) – poetry *''Pueblo on the Mesa: The First Fifty Years of the University of New Mexico'' (1939) *''The So Blue Marble'' (1940) – her first novel *''The Cross-Eyed Bear'' (1940) – later published as ''The Cross-Eyed Bear Murders'' *''The Bamboo Blonde'' (1941) *''The Fallen Sparrow'' (1942) – filmed in 1943 *'' The Blackbirder'' (1943) *''The Delicate Ape'' (1944) *''Johnnie'' (1944) *''Dread Journey'' (1945) *''Ride the Pink Horse'' (1946) – filmed in 1947; ''

Robert Montgomery Presents ''Robert Montgomery Presents'' is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950, until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its eight-year run, and the title was altered to feature the ...

'' TV series, "Ride the Pink Horse" episode, 1950,

remade Bas-Lag is the fictional world in which several of English author China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic (referred to as "thaumaturgy") and steampunk technology exist, and is home to many intelligent races. It is in ...

in 1964 as '' The Hanged Man'' *''The Scarlet Imperial'' (1946) – also published as ''Kiss for a Killer'' *''

'' (1947) – filmed in 1950 *''The Big Barbecue'' (1949) *''The Candy Kid'' (1950) – ''Climax'' TV series, "Spider Web" episode in 1958 *''The Davidian Report'' (1952) – also published as ''The Body on the Bench'', 1952; ''Robert Montgomery Presents'' TV series, "The Davidian Report" episode, 1952 *''The Expendable Man'' (1963) – republished by

Persephone Books ''Persephone Books'' is an independent publisher based in Bath, England. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone Books reprints works largely by women writers of the late 19th and 20th century, though a few books by men are included. The ...

, 2006 *''Erle Stanley Gardner: The Case of the Real Perry Mason'' (1978) – critical biography

References

External links