Jonathan Wyatt Latimer (1906-1983) was an American author of hard-boiled mysteries. He was born in Chicago and educated in Arizona and Illinois. In 1929 he became a reporter and later a Hollywood scriptwriter. After serving with the Navy in WWII he returned to Hollywood and ultimately wrote scripts for many detective films and TV shows, including the Perry Mason series. He was married twice, to Ellen Baxter Peabody (1937) and Ann Hanzlik (1954). His series detective was a PI called Bill Crane. Latimer also wrote under the pseudonym "Peter Coffin".

Bill Crane books

Headed for a Hearse (1935)

The Lady in the Morgue (1935)

Murder in the Madhouse aka The Westland Case (1935)

The Dead Don't Care (1938)

Red Gardenias aka Some Dames Are Deadly (1939)

Dark Memory (1940)

Solomon's Vineyard aka The Fifth Grave (1941)

Sinners and Shrouds (1955)

Black is the Fashion for Dying aka The Mink-Lined Coffin (1959)

As Peter Coffin

The Search for My Great-Uncle's Head (1937)