Though Ethel Lina White caught the attention of Alfred Hitchcock in the 1930s, the author was once as well known as the Crime Queens. During her short career from 1927 to her death in 1944, she wrote seventeen novels and many short stories. However, White has been forgotten over the years.

Her books were not in print and her name was practically unheard of, even though they play a major role in the development of psychological suspense subgenre.Recently, the British Library's Crime Classics released Fear Stalks the Village and The Wheel Spins, two of the best works by White.

The attention was tremendous, and a generation discovered her again. Crippen & Landru is proud to publish Blackout and Other Tales of Suspense, the first collection of White's works. The collection includes a short story that would later become the genesis for The Wheel Spins.