Dorothy Enid Eden was a novelist

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 and short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 writer. She was born on 3 April 1912 in Canterbury Plains

Canterbury Plains

The Canterbury Plains are an area in New Zealand centred to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury Region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in the south they merge into the plains of North Otago beyond the Waitaki...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, where she attended school and worked as a legal secretary before moving to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1954. She died of cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 4 March 1982.

Eden was best known for her writings in the historical

Historical fiction

Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

, suspense, and Gothic

Gothic fiction

Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...

 genres. In addition to writing novels, she also contributed to magazines

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

, including Redbook

Redbook

Redbook is an American women's magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the "Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines.-History:...

and Good Housekeeping

Good Housekeeping

Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the...

.

Writing As Dorothy Eden

• The Singing Shadows (1940)
• The Laughing Ghost (1943)
• We Are for the Dark (1944)
• The Schoolmaster's Daughter (aka The Daughters of Ardmore Hall) (1946)
• Summer Sunday (1946)
• Walk into My Parlour (1947)
• Crow Hollow (1950)
• Voice of the Dolls (1950)
• Cat's Prey (aka Let Us Prey) (1952)
• Lamb to the Slaughter (1953)
• Bride by Candlelight (1954)
• Darling Clementine (1955)
• Death Is a Red Rose (1956)
• The Pretty Ones (1957)
• Listen to Danger (1958)
• The Deadly Travellers (1959)
• The Sleeping Bride (1959)
• An Afternoon Walk (1960)
• Samantha (aka Lady of Mallow) (1960)
• Sleep in the Woods (1960)
• Afternoon for Lizards (aka Bridge of Fear) (1961)
• Whistle for the Crows (1962)
• The Bird in the Chimney (aka Darkwater) (1963)
• Bella (aka Ravenscroft) (1964)
• The Marriage Chest (1965)
• Never Call It Loving (1966)
• Siege in the Sun (1967)
• Winterwood (1967)
• The Shadow Wife (1968)
• Yellow Is for Fear, and other stories (1968)
• The Vines of Yarrabee (1969)
• Melbury Square (1970)
• Waiting for Willa (1970)
• Speak to Me of Love (1972)
• The Millionaire's Daughter (1974)
• The Time of the Dragon (1975)
• The House on Hay Hill, and other romantic fiction (1976)
• The Salamanca Drum (1977)
• The Storrington Papers (1978)
• The American Heiress (1980)
• An Important Family (1982)