Born in 1916, Mark wrote many crime fiction novels under his own name and as John Harris and Max Hennessy. He was a sailor, airman, a journalist, travel courier, cartoonist and a history teacher. During the Second World War he served with two air forces and two navies. After turning to full-time writing, Hebden created a sequence of crime novels around the quirky fictional character Chief Inspector Pel. A master of his genre, Hebden's writing is as timeless as it is versatile and entertaining.