Dorothy Salisbury Davis is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 crime fiction

Crime fiction

Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...

 writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

.

She was an adopted child, raised in Illinois. She worked in Chicago in advertising as a research librarian and as an editor of The Merchandiser, prior to taking up fiction writing.She was married to Harry Davis, the character actor,from 1946 until his death in 1993. She published many novels and short stories. Among them are two sets of series novels, but she mainly wrote stand alone novels. Her novels explore psychological suspense, as was popular for many decades, and has ‘an especially strong way of sharing with readers the minds of female characters confronting hazards and crisis’.
She was nominated for an Edgar Award

Edgar Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

 eight times, served as President of the Mystery Writers of America

Mystery Writers of America

Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....

 in 1956 and was declared a Grand Master

Mystery Writers of America

Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....

 by that organization in 1985.

Mrs. Norris Series

• A Gentleman Called (1958)
• Old Sinners Never Die (1960)
• Death of an Old Sinner (1961)

Julie Hayes Series

• A Death in the Life (1976)
• Scarlet Night (1980)
• Lullaby of Murder (1984)
• The Habit of Fear (1987)

Novels

• The Judas Cat (1949)
• A Gentle Murderer (1951)
• A Town of Masks (1952; reprint edition, 2001)
• The Clay Hand (1952)
• Black Sheep, White Lamb (1964)
• The Pale Betrayer (1965)
• Enemy and Brother (1967)
• God Speed the Night (1969) (with Jerome Ross)
• Where the Dark Streets Go (1970)
• Crime without Murder (1972)
• Shock Wave (1974)
• Little Brothers (1974)
• In the Still of the Night (2001)

Anthologies containing stories by Dorothy Salisbury Davis

• The Fantastic Universe Omnibus (1960)
• Great Tales of Mystery and Suspense (1981)

Short stories

• Spring Fever (1952)
• Matter of Public Notice, a (1957)
• The Muted Horn (1957)
• Mrs. Norris Visits the Library (1959)
• By the Scruff of the Soul (1963)
• Old Friends (1975)
• Last Party, the (1980)
• Devil and His Due, the (1981)
• Natural Causes (1983)
• Justina (1989)
• Silver Thimble, a (1990)
• Puppet, the (1991)
• To Forget Mary Ellen (1992)
• Now Is Forever (1994)
• Miles to Go (1996)
• Scream, the (1998)
• Hank's Tale (2000)
• Letter, the (2002)