During his life Val Andrews wrote over thirty new Sherlock Holmes adventures and was always at his best when writing about the world of entertainment, in which he worked as a writer and performer for fifty years. From a theatrical background, he had been in his time a professional vaudeville artiste, ventriloquist, magician and scriptwriter to Tommy Cooper, Benny Hill and other comedy legends of stage and television. He could even count among his friends the likes of Orson Welles.Val Andrews was born in Hove near Brighton on the 15th February 1926 only a few hours after Valentine's Day and hence his Christian name. He was the son of an architect and indeed it was his father who introduced him to magic, a fascination that was to last a lifetime and was to result many biographies on the great magicians and numerous writings on magic in general.He died from a heart attack on the 12th October 2006 and will be missed, but at least his name will live on through his books that continue to thrill old and new murder mystery enthusiasts alike.