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John Rhode


(Cecil John Charles Street)
UK flag (1884 - 1964)

aka Miles Burton, Cecil Waye

John Rhode was one pseudonym used by the prolific English author Cecil John Charles Street who also wrote as Miles Burton and Cecil Waye. Street lived at Seaford and produced four detective novels a year for thirty-seven years. He was a serving British army officer who attained the rank of Major. He also wrote non-fiction, focussing on history and criminology.

Street was reticent about his background, but there is evidence that he was born in Gibraltar and may have attended a public school in Berkshire, possibly Wellington College. He was awarded a Military Cross and an OBE.

Street's two main series are the Dr Lancelot Priestley books under the Rhode name, and the Desmond Merrion/Inspector Henry Arnold books under the Burton name. The Priestley books are classics of scientific detection, with the elderly Dr Priestley demonstrating how apparently impossible crimes have been carried out. Priestley ages through the series and by the last books must be well into his eighties, but his faculties are unimpaired. The Burton series are more traditional detective fiction with the addition of chases and the occasional romance; in fact the hero, amateur investigator Desmond Merrion, meets his wife in the first, The Secret of High Eldersham (1930).
 

Genres: Mystery
 
Series
Dr. Priestley
   1. The Paddington Mystery (1925)
   2. Dr. Priestley's Quest (1926)
   3. The Ellerby Case (1927)
   4. The Murders in Praed Street (1928)
   5. Tragedy At the Unicorn (1928)
   6. The Davidson Case (1929)
     aka Murder at Bratton Grange
   7. The House on Tollard Ridge (1929)
   8. Dr. Priestley Investigates (1930)
     aka Pinehurst
   9. Peril At Cranbury Hall (1930)
   10. The Hanging Woman (1931)
   11. Tragedy On the Line (1931)
   12. Dead Men At the Folly (1932)
   13. Mystery At Greycombe Farm (1932)
     aka The Fire At Greycombe Farm
   14. The Claverton Affair (1933)
     aka The Claverton Mystery
   15. Dr. Priestley Lays a Trap (1933)

