Arthur Benjamin Reeve

Background

Reeve, Arthur Benjamin was born on October 15, 1880, in Patchogue, New York, United States. He was the son of Walter F. and Jennie (Henderson) Reeve.

Education

Arthur graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1903. Though he went on to study at the New York Law School and never practiced, he used a great amount of his knowledge in his later works.

Career

Arthur Benjamin Reeve was assistant editor of Public Opinion, remaining as such until 1906. He was editor of Our Own Times from 1906 to 1910, and in 1907 he was on the staff of The Survey.

He "broke through" with Craig Kennedy, a character which he created to solve the crimes that came to his fertile imagination. His "Adventures of Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective" appeared regularly in the old Cosmopolitan Magazine from 1910 to 1918.

Craig Kennedy, a resourceful scientist who finds himself drawn into criminal investigations requiring his scientific expertise. Kennedy's exploits proved particularly popular to American readers in the 1910s. when his adventures sold more books than those by any other literary sleuth. The Kennedy character is a chemistry professor at an unnamed university. Convinced of the value of using science to solve murder mysteries, he uses various devices - some already in existence, some invented in his laboratory - to solve cases. His approach naturally caused Kennedy to be compared to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, and, indeed, Reeve's publisher often referred to Kennedy as the American Holmes for publicity purposes. Another parallel between Holmes and Kennedy is that they both have comrades whose main purpose is to gawk at the genius of their brilliant detective friends. For Holmes it was Dr. Watson; for Kennedy, it was Walter Jameson, a reporter who shares an apartment with Kennedy, much as Watson does with Holmes.

The series included "The Black Hand" and "The Deadly Tube," which were published in 1911, "The Poisoned Pen and The Silent Bullet" in 1912. "Guy Garrick" and "The Dream Doctor" followed in 1914. During World War I, Reeve helped establish the anti-espionage Detection Laboratory in Washington D.C. for the federal government, before the FBI was born.

He also wrote some "Adventures of Clare Kendall, Woman Detective" (1913) and "Novel Experiences of Guy Garrick, Detective" (1915).

"The Gold of the Gods," "The War Terror" and" The Exploits of Elaine" were published in 1915. Reeve wrote the screenplays for the Elaine series of stories that were made into successful silent serial films in 1916 by Pathé Pictures. "Constance Dunlap" and "The Ear in the Wall" followed in 1916. "The Treasure-Train" was published in 1917 and "The Film Mystery" in 1921.

From 1930 to 1931 he also wrote articles on crime prevention, a topic which he also discussed on a short-lived radio program. And he worked as a reporter, covering such important events as the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's son.

Achievements

• Arthur Benjamin Reeve was a widely known mystery writer. He distinguished himself by creating the series character of the scientific detective Professor Craig Kennedy and his Dr. Watson-like sidekick Walter Jameson, a newspaper reporter.
  
  He was one of the first authors to combine an element of science into the mystery genre, widely read in North America and Britain. Reeve has been listed as a notable author by Marquis Who's Who.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Soul Scar: The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Series

    (Sometimes called "the American Sherlock Holmes," Professo...)

    1919
  • The Terror in the Air

    ("The Terror In The Air" features Professor Craig Kennedy,...)

    1912
  • The Mystery Mind

    (An action-packed tale of the occult featuring a plucky he...)

    1920
  • The Silent Bullet

    (In this book of twelve tales of intrigue and suspense, re...)

    1910
  • The Azure Ring

    (Reeve's short story "The Azure Ring" is a narrative of de...)

    1912
  • Constance Dunlap

    (There was something of the look of the hunted animal brou...)

    1913
  • The Yeggman

    ("The Yeggman," is a short story where detective Craig Ken...)

    1912
  • The Steel Door

    ("The Steel Door," has detective Craig Kennedy called on b...)

    1912
  • The Campaign Grafter

    ("The Campaign Grafter," tells a story of Kennedy coming t...)

    1912
  • The Unofficial Spy

    ("The Unofficial Spy" has detective Craig Kennedy dealing ...)

    1912
  • The Gold of the Gods

    (There's something weird and mysterious about the robbery,...)

    1915
  • The Film Mystery 1921
  • The Ear in the Wall 1916
  • The War Terror 1915
  • Guy Garrick 1914
  • The Dream Doctor 1913
  • The Master Mystery 1919
  • The Exploits of Elaine 1914
  • The Romance Of Elaine 1915

Views

Much of the success of the "Kennedy" mysteries had to do with timing. Reeve wrote his stories during a time when the American public was enamored by scientific inventions and progress, so his use of such devices as seismographs, blowtorches, and Dictaphones to solve murder cases was novel and appealing to his readers. Most Kennedy stories follow a formula: Kennedy is approached by either Inspector Barney O'Connor, who has built a career on the detective's work, or by a troubled client; they present Kennedy with a bizarre or unusual case that uses a scientific device of some kind, and Kennedy then proceeds to resolve the case using his technical know-how. Despite the similarities between many of the tales, Reeve managed to keep his tales fresh.

Personality

Reeve was an enthusiastic horticulturist and won many prizes at flower shows with his dahlia exhibits.

Interests

• Gardening (expert on dahlias)

Connections

On January 31, 1906, at the age of twenty-six, Reeve married Margaret Allen Smith, with whom he'd have two sons and one daughter.

Father:

Walter F. Reeve

Mother:

Jennie (Henderson) Reeve

Wife:

Margaret Allen Smith

References

• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, vol. 212
  2011