[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/edward_d_hoch.jpg]]

Edward Dentinger Hoch (February 22, 1930 – January 17, 2008) was an extremely prolific American [[MysteryFiction mystery writer]], predominantly of short stories.

Series characters created include:

* Nick Velvet, GentlemanThief
* Captain Leopold, PoliceProcedural
* C. Jeffery Rand, spy
* Simon Ark, OccultDetective
* Sebastian Blue and Laura Charme (Interpol)
* The Alexander Swift series
* Ben Snow, cowboy detective
* Dr. Sam Hawthorne, a solver of impossible crimes
* Michael Vlado, the king of a Gypsy tribe
* Al Darlan, PrivateEye

!!Works by Edward D. Hoch include:
[[index]]
* ''Literature/BenSnow''
* ''Literature/TheFurtherAdventuresOfBatman'' -- contributed "Literature/TheJokerIsMild"
* ''Literature/NickVelvet''
* ''Literature/TheSherlockHolmesStoriesOfEdwardDHoch''
* ''Literature/SimonArk''
[[/index]]
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!!Other works by Edward D. Hoch provide examples of:

* AffectionateParody: The stories featuring Sir Gideon Parrot are parodies of classical mystery writers like Creator/JohnDicksonCarr (creator of Literature/SirHenryMerrivale and Literature/DrGideonFell) and Creator/AgathaChristie (creator of Literature/HerculePoirot).
* AmateurSleuth: Sam Hawthorne is a small-town doctor.
* CharacterOverlap:
** Private detective Al Darlan and police officer Jules Leopold debuted in the same 1957 story, "Jealous Lover", before going on to successful separate careers.
** "The Theft of Leopold's Badge" features both Leopold and Nick Velvet.
** The Ben Snow story "The Problem of the Haunted Teepee" also features Sam Hawthorne.
** The Jeffery Rand story "The Spy and the Gypsy" also features Michael Vlado.
** Hoch also wrote Franchise/SherlockHolmes pastiches, and the Nick Velvet mystery "The Theft of the Sherlockian Slipper" indicates that Holmes was real person in the [[TheVerse Hoch-verse]].
* DeathInTheClouds: Combined with LockedRoomMystery in "The Problem of the Tin Goose". A Ford Trimotor touches down and the pilot is found stabbed to death at the controls, alone in the locked cockpit.
* GardeningVarietyWeapon: In "The Invisible Intruder", the BodyOfTheWeek has his [[SlashedThroat throat slashed]] with a pruning hook when he sticks his head out of the window.
* HighTurnoverRate: Mayors in the Dr. Sam Hawthorne mysteries died in various impossible manners.
* HistoricalDetectiveFiction:
** The Alexander Swift series, set in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution.
** The Literature/BenSnow series, set in the WildWest circa 1900.
** The Sam Hawthorne series, set in the early years of the 20th century.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming:
** Stories featuring cryptanalyst Jeffery Rand tend to be titled "The Spy and the [noun]".
** The Dr. Sam Hawthorne stories are all titled "The Problem of [location]".
** The Literature/NickVelvet stores are titled either "The Theft of the [object]" or (more rarely) "The The Theft from [location]".
* LockedRoomMystery: Quite a few of his stories, with Dr. Sam Hawthorne getting one per story.
* NostalgicNarrator: Sam Hawthorne, as an old man, narrates the adventures of his younger self.
* PrivateDetective: Al Darlan.
* SecretOtherFamily: In "The Invisible Intruder", Libby Knowles is hired to bodyguard a man whom she later discovers used to be a bigamist. A consultant who travelled a lot for work, he maintained two wives in houses in different suburbs of the same city.
* SlashedThroat: In "The Invisible Intruder", the BodyOfTheWeek has his throat slashed with a [[GardeningVarietyWeapon pruning hook]] when he sticks his head out of the window.
* TenPacesAndTurn: "An Early Morning Madness" features a pistol duel.
* ThisBearWasFramed: In the Literature/SherlockHolmes pastiche "Return of the Speckled Band", the killer injects snake venom into the victim using a pair of hypodermics tied together to simulate a snakebite.

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