Bailey, H. C. (Henry Christopher Bailey)

British writer of detective fiction, born in London, educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was drama critic, war correspondent, and leader writer for the London Daily Telegraph from 1901 to 1946. Between the two world wars he published a large number of detective short stories and novels, which enjoyed great popularity in their day, but which have since been largely forgotten. His best-known detective is the indolent gourmet Dr Reggie Fortune, who appears chiefly in short stories—Call Mr Fortune (1920) is the first collection—of which the earlier are to be preferred, but is also the central character in several novels: The Bishop's Crime (1940) is perhaps the best. Bailey's novels about Joshua Clunk, a crooked solicitor, are less successful (Garstons, 1930).