Patricia Moyes (1923-2000) was an acclaimed British mystery novelist, best known for her long running series featuring Inspector Henry Tibbett. The tenth book in the series, Who Saw Her Die?, was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe award, and Moyes was inducted into The Detection Club, presided over by Agatha Christie, in the same year. Her early career also included work as a radar operator in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force; as a screenwriter – with credits including the Robert Hamer film School for Scoundrels and Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected –; as an assistant editor for Vogue magazine; and as a translator.

Roseanna Hall is the pseudonym used by Sarah J. Mason for the Exmoor Harbour Tale series, to distinguish these books from her seventeen titles in the bestselling Miss Seeton mystery series which she wrote under the pen name Hamilton Crane – and the eight further mysteries under her own name. Her titles in the Miss Seeton series have sold over 300,000 copies to date. The first Roseanna Hall was Sarah’s grandfather’s grandmother.

Alan Alexander Milne (1882-1956) was born in London. He was a regular contributor to Punch, and later, assistant editor, before the interruption of active service in the First World War. A remarkably versatile writer, Milne went on to become a hugely successful and widely-known playwright, both in the West End and on Broadway, as well as an essayist, poet, novelist and – most famously – children’s author, as the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh.