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Edmund Crispin


(Robert Bruce Montgomery)
UK flag (1921 - 1978)

Edmund Crispin was the pseudonym of (Robert) Bruce Montgomery. His first crime novel and musical composition were both accepted for publication while he was still an undergraduate at Oxford. After a brief spell of teaching, he became a full-time writer and composer (particularly of film music. He wrote the music for six of the Carry On films. But he was also well known for his concert and church music). He also edited science fiction anthologies, and became a regular crime fiction reviewer for The Sunday Times. His friends included Philip Larkin, Kingsley Amis and Agatha Christie.He had always been a heavy drinker and, unfortunately, there was a long gap in his writing during a time when he was suffering from alcohol problems. Otherwise he enjoyed a quiet life (enlivened by music, reading, church-going and bridge) in Totnes, a quiet corner of Devon, where he resisted all attempts to develop or exploit the district, visiting London as little as possible. He moved to a new house he had built at Week, a hamlet near near Dartington, in 1964, then, late in life, married his secretary Ann in 1976, just two years before he died from alcohol related problems. His music was composed using his real name, Bruce Montgomery.
 

Genres: Mystery
 
Series
Gervase Fen
   1. The Case of the Gilded Fly (1944)
   2. Holy Disorders (1945)
   3. The Moving Toyshop (1946)
   4. Swan Song (1947)
     aka Dead and Dumb
   5. Love Lies Bleeding (1948)
   6. Buried For Pleasure (1949)
   7. Frequent Hearses (1950)
     aka Sudden Vengeance
   8. The Long Divorce (1951)
     aka A Noose for Her
   9. The Glimpses of the Moon (1977)
   Fen Country (1979)
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Collections
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Anthologies edited
   Best SF (1955)
   Best SF 2 (1956)
   Best SF 3 (1958)
   Best Tales of Terror (1962)
   Best SF 5 (1963)
   Best SF 6 (1966)
   The Stars and Under (1968)
   Best SF 7 (1970)
   Outwards from Earth (1974)
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Edmund Crispin recommends
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Devil Daddy (1972)
John Blackburn
"Splendid ghoulish read."
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Star Shine (1954)
Fredric Brown
"Intelligent science fiction at its fascinating best."

Anthologies containing stories by Edmund Crispin
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Ghosts from the Library (2022)
(Bodies from the Library)
edited by
Tony Medawar
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Bodies from the Library 5 (2022)
(Bodies from the Library, book 5)
edited by
Tony Medawar
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Murder by the Seaside (2022)
Classic Crime Stories for Summer
edited by
Cecily Gayford

More anthologies 


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