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Marshall Jevons is the name of a fictitious
name|fictitious crime writer invented and used by
William Breit and Kenneth G. Elzinga, professors
of economics at Trinity University (Texas)|Trinity
University, San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio and the
University of Virginia, respectively.

It was Breit's notion to write a mystery novel in
which an amateur detective uses economic theory to
solve crimes. Elzinga was enthusiastic about his
colleague's idea and not only encouraged him to
proceed but also decided to take an active role in
writing the book. Over the next twenty years, on
top of their academic schedules, Breit and Elzinga
co-authored three mystery books featuring Harvard
University|Harvard economist-sleuth Henry
Spearman. The first Henry Spearman Mystery, Murder
at the Margin, came out in 1978 in
literature|1978, and was followed by The Fatal
Equilibrium (1985 in literature|1985) and A Deadly
Indifference (1998 in literature|1998).

When, in 1978, after a three-year collaboration,
the two economists' first foray into crime fiction
was eventually published by Thomas Horton and
Daughters, there was no indication on the book
cover as to the true identity of the authors.
Rather, Elzinga had concocted a fancy biography of
Marshall Jevons which read:

Marshall Jevons is the President of
UtilMax, Inc., an international management
consulting|consulting firm headquartered in New
York City. A former Rhodes Scholarship|Rhodes
Scholar, he holds advanced degrees in economics,
biochemistry, and oceanography. Mr. Jevons is an
Olympic medalists|Olympic medal holder in kayaking
whose hobbies now include rocket|rocketry and the
futures contract|futures market in cocoa|cocoa
beans. He is a native of Virginia but prefers to
call 'home' the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2|Queen
Elizabeth 2. This is Marshall Jevons' first
novel.

However, in subsequent editions of the book, Breit
and Elzinga's authorship was recognized. Murder at
the Margin has since been used as supplementary
reading in many introductory courses in economics.
Also in commercial terms the novel was a success,
and MIT Press approached the authors to suggest
they write another Henry Spearman Mystery which
they would publish. Thus, in 1985, The Fatal
Equilibrium became the first mystery novel to be
published by a university press. One year later, a
mass market paperback was issued, prompting
Marshall Jevons to comment that “there are few
pleasures more satisfying than seeing one's own
paperback in a book rack at an airport
newsstand”.

The name Marshall Jevons derives from the surnames
of two 19th century English economists, Alfred
Marshall and William Stanley Jevons.