Ernest Bramah Smith was born in Hulme, Manchester. As a young man he tried farming but that was not successful, so he tried journalism before becoming private secretary to Jerome K. Jerome. His first book was rejected by many major publishers before it was accepted by a new young publisher, Grant Richards. Besides his crime books he also wrote other fiction and non-fiction novels. He is the creator of:
1. 'Max Carrados', a blind amateur detective.
2. 'Kai Lung', a Chinese story-teller.