Aka W.A. Ballinger Specializing in action noir, William Arthur Howard Baker got his break writing for the Sexton Blake series of detective thrillers in the mid 50's, eventually becoming an editor. He reused many of the plots from this popular set of stories for his own spy series. A penname of his was Peter Saxon.

Zenith Jones Brown was an American crime fiction writer who also wrote for a time in England. She wrote under the pseudonyms David Frome, Leslie Ford, and Brenda Conrad. She is perhaps best known for her novels featuring the fictional Grace Latham and John Primrose, though some of her earlier standalone work has been praised. She was born Zenith Jones in Smith River, California and grew up in Tacoma, Washington. Brown was educated at the University of Washington, and worked there as a teaching assistant from 1921 to 1923. She was also assistant to the editor and circulation manager for Dial magazine from 1922 to 1923. Brown began writing as “David Frome” in 1929 while staying in London with her husband. She returned to the United States in 1931, and the couple settled in Annapolis, Maryland. Brown used the pen name “Leslie Ford” for her mystery novels published in the United States. During World War II, she wrote several novels about nurses under the name “Brenda Conrad”. Brown was also a war correspondent for the United States Air Force in England and the Pacific. Her books often appeared in serial format in The Saturday Evening Post before being published. Brown also wrote short stories, which were published in various periodicals and anthologies. She married Ford K. Brown, a professor, in 1921. The couple had one daughter. Brown died at the Church Home in Baltimore at the age of 84.

John Laffin was a prolific author with nearly 130 books to his name. Many of his books concerned military history. Laffin's parents both served in WWI, his father in the 20th Battalion and his mother as a nurse. In 1940, aged 24, having worked with Smith's Weekly and The Wagga Advertiser, he enlisted in the 2nd AIF. He trained as an infantryman and later completed an officer course before serving in New Guinea. While convalescing in Sydney in 1943 he met his wife Hazelle. After the war Laffin worked for a number of newspapers and magazines, wrote short novels and began his own feature service and editing unit. With his family he left for England in 1956 where he resided for nearly 40 years. He wrote articles for Australian newspapers and taught English, history and geography in secondary colleges. Laffin traveled extensively in Europe, especially the Western Front areas of WWI and in the Middle East. He returned to Australia in 1995 but Hazelle developed heart problems and died in early 1997. He is survived by his two daughters, Bronwen and Pirenne, and a son, Craig.