A Detectives Triumphs (1891) by Dick Donovan eleven intriguing detective short stories including: The Mystery of Surgeon-Major Palmer; The Great Ruby Robbery; The Abduction, etc. Dick Donovan is the pseudonym of British author James Edward Preston Muddock (28 May 1843 23 January 1934) who created a private detective, also named Dick Donovan, in the 1890s. Dick Donovan achieved an international reputation as the master sleuth, and is reputedly responsible for American detectives being known popularly as Dicks.