Zangwill, the son of Latvian and Polish immigrants, was born in London's East End and showed literary promise as early as eighteen. A teacher for some years after he graduated from London University, he eventually left the profession to write full-time, publishing hundreds of essays, as well as novels, short stories and plays produced in London and New York. His work concentrated on political, social and Jewish issues but The Big Bow Mystery was his only venture into detective fiction.
Dr John Curran is a lifelong fan of Golden Age detective fiction and one of Ireland's foremost experts on classic crime.
For many years he edited the official Agatha Christie Newsletter and helped to establish the Agatha Christie Archive. He was consultant to the National Trust during the restoration of Greenway House and wrote his doctoral thesis on the Golden Age of Detective Fiction at Trinity College, Dublin. His two volumes about Agatha Christie's notebooks won three major US mystery awards (the Agatha, Anthony and Macavity), and his history of Collins' Crime Club, The Hooded Gunman, was nominated for an Edgar and won the 2019 H.
R. F. Keating Award for best critical book related to crime fiction. He set up the annual Bodies from the Library conference at the British Library and is in demand as a speaker and lecturer on Agatha Christie from his home in Dublin.
For many years he edited the official Agatha Christie Newsletter and helped to establish the Agatha Christie Archive. He was consultant to the National Trust during the restoration of Greenway House and wrote his doctoral thesis on the Golden Age of Detective Fiction at Trinity College, Dublin. His two volumes about Agatha Christie's notebooks won three major US mystery awards (the Agatha, Anthony and Macavity), and his history of Collins' Crime Club, The Hooded Gunman, was nominated for an Edgar and won the 2019 H.
R. F. Keating Award for best critical book related to crime fiction. He set up the annual Bodies from the Library conference at the British Library and is in demand as a speaker and lecturer on Agatha Christie from his home in Dublin.













