William Matthew Scott (1894-1964) was an English artist. He was born in Yorkshire and began as a caricaturist and cartoonist. He produced more than 2000 short stories for magazines, and wrote a popular series of children's books. One of his series detectives was a tramp called 'Giglamps', but his best-known character was a chubby and indolent sleuth called Disher.
Mike Grost on Will Scott
Will Scott's "Clues" (1929). A gem. A real puzzle plot mystery, with a clever solution. It is especially hard to see where Scott's piece is going; it is full of classic misdirection. Scott's Giglamps (collected 1924) are highly recommended by Douglas G. Greene, and his three 1920's novels featuring the detective Disher are also prestigious. The "Clues" of the title are pieces of physical evidence, of the kind much beloved by R. Austin Freeman. However, the plotting style of the story seems much closer to Agatha Christie and the other intuitionist writers. I will have to read a lot more Scott to find out where he falls.
Bibliography
Giglamps (1924)
Disher-Detective (1925) aka The Black Stamp
Shadows (1928)
The Mask (1929)
Clues (1929)
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.