Dorothy B. Hughes was an American mystery writer and literary critic in the crime genre, who lived mainly in New Mexico. She earned a Bachelor of Journalism at the University of Missouri in 1924 and afterwards was a graduate student at both the University of New Mexico and Columbia University. Before beginning to write crime fiction, Hughes worked as a journalist and published a book of poetry, Dark Certainty (1931), which won an award from the Yale Series of Younger Poets.
She worked for the Albuquerque Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Herald-Tribune and other newspapers during the period of 1940 to 1979, reviewing crime fiction. Three of her crime fiction novels were made into films, and Hughes also wrote short stories.
Hughes won numerous awards, including a 1950 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for her critical work. The Mystery Writers of America named her a Grand Master in 1978.
