The Moving Finger (1918)

American author Natalie Sumner Lincoln specialized in mystery and crime fiction, with many of her works taking place in her hometown of Washington, DC. She was born in Washington, D.C., on October 4, 1881. She was the daughter of writer and children's book author Jeanie Gould and Dr. Nathan Smith Lincoln, a Civil War doctor who served as James A. Garfield's White House physician. Political journalist George Gould Lincoln was her brother. She attended Laura A. Flint's Private School in Washington for her education. From 1912 until 1914, Lincoln served as the Washington Herald's social editor. From April 1915 until her death, she served as editor of the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine. Except for one, all 22 of Lincoln's novels were set in Washington, DC. Inspector Mitchell or Detective Ferguson from the Washington, DC, police were featured in around half of them. The Man Inside (1916) and Black Shadows (1920), the latter based on The Official Chaperon, were two of her books that turned into silent movies. She has written short tales for a variety of publications, including Detective Story Magazine, All-Story, Smith's Magazine, and McCall's. On August 31, 1935, Natalie Sumner Lincoln passed away at her Hawthorne Street residence in Washington, D.C.