Wilkie Collins

William Wilkie Collins (1824–1889) was an English novelist and playwright, best known for his sensation novels The Woman in White (1860) and The Moonstone (1868), the latter often regarded as the first detective novel.[2][1] Born in London to a painter father, he studied law but pursued writing after meeting Charles Dickens in 1851, with whom he collaborated extensively until Dickens's death.[4][5] Collins authored over 25 novels, numerous short stories, plays, and non-fiction pieces, pioneering mystery and detective fiction.[6]