John T. McIntyre

Biography

John Thomas McIntyre (1871–1951) was an American novelist and mystery writer from Philadelphia who was one of the early practitioners of detective fiction in America. McIntyre drew on his deep knowledge of Philadelphia’s streets, neighborhoods, and criminal underworld to create realistic urban crime fiction that anticipated the hard-boiled tradition. His Ashton-Kirk series, beginning with Ashton-Kirk, Investigator (1910), features a wealthy amateur detective who uses scientific methods and cultural knowledge to solve crimes. McIntyre was also known for his realistic novels of Philadelphia life, including Steps Going Down and Ferment. His detective fiction combined the intellectual puzzle-solving of the classic mystery with gritty urban settings and street-level detail that set it apart from the drawing-room mysteries popular in his era.