Hugh Conway aka Frederick John Fargus (1847-1885) was a Bristol auctioneer who found fame as a writer when his 1883 book Called Back sold an astonishing 350,000 copies and was the publishing sensation of the year, effectively reinventing the crime novel. Compared favourably to Wilkie Collins, he wrote the equally successful Called Back the following year, but died from typhoid in 1885 aged only 37, cutting short a promising writing career.

David Brawn has worked for over 20 years in book publishing. He is the accredited author of four titles in the bestselling Little Instruction Book humour series, the parody A Day in the Life of Humphrey, the Downing Street Cat, and four Lord of the Rings film tie-in books.