Carolyn Wells

Carolyn Wells, (18621942), was a prolific American writer remembered largely for her popular mysteries, children's books, and humorous verse. Completing her schooling she worked as a librarian for and her fondness of puzzles led to her first book, At the Sign of the Sphinx (1896), a collection of charades. She followed with books of verse and stories for girls.

From 1900 Wells gave herself entirely to literary work, and over the next four decades she produced a flood of books, some 170 titles that fell into several genres: children's stories, mystery and detective stories, anthologies, and humorous and nonsense writings.

Wells was especially noted for her humour, and she was a frequent contributor of nonsense verse and whimsical pieces to such little magazines as Gelett Burgess's The Lark, The Chap Book, The Yellow Book, and The Philistine.