William Francis is the pseudonym of William Francis Urell, born January 26, 1913, in Wyoming. He published his first short story at age 15, and a few years later began to appear in magazines like Collier's. In 1942 he created a Los Angeles detective named Anthony Martin, written in the style of Jonathan Latimer. Francis wrote three Martin mysteries then went on to create another detective, Steve Cash, for Lion Books. Though he published over 20 short stories, he only wrote five novels. The Corrupters was his last novel, published by Lion in 1953. Francis died on February 3, 1979 in Orange, California.