Rodrigues Ottolengui
Benjamin Adolph Rodrigues Ottolengui (15 march 1861 - 11 july 1937) was an American dentist and writer. In addition to his work in dentistry, Ottolengui is remembered as an early exponent of detective fiction, with four novels and 12 short stories published between 1892 and 1898.
The Saturday Review of Literature called Ottolengui the dental counterpart of England's physician-crime solver, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Ellery Queen described him as one of the most neglected authors in the entire history of the detective story.
His detective novels and short stories featured two — sometimes cooperating, sometimes competing — sleuths: Jack Barnes (a professional private detective) and Robert Leroy Mitchel (a wealthy amateur).
He was also called in the press as The American Conan Doyle.
Bibliography
- Conya: A Romance of the Buddhas (serialized in a Charleston newspaper, 1890) novel
Detective fictions
- An Artist in Crime (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1892) novel
- A Conflict of Evidence (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1893) novel
- A Modern Wizard (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1894) novel
- The Crime of the Century (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1896) novel
- Final Proof; or, the Value of Evidence (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1898)
- Including 12 short stories: The Phoenix of Crime; The Missing Link; The Nameless Man; The Montezuma Emerald; A Singular Abduction; The Aztec Opal; The Duplicate Harlequin; The Pearl of Isis; A Promissory Note; A Novel Forgery; A Frosty Morning; A Shadow of Proof.
Dentistry books
- Methods of Filling Teeth (The S.S. White Dental MFG. Co., 1892)
- Table Talks on Dentistry (Dental Items of Interest Pub. Co., 1928)
Ads
In those ads Rodrigues Ottolengui was presented as The American Conan Doyle :
-
The Daily Herald (Delphos)
(9 january 1896, p. 4) -
The Yorkville Enquirer
(17 january 1896, p. 3) -
The Marion Star
(20 january 1897, p. 4)
