A twentieth-century American mystery Novelist, she is best known for creating the popular character of LAPD Homicide Lieutenant Luis Mendoza. Case Pending (1960), her first novel featuring Mendoza, was nominated for a Mystery Writers of America award.
A woman of many interests, she studied archaeology, antique weapons, gemstones, and the occult.
She wrote under numerous pen names, including Anne Blaisdell and Lesley Egan.
She was born in Aurora, Illinois. She married Thomas Linington.
She was nominated for an Edgar Award, an honor named for Edgar Allan Poe.
