Wenzell Brown was born on May 10, 1912 in Portland, Maine. He obtained his master's degree from Columbia University in 1940 and went on to teach at schools in Puerto Rico and China. His first book, Hong Kong Aftermath, published in 1943, was based on Brown's experiences during the fall of Hong Kong. He then began writing hard‐edged juvenile delinquent crime novels for publishers like Gold Medal and Popular Library. Brown also wrote true crime works and won the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his 1958 work, Women Who Died in the Chair. In later life he returned to his teaching career. Brown died in December 1981 in New York City.