Lawrence L. Lynch
The life of detective writer Emily Murdock Van Deventer presents almost as many mysteries as her novels. Born in Oswego, Illinois in 1853, daughter of Justice of the Peace Charles Murdock, she grew up in a prosperous household, surrounded by books. After the American Civil War she wed theatrical agent Lawrence L. Lynch, though much of her life as an early adult is a mystery. Lynch was a theatrical agent, and the couple seem to have travelled around America during the 1870s; it is known that they were married in Lincoln, Nebraska, though most contemporaneous records suggest that they were resident in Cheyenne, Wyoming, around this time. As the daughter of a prominent citizen of Oswego, her travels were alluded to in passing in the gossip columns of the local newspapers, whenever she returned to her home town.
In 1879, then known as Emma Lynch, she published her first novel, Shadowed by Three, using her husband's name as a pseudonym. Lynch would go on to publish at least another twenty-two mystery and detective novels before her death, many of which were set in or around Chicago.
Emma Lynch married the doctor and American Civil War veteran Abraham Van Deventer in 1887 in Oswego. There is no record of how the relationship with her first husband ended, with different stories indicating that she was either divorced or widowed. Henceforth, she would use the name Emma Murdock Van Deventer, though she would retain the Lawrence L Lynch pseudonym for her novels. She remained in Oswego for the rest of her life, taking a prominent role in the social affairs of the town. Her final novel, A Blind Lead, appeared in 1912, with ill health forcing her to give up writing until her death, of a stroke, two years later.
The writing of Emily Murdock Van Deventer was noted, even at the time of the publication of her novels, for her strong female characters. The lead in Madeline Payne, the Detective's Daughter, is an early example of a fictional female detective, and her focus on such characters would continue through until the publication of A Blind Lead.