Sara Woods (1) (1922–1985)

Sara Woods was the best-known pen name of Lana Hutton Bowen-Judd, born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England. She was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Filey.

During World War II, she worked in a bank and as a solicitor's clerk in London. There she gained much of the information she would later use in her mystery and crime novels. In 1946, she married Anthony Bowen-Judd, and along with him ran a pig breeding farm. In 1957, the couple moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, where she worked as registrar for St. Mary's University until 1964. In 1962, at age 40, she published her debut novel, Bloody Instructions, in which she created the character of Antony Maitland, an English barrister, who would become the hero of a long running series of 49 mysteries. She also wrote other series under the pseudonyms Anne Burton, Mary Challis, and Margaret Leek. She was instrumental in forming the Crime Writers of Canada, serving on its first executive committee.