Helen McCloy (1904-1994) was an American mystery writer best known for her series featuring Dr. Basil Willing, a psychiatrist who assists law enforcement. She received the MWA Grand Master Award in 1990 in recognition of her lifetime achievement. Her most celebrated novel, Through a Glass, Darkly (1950), is considered a masterpiece of the locked-room mystery tradition. She was also the first female president of the Mystery Writers of America in 1950 and received the Edgar Award for criticism in 1954.

Psychiatrist Dr. Basil Willing confronts an impossibly beautiful and baffling mystery in McCloy's finest work.