Benjamin Bennett (1904–1985) was a well known
South African crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
writer. He worked as a
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
with the
Cape Argus
The ''Cape Argus'' is a daily newspaper co-founded in 1857 by Saul Solomon and published by Sekunjalo in Cape Town, South Africa. It is commonly referred to as ''The Argus''.
Although not the first English-language newspaper in South Africa ...
newspaper from 1925 to 1975, as a crime reporter, and subsequently as
news editor
Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual of ...
and finally editor of ''Argus Action''. He was born in
Kimberley,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, and was educated at
Kimberley Boys' High School
Kimberley Boys' High School is a state secondary school or high school situated adjacent to the Honoured Dead Memorial, in the arc between Dalham and Memorial Roads, Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa – a site it has occupied since January ...
.
Bennett’s prodigious output of books reflects a close involvement, as
crime reporter, both at the crime scene and in the courtroom, where his professional life regularly took him, pen and notebook in hand. It is said that, for his insight, he was even consulted by the police for the solving of certain complex cases.
He is credited with having posed the most plausible scenarios for enduring murder mysteries, such as that of
Bubbles Schroeder.
Bennett’s books include:
* ''Down Africa's Skyways (1932)''
* ''Up For Murder (1934)'' with François Pierre Rousseau
* ''Famous South African Murders (1938)''
* ''Hitler Over Africa (1939)''
* ''Too Late For Tears (1948)''
* ''The Clues Condemn (1949)''
* ''The Evil That Men Do (1950)''
* ''Murder Is My Business (1951)''
* ''Why Did They Do It? (1953)''
* ''And Your Verdict? (1954)''
* ''Destiny Comes Too Soon (1955)''
* ''Freedom Or The Gallows (1956)''
* ''This Was A Man (1958)''
* ''Genius For the Defence (1959)''
* ''Murder Will Speak (1962)''
* ''Why Women Kill (1965)''
* ''Why Men Kill (1965)''
* ''The Amazing Case of the Baron von Schauroth (1966)''
* ''The Cohen Case (1971)''
* ''They Crossed My Path (1972)''
* ''Some Don't Hang (1973)''
* ''The Noose Tightens (1974)''
* ''Was Justice Done? The Scissors Murder (1975)''
He also
ghost-wrote ''Looking At My Heart (1968)'', the biography of
Philip Blaiberg.
Encyclopaedia of Southern African Arts, Culture and History
/ref>
References
External links
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120126051309/http://www.africacrime-mystery.co.za/books/fsac/chp10.htm THE MYSTIFYING DEATH OF BUBBLES SCHROEDER,1949, by Rob Marsh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Benjamin
People from Kimberley, Northern Cape
1904 births
1985 deaths
South African journalists
20th-century South African male writers
20th-century journalists