     aka The Motor Rally Mystery

   16. The Venner Crime (1933)
   17. Poison for One (1934)
   18. The Robthorne Mystery (1934)
   19. The Corpse in the Car (1935)
   20. Hendon's First Case (1935)
   21. Mystery At Olympia (1935)
     aka Murder At the Motor Show
   22. Shot At Dawn (1935)
   23. Death At Breakfast (1936)
   24. In Face of the Verdict (1936)
   25. The Harvest Murder (1937)
     aka Death in the Hop Fields
   26. Death Sits On the Board (1937)
   27. Body Unidentified (1937)
     aka Proceed with Caution
   28. Invisible Weapons (1938)
   29. The Bloody Tower (1938)
     aka The Tower of Evil
   30. Death Pays a Dividend (1939)
   31. The Elm Tree Murder (1939)
     aka Death on Sunday
   32. Death on the Boat Train (1940)
   33. Murder At Lilac Cottage (1940)
   34. Death at the Helm (1941)
   35. They Watched by Night (1941)
     aka Signal for Death
   36. The Fourth Bomb (1942)
   37. Dead On the Track (1943)
   38. Death Invades the Meeting (1944)
   39. Men Die At Cyprus Lodge (1944)
   40. Vegetable Duck (1944)
   41. Bricklayer's Arms (1945)
     aka Shadow of a Crime
   42. Death in Harley Street (1945)
   43. The Lake House (1946)
     aka Secret of the Lake House
   44. Death of an Author (1947)
   45. Nothing But the Truth (1947)
   46. The Paper Bag (1948)
   47. The Telephone Call (1948)
   48. Blackthorn House (1949)
   49. The Fatal Garden (1949)
     aka Up the Garden Path
   50. Two Graphs (1950)
     aka Double Identities
   51. Family Affairs (1950)
   52. Dr. Goodwood's Locum (1951)
     aka Affair of the Substitute Doctor
   53. The Secret Meeting (1951)
   54. Death in Wellington Road (1952)
   55. Death At the Dance (1952)
   56. The Mysterious Suspect (1952)
     aka By Registered Post
   57. Death At the Inn (1953)
     aka The Case of the Forty Thieves
   58. Death On the Lawn (1954)
   59. The Dovebury Murders (1954)
   60. Delayed Payment (1955)
     aka Death of a Godmother
   61. The Domestic Agency (1955)
     aka Grave Matters
   62. An Artist Dies (1956)
     aka Death of an Artist
   63. Open Verdict (1956)
   64. Robbery with Violence (1957)
   65. Death of a Bridegroom (1958)
   66. Murder At Derivale (1958)
   67. Death Takes a Partner (1959)
   68. Licensed for Murder (1959)
   69. Three Cousins Die (1960)
   70. Twice Dead (1960)
   71. The Fatal Pool (1960)
   72. The Vanishing Diary (1961)
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Desmond Merrion (as by Miles Burton)
   1. Secret of High Eldersham (1930)
   2. Menace on the Downs (1931)
   3. The Three Crimes (1931)
   4. Death of Mr. Gantley (1932)
   5. Fate at the Fair (1933)
   6. Tragedy at the Thirteenth Hole (1933)
   7. Death at the Crossroads (1933)
   8. To Catch A Thief (1934)
   9. The Charabanc Mystery (1934)
   10. The Devereux Court Mystery (1935)
   11. The Milk-Churn Murder (1935)
   12. Where is Barbara Prentice? (1936)
   13. Death in the Tunnel (1936)
     aka Dark Is The Tunnel
   14. Murder of a Chemist (1936)
   15. Death at the Club (1937)
     aka The Clue of the Fourteen Keys
   16. Murder in Crown Passage (1937)
   17. Death at Low Tide (1938)
   18. The Platinum Cat (1938)
   19. Mr Babbacombe Dies (1939)
   20. Death Leaves No Card (1939)
   21. Mr Westerby Missing (1940)
   22. Written in Dust (1940)
     aka Murder in the Coalhole
   23. Vacancy with Corpse (1941)
   24. Up the Garden Path (1941)
   25. Death of Two Brothers (1941)
   26. Death At Ash House (1942)
   27. Dead Stop (1943)
   28. Who Killed the Doctor? (1943)
     aka Murder, M.D.
   29. Four-Ply Yarn (1944)
     aka The Shadow on the Cliff
   30. The Three Corpse Trick (1944)
   31. Early Morning Murder (1945)
     aka Accidents Do Happen
   32. Not a Leg to Stand On (1945)
   33. The Cat Jumps (1946)
   34. Situation Vacant (1946)
   35. Heir to Lucifer (1947)
   36. A Will in the Way (1947)
   37. Devil's Reckoning (1948)
   38. Death in Shallow Water (1948)
   39. Death Takes the Living (1949)
   40. Look Alive (1949)
   41. Ground for Suspicion (1950)
   42. A Village Afraid (1951)
   43. Beware Your Neighbour (1951)
   44. Murder Out of School (1951)
   45. Murder On Duty (1952)
   46. Heir to Murder (1953)
   47. Something to Hide (1953)
   48. Murder in Absence (1954)
   49. Unwanted Corpse (1954)
   50. A Crime in Time (1955)
   51. Murder Unrecognised (1955)
   52. Death in a Duffle Coat (1956)
   53. Found Drowned (1956)
   54. The Chinese Puzzle (1957)
   55. The Moth-Watch Murder (1957)
   56. Bones in the Brickfield (1958)
   57. Death Takes a Detour (1958)
   58. Return from the Dead (1959)
   59. A Smell of Smoke (1959)
   60. Death Paints a Picture (1960)
   61. Legacy of Death (1960)
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Novels
   The White Menace (1926)
     aka A. S. F.
   Mademoiselle from Armentieres (1927)
   The Hardway Diamonds Mystery (1930) (as by Miles Burton)
   The Figure of Eight (1931) (as by Cecil Waye)
   Murder at Monk's Barn (1931) (as by Cecil Waye)
   The End of the Chase (1932) (as by Cecil Waye)
   Murder At the Moorings (1932) (as by Miles Burton)
   The Prime Minister's Pencil (1933) (as by Cecil Waye)
   The Clue of the Silver Brush (1936)
   Fatal Descent (1939) (with Carter Dickson)
     aka Drop to His Death
   Death Visits Downspring (1941) (as by Miles Burton)
   Night Exercise (1942)
     aka Dead of the Night
   Too Many Suspects (1945)
   Experiment in Crime (1947)
   The Links in the Chain (1948)
   Shadow of an Alibi (1948)
   The Disappearing Parson (1949) (as by Miles Burton)
   The Last Suspect (1951)
   Blood Trail (1966) (as by Miles Burton)
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Novellas and Short Stories
   The Elusive Bullet (1931)
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Anthologies edited
   Line-Up (1940)
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Non fiction show
 
Omnibus editions show
 
Anthologies containing stories by John Rhode
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Bodies from the Library 6 (2023)
(Bodies from the Library, book 6)
edited by
Tony Medawar
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Bodies from the Library 3 (2020)
(Bodies from the Library, book 3)
edited by
Tony Medawar
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The Measure of Malice (2019)
Scientific Mysteries
(British Library Crime Classics)
edited by
Martin Edwards

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