Judson Pentecost Philips was born in Northfield, Massachusetts. He travelled widely before completing his education at Columbia University. He began his career writing for pulp magazines in the 1920s. He created several series detectives under the Pentecost name: Inspector Luke Bradley, journalist John Jericho, PR man Julian Quist and Uncle George Crowder, as well as his best-known sleuth, Pierre Chambrun, the manager of a luxury hotel. Under his own name, he wrote the Peter Styles series, featuring a one-legged investigative reporter, as well as Danny Coyle and his assistant Donovan, and Carole Trevor, a PI and her ex-husband Max Blythe. In all, he wrote over 100 books. He was a founding member of the Mystery Writers of America, served as its third president, and was given its Grand Master Award in 1973.
