Elisabeth Sanxay Holding

Biography

Born and brought up in Brooklyn, New York, Elisabeth Sanxay attended Miss Whitcombe's and other schools for young ladies before marrying British diplomat George E. Holding in 1913. The couple had two daughters and traveled widely in South America and the Caribbean before living in Bermuda for a number of years, where he was a government official. After her husband's retirement, the couple lived in New York City, where she died in 1955. Elisabeth Sanxay Holding wrote romantic novels during the 1920s, but, after the stock market crash in 1929, she turned to the more lucrative genre of the detective novel. From 1929 through 1954, she wrote eighteen detective novels, which sold well and earned her significant praise for her style and character development. Her series character for these novels was Lieutenant Levy. She also wrote numerous short stories for popular magazines of the day. Elisabeth was much admired during her day. Raymond Chandler, one of the top writers of detective fiction during its golden age of 1920 - 1940, said of her that she was "the top suspense writer of them all." Literary critic Anthony Boucher wrote: "For subtlety, realistic conviction, incredible economy, she's in a class by herself." . Her novel "The Blank Wall" (1947) was so popular in its day that it was made into a movie titled "The Reckless Moment" in 1949. In 2001 it was made into the movie "The Deep End" starring Tilda Swinson. A number of her books have also been brought back into reprint by Stark House Press and made available to a new group of readers. Her brother-in-law was Thomas Holding the stage and silent movie actor.