DIVDIVDIVCollin Wilcox (1924β1996) was an American author of mystery fiction. Born in Detroit, he set most of his work in San Francisco, beginning with 1967βsΒ The Black Doorβa noir thriller starring a crime reporter with extrasensory perception. Under the pen name Carter Wick, he published several standalone mysteries includingΒ The Faceless ManΒ (1975) andΒ Dark House, Dark RoadΒ (1982), but he found his greatest success under his own name, with the celebrated Frank Hastings series./div
Hastings, a football player turned San Francisco homicide detective, made his debut inΒ The Lonely HunterΒ (1969), and Wilcox continued to follow him for the rest of his career, publishing nearly two dozen novels in the series, which concludes withΒ Calculated RiskΒ (1995). Wilcoxβs other best-known series stars Alan Bernhardt, a theatrical director with a habit of getting involved in behind-the-scenes mysteries. Bernhardt appeared in four more books after his introduction in 1988βsΒ Bernhardtβs Edge./div/div