Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893-1957) was an English crime writer, poet, playwright and essayist. She was awarded a scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford in 1912 and graduated with a degree modern languages and medieval literature with first-class honours, even though women could not be awarded degrees in that period. As a result, she was one of the first women to receive a degree when the law changed in 1920. She is best known for her series of novels featuring English aristocrat and amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey set between the two World Wars, with books such as Gaudy Night, Murder Must Advertise and Whose Body?

She is also famed for creating the Guinness Toucan advertising slogan and image with artist John Gilroy.

David Stuart Davies is an author, playwright and editor and is regarded as an authority on Sherlock Holmes. His fiction includes novels featuring his wartime detective Johnny Hawke and several Sherlock Holmes novels - including Sherlock Holmes and the Devil's Promise. He is a committee member of the Crime Writers' Association, editing their monthly publication, Red Herrings, and is a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund.