George (Bell) Dyer (1903-1978), American Author. Three of his novels feature the Catalyst Club, a group of six amateur detectives who investigate murder collectively in San Francisco and criticize one another's inferences. “The club is a catalyst in crime, resolving criminal problems without itself being altered, just as a literal catalyst in chemistry.” Dyer was born on April 12, 1903 in Washington, D.C. He attended Yale University, where he was on the staff of The Record and wrote for The Alumni Weekly. After graduation, he moved to California, where he worked as a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner (1929-1930). In 1930, he started his first novel, got married, and moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His first detective novel, The Three-Cornered Wound, was published in 1931. His second, The Five Fragments (1932), served as the basis for the motion picture, Fog Over Frisco (1934), starring Bette Davis. Dyer also worked as an instructor in political science (1950-1967), wrote military nonfiction, and founded the Dyer Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies. He died in New Hope, Pennsylvania on November 8, 1978.

Bibliography

The Three-Cornered Wound (1931)

The Five Fragments (1932)

A Storm Is Rising (1934)

The Catalyst Club (1936)

The Long Death (1937)

Adriana (1939) aka The Mystery of Martha’s Vineyard

The People Ask Death (1940)