"Chester K. Steele" was a pseudonym of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, founded by Edwin Stratemayer. He wrote eleven "Horatio Alger" titles, and went on to produce series including "The Rover Boys," "The Bobsey Twins," and "Tom Swift", hiring ghost writers to produce the books under specific pen names. The Diamond Cross Mystery is a one of a series intended for an older audience than the children's books Stratemeyer normally produced. It features the reluctant detective Colonel Ashley and his Negro servant Shag. Only the first, The Mansion of Mystery, was written by Stratemeyer.

Author Biography

Chester K. Steele was a house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate for a series of mystery books. These were aimed at an older audience than most of the other syndicate books. The first title, The Mansion of Mystery, was written by Edward Stratemeyer and the rest were ghostwritten.