Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born in London, England in 1875. He received his early education at St. Peters School and the Board School, but after a frenetic teens involving a rash engagement and frequently changing employment circumstances, Wallace went into the military. He served in the Royal West Kent Regiment in England and then as part of the Medical Staff Corps stationed in South Africa. Over the rest of his life, Wallace produced some 173 books and wrote 17 plays. These were largely adventure narratives with elements of crime or mystery, and usually combined a bombastic sensationalism with hammy violence. "The Black Avons" is a novel by this pioneer of crime fiction. Fast-paced, with good twists and turns, an unusual criminal scheme.