Gwen Bristow was born in Marion, South Carolina in 1903, and Bruce Manning in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1902. In 1924, following Bristow's graduation from Judson College, her parents moved to New Orleans. In the late 1920s, Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning, both Louisiana journalists at that point, met and married.Their first joint novel, The Invisible Host, was a success, and enjoyed stage and film adaptations. Three further mysteries by the writing duo were to follow.The couple moved to Hollywood in the early thirties, and there Bristow established herself as a prolific and bestselling writer of historical fiction, while Manning became a respected screenwriter, producer and director.They continued to live in California until their respective deaths: Manning's in 1965, Bristow's in 1980.