Armstrong Livingston (1885-1948)

Robert Armstrong Livingston, Jr.

Author, Businessman

Born August 16, 1885, New York, New York,

Died February 7, 1948, Manhattan, New York, New York

Robert Armstrong "Ray" Livingston, Jr., known as a writer as Armstrong Livingston, was born on August 16, 1885, in New York City. His father was Robert Armstrong Livingston, Sr. (1854-1913), a New York State assemblyman. Both were part of an old and very prominent family in New York State. Among their relatives were the Roosevelts.

Armstrong Livingston was educated at St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island. He worked in the insurance business but was more well known as an author, mostly of mystery and detective stories. His story "As Obligated" in the January 1925 issue of Weird Tales was his only one for that magazine. He had dozens of others in All-Story Weekly, Clues, Detective Story Magazine, Gaiety, Metropolitan, Saucy Romantic Adventures, and other titles from 1918 to 1945. From 1922 to 1945, he published at least sixteen books:

• The Mystery of the Twin Rubies (1922)
• On the Right Wrists (1925)
• The Ju-Ju Man (1926) (with Thomas K. Griffiths), originally serialized in Argosy Allstory Weekly beginning June 17, 1922.
• Light-Fingered Ladies: A Detective Story (1927), originally serialized in Detective Story Magazine beginning August 14, 1926.
• The Guilty Accuser (1928)
• The Monk of Hambleton (1928)
• The Doublecross (1929)
• The Monster in the Pool (1929), originally serialized in Detective Story Magazine beginning January 21, 1928.
• Trackless Death (1929)
• The Murder Trap (1930)
• In Cold Blood (1931)
• Murder Is Easy (1933)
• Magic for Murder (1936)
• Night of Crime (1938)
• The Murdered and the Missing (non-fiction; 1947) (with John G. Stein)
• The Case of the Walking Corpse (1945)

On April 23, 1911, Livingston married Gladys Patten Grover in New York. He and they lived in Cuba, Bermuda, Algiers, Nice, Monaco, and other places. They later divorced. On December 30, 1926, Livingston remarried. His new wife was Ruth Stevens Dorr.

Livingston's life was short. He died on February 7, 1948, in Manhattan, at age sixty-two. He was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Armstrong Livingston's Story in Weird Tales
"As Obligated" (Jan. 1925)

Further Reading
Look on the Internet for discussions of Livingston's mystery and detective novels.

Magic for Murder by Armstrong Livingston, "A Cavalcade Book, No. 2, date of publication and cover artist unknown. 

Text copyright 2025 Terence E. Hanley