Edogawa Ranpo, Japanese author and critic (died 1965)

Tarō Hirai , better known by the pen name Edogawa Ranpo , was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery and thriller fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogoro Akechi, who in later books was the leader of a group of boy detectives known as the "Boy Detectives Club" .