T.S. Eliot famously declared that April is the cruelest month. He may be right. When I figure out what that means, I may even agree, but as a New Yorker who has lived through a lot of vicious Februaries, I’ll stack those against any April you care to throw at me.

The month that may legitimately claim the title of mystery month could well be September, in which a prodigious number of the greatest mystery writers of all time were born, starting with Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime, who was born on September 15, 1902. Mainly famous for creating Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, she also wrote what I regard as one of the five greatest mystery plays of all time.

No, not “The Mousetrap,” which may have had some hint of originality when it was first produced (on November 25, 1952), but which by now has been stolen from, parodied, mimicked, and paid homage to (that’s French for “plagiarized”) so often that nothing fresh remains. “The Mousetrap,” by the way, has been in the same theater in London for more than half a century, but there have been no American or other touring companies, as Christie demanded that there be no other productions until it closed in London – an event as unlikely as Mick Jagger being crowned queen of England.

“Witness for the Prosecution” opened in London a year after “The Mousetrap,” lasted nearly two years, and also had a successful New York run. The author even changed the ending of the story on which “Witness” is based to provide a stunning climax, which was retained for the film version starring Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, and Marlene Dietrich. It is utterly un-Christie-like, and so all the more shocking. Why this masterpiece hasn’t been revived in many years is a mystery to me.

Another major figure in the history of mystery fiction with a birthday this month is Carroll John Daly, born on September 14, 1889, who has as much in common with Christie as 50 Scent (or whatever his name is) does with Johann Sebastian Bach.

While admittedly the first name to appear on the list of “Greatest Hack Writers,” Daly essentially invented the hard-boiled private detective story for the pages of Black Mask magazine. He changed the detective story from a tale of observation and deduction to one that achieves its resolution through action and violence. He followed that landmark contribution with another: the first series private eye, Race Williams, who shot and fought his way through the most popular pulp stories of the 1920s.

The forgotten Louis Joseph Vance (born September 19, 1879) produced the famous “Lone Wolf” novels, which became much-loved B-movies in the 1930s. The creator of another iconic character, Bulldog Drummond, was H.C. McNeile, born September 28, 1888. Baroness Orczy, writer of the stories about the “Old Man in the Corner” and the “Scarlet Pimpernel” (Is he in Heaven / Or is he in Hell / That demn’d elusive Pimpernel?) was born September 23, 1865.

Several giants of the British Golden Age had September birthdays, including Arthur Upfield (September 1, 1888), whose many novels about the Australian aborigine Napoleon Bonaparte still have a solid readership. Henry Wade (September 10, 1887) did not have the success of some of his contemporaries, but his police novels about Chief Inspector Poole criticized the British legal system and influenced many subsequent crime writers – including such September-born figures as Cyril Hare (September 4, 1900), Henry Cecil (September 19, 1902), and Richard Hull (September 6, 1896). He ranks with Freeman Wills Crofts and R. Austin Freeman as a master of the humdrum school of crime-writing – books that are worthwhile if only you can stay awake while working out the intricacies of railroad schedules and other alibi-breaking procedures.

Contrary to the evidence in the above paragraphs, not all mystery writers born in September are dead. Not yet, anyway. Loren Estleman (September 15, 1952) continues to write some of the best hard-boiled fiction being produced today, especially those books about Amos Walker, which are good enough to make Detroit seem interesting.

One of the half dozen greatest writers of private-eye stories who ever lived, Robert B. Parker (September 17, 1932), did not have too much success with his very early Spenser novels and supplemented his writing income by producing “Sports Illustrated Training With Weights” (published the year after his debut novel, “The Godwulf Manuscript”). With 25 or more consecutive mysteries on the best-seller lists, as well as a successful television series and made-for-television movies, Dr. Parker no longer needs to supplement his income.

Unhappily, the superb Colin Dexter (September 29, 1930) retired a few years ago. Though at the height of his creative powers, he felt he had written enough about Inspector Morse, and the success of the PBS series capped a distinguished career.

Although Mystery Writers of America awarded its Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement to Marcia Muller (September 28, 1944), she remains undervalued for her contribution to the genre. She created the first modern hard-boiled female private eye, Sharon McCone. Both Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky have acknowledged that Ms. Muller was the mother of the subgenre that brought them so much success.

Elizabeth Peters (September 29, 1927), in addition to producing the relentlessly charming, clever, and humorous novels about Amelia Peabody, was the driving force behind the creation of the convention devoted to cozy mysteries, Malice Domestic, so she has a lot to answer for. Peter Lovesey (September 10, 1936) is one of the few male writers to receive recognition at that convention, but he’s truly first-rate anyway. Nancy Pickard (September 19, 1945) generally gets two or three nominations a year from those who attend that annual convention, a testament to her very large readership.

September is, appropriately, the beginning of autumn, which Horace defined as the harvest season of the Goddess of Death. With which cheerful notion I wish you a nice day.

Mr. Penzler is the proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan and the series editor of the annual “Best American Mystery Stories.” He can be reached at openzler@nysun.com.