There aren't any readily available biographies for Lawrence L. Lynch because "Lawrence L. Lynch" was actually the pen name of American writer Emily Medora Murdoch Van Deventer (1853-1914).
Van Deventer was a prolific writer who published over two dozen detective novels during a 16-year period between 1896 and 1912. She chose a male pseudonym likely because it was uncommon for women to write detective fiction at that time.
Here's a brief summary of her life and career:
- Early Life and Marriage: Born Emily Medora Murdoch in Oswego, Illinois in 1853, she married Lawrence L. Lynch in 1877. However, she continued to use her first husband's name as her pen name even after she remarried Dr. Abraham Van Deventer in 1887.
- Writing Career: Van Deventer's detective stories were popular in the United States and England. Some of her most famous works include "Shadowed by Three" (1879), also known as "A Woman's Crime", "The Diamond Coterie" (1884), and "A Dead Man's Step" (1893). Her heroes included both traditionally masculine characters, like Scotland Yard investigator Francis Ferrars who becomes a private detective in America, and strong female characters, like private detective Madeline Payne and Leonore Arymn.
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