Edgar Lustgarten

Edgar Marcus Lustgarten (3 May 1907 – 15 December 1978) was a British broadcaster and noted crime writer. Born in the Broughton Park area of Salford, Lancashire, he was the son of Joseph and Sara (née Finklestein) Lustgarten. His father was a Romanian-Jewish barrister. Lustgarten was educated at Manchester Grammar School and St John's College, Oxford. He was President of the Oxford Union for the Hilary term of 1930. His years at the bar—he was a practising barrister, 1930–40—provided the background to his crime novels and his studies in true crime.

In 1932 he married Joyce Goldstone in Manchester. She came from a family of jewellers. She died in 1972. They didn't have any children During the Second World War he was medically unfit for active service but worked in Radio Counter-Propaganda (1940–45), under the name of 'Brent Wood'. He was a BBC staff producer, 1945–48, and organiser of the BBC television programme In the News (1950–54) and of the ATV programme Free Speech (1955–61).

His books included crime fiction but most were accounts of true criminal cases. The legal justice system and courtroom procedures were his main interests and his writings reflect this. He also wrote numerous articles for newspapers and presented the radio series Advocate Extraordinary. He used to say that he had no schedules, writing everywhere any time, on bars, in cars, and while walking in the streets.