I was saddened to learn recently, from his widow Jane, that David Roberts died on 18 December. The news came as a particular shock as I'd very much enjoyed David's company at a Detection Club dinner at the Langham Hotel on 7 November. He was in excellent form that night, even though he'd not been in the best of health, and he wrote to me after the dinner to say how much he'd enjoyed the evening. I was looking forward to seeing him again this year.

David had a distinguished career in publishing lasting over thirty years - he ultimately became an editorial director - before he turned to writing detective fiction. Sweet Poison (2001) introduced Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne, and the book, set in the 1930s, reflected his love of Golden Age fiction. Sweet Sorrow (2009) was the tenth and last in the series.

I knew David mainly through the Detection Club rather than the CWA, and he kindly contributed twice to Club books that I edited. 'Unfinished Business' is a story which appears in Motives for Murder, our tribute to Peter Lovesey on his 80th birthday and David paid homage by writing a nice tale about Peter's first detective, Sergeant Cribb.

When I invited David to contribute to Howdunit, our book about the art and graft of crime writing, he wrote an incisive piece about the changing face of publishing. He was ideally qualified to write it, of course.

From time to time, he'd drop me a nice email about books like The Golden Age of Murder or the British Library Crime Classics and it was always nice to talk to him. He was a charming and popular man, and I'm so sorry that he's gone.