John Ferguson (1871-1952) was a Scottish clergyman, playwright, and mystery writer. John Ferguson was born at Callander, Perthshire, but has made his home in many sharply contrasted places, from the misty isle of Skye to the sunlit island of Guernsey. And though now a resident in the New Forest near Lymington he lived for six years in the grim Dunimarle Castle in Fife, where Macduff's wife and child were murdered by Mac­beth. As a dramatist Mr Ferguson is probably best known for his now famous play Campbell of Kilmohr, which at its first Royalty Theatre production was hailed by the dramatic critic of the Glasgow Herald as 'a new and significant type of Scottish drama'. Of John Ferguson's work one critic has said, 'As no two of his stories are in any sense repetitious, it is probably his practice of setting each tale against the background in which he writes that gives this variety in characterization and action to each of his works.' His books have been translated into many foreign languages, the latest of which is Turkish. In his story of the history and development of the detective story, Masters of Mystery, Douglas Thom­son writes, 'Mr Ferguson is one of the most delight­ful stylists in this genre'.