Lester Basil Sinclair (29 August 1894 – 5 October 1974) was one of the most prolific Australian songwriters during World War II. At the same time, Sinclair was an important Australian children's book author under the pen name John Mystery,Marcie Muir, A Bibliography of Australian Childrean's Books (London: Deutsch, 1970), p.443 publishing over 300 books.John Mystery: The Nation's Storyteller La Trobe Journal, No 60 Spring 1997 Sinclair was born in Yorkshire and emigrated to Australia as a teenager.
He built a turreted 'John Mystery's Adventure Castle' on the tip of the Illawong Peninsula in Sydney where he wrote many of his children's books. The mock castle no longer stands, but one of its ramparts serves as a castellated retaining wall on Cranbrook Place and several bas-relief sculptures remain in gardens on the same street.
Bibliography Why Cows Moo, 28 pages. Lonsdale & Bartholomew, Sydney, 1936, (). Black and white illustrations by Matt Herriot.
Further reading Edward Duyker, "Sutherland: Towards a Literary Landscape", National Library of Australia News, vol. VI, no. 6, March 1996, pp. 14–18.
Derrick Moors, ‘John Mystery: “The Nation’s Story-Teller”’, La Trobe Library Journal, no. 60, Spring 1997, Special Issue on Australian Children’s Literature, pp. 31–39.
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