[Gutenberg 29331] • The Crevice

William J. Burns (1861-1932) is known for being the director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) (predecessor to the FBI) from 1921 to 1924. As a young man, Burns performed well as a Secret Service Agent and parleyed his reputation into the William J. Burns International Detective Agency, now a part of Securitas Security Services USA. A combination of natural ability as a detective combined with an instinct for publicity made Burns a national figure. His exploits made national news, the gossip columns of New York newspapers, and the pages of detective magazines, in which he published true crime stories based on his exploits. Isabel (Egerton) Ostrander (1883 or 1885-1924) was a popular American author of detective fiction, writing 40 novels and detective stories, and cinema scenarios, though nowadays she is almost forgotten. She wrote under many pseudonyms including Christopher B. Booth, Robert Orr Chipperfield, David Fox and Douglas Grant. Her works include: At One-Thirty (1915), Crevice (also titled: The Lawton Mystery) (with William J. Burns) (1915), The Heritage of Cain (1916), The Clue in the Air (1917), Island of Intrigue (1918) and Suspense (1918).