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(Julian Symons is primarily remembered as a master of the art of crime writing. However, in his eighty-two years he produced an enormously varied body of work. Social and military history, biography and criticism were all subjects he touched upon with remarkable success, and he held a distinguished reputation in each field.
His novels were consistently highly individual and expertly crafted, raising him above other crime writers of his day. It is for this that he was awarded various prizes, and, in 1982, named as Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America - an honour accorded to only three other English writers before him: Graham Greene, Eric Ambler and Daphne Du Maurier. He succeeded Agatha Christie as the president of Britain's Detection Club, a position he held from 1976 to 1985, and in 1990 he was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writer
Genres: Mystery
Series
Francis Quarles
1. Murder! Murder! (1961)
2. Francis Quarles Investigates (1965)
3. The Detections of Francis Quarles (2006)
1. Murder! Murder! (1961)
2. Francis Quarles Investigates (1965)
3. The Detections of Francis Quarles (2006)
Joan Kahn-Harper
1. The Man Who Killed Himself (1967)
2. The Man Who Lost His Wife (1967)
3. The Man Whose Dreams Came True (1968)
4. The Players and the Game (1972)
5. The Plot Against Roger Rider (1973)
6. Sweet Adelaide (1980)
7. The Detling Murders (1982)
aka The Detling Secret
8. The Man Who Hated Television (1987)
aka Did Sherlock Holmes Meet Hercule?
1. The Man Who Killed Himself (1967)
2. The Man Who Lost His Wife (1967)
3. The Man Whose Dreams Came True (1968)
4. The Players and the Game (1972)
5. The Plot Against Roger Rider (1973)
6. Sweet Adelaide (1980)
7. The Detling Murders (1982)
aka The Detling Secret
8. The Man Who Hated Television (1987)
aka Did Sherlock Holmes Meet Hercule?
Novels
The 31st of February (1950)
The Broken Penny (1953)
The Paper Chase (1956)
aka Bogue's Fortune
The Colour of Murder (1957)
The Progress of a Crime (1960)
A Reasonable Doubt (1960)
The Killing of Francie Lake (1962)
aka The Plain Man
The End of Solomon Grundy (1964)
The Belting Inheritance (1965)
Death's Darkest Face (1966)
Buller's Campaign (1974)
The Blackheath Poisonings (1978)
The Name of Annabel Lee (1983)
The Criminal Comedy of the Contented Couple (1985)
aka A Criminal Comedy
The General Strike (1987)
Something Like a Love Affair (1992)
Playing Happy Families (1994)
A Sort of Virtue (1996)
The Broken Penny (1953)
The Paper Chase (1956)
aka Bogue's Fortune
The Colour of Murder (1957)
The Progress of a Crime (1960)
A Reasonable Doubt (1960)
The Killing of Francie Lake (1962)
aka The Plain Man
The End of Solomon Grundy (1964)
The Belting Inheritance (1965)
Death's Darkest Face (1966)
Buller's Campaign (1974)
The Blackheath Poisonings (1978)
The Name of Annabel Lee (1983)
The Criminal Comedy of the Contented Couple (1985)
aka A Criminal Comedy
The General Strike (1987)
Something Like a Love Affair (1992)
Playing Happy Families (1994)
A Sort of Virtue (1996)
Omnibus
Collections
The Tigers of Subtopia (1965)
How to Trap a Crook (1977)
Somebody Else (1990)
Murder at Christmas (1991) (with Clay More, John Mortimer, John Clifford Mortimer and Georges Simenon)
Murder On Christmas Eve (2017) (with Margery Allingham, Lawrence Block, Marjorie Bowen, John Dickson Carr, G K Chesterton, Michael Innes, Val McDermid, Ellis Peters and Ian Rankin)
How to Trap a Crook (1977)
Somebody Else (1990)
Murder at Christmas (1991) (with Clay More, John Mortimer, John Clifford Mortimer and Georges Simenon)
Murder On Christmas Eve (2017) (with Margery Allingham, Lawrence Block, Marjorie Bowen, John Dickson Carr, G K Chesterton, Michael Innes, Val McDermid, Ellis Peters and Ian Rankin)
Anthologies edited
Non fiction
Anthologies containing stories by Julian Symons
Some Things Fierce and Fatal (1971)
Open at Your Own Risk (1975)
Great Tales of Mystery and Suspense (1981)
Open at Your Own Risk (1975)
Great Tales of Mystery and Suspense (1981)
Short stories
| Eight Minutes to Kill (1957) | |||
| The Santa Claus Club (1960) | |||
| A Theme for Hyacinth (1967) |
Julian Symons recommends
Malice Aforethought (1931)
Francis Iles (Anthony Berkeley)
"Begat the post-war realistic crime novel."
Tragedy at Law (1942)
(Inspector Mallett and Francis Pettigrew)
Cyril Hare
"Outstanding among portraits of legal life in crime fiction."
Mystery Stories (1956)
Stanley Ellin
"The finest collection of stories in the crime form published in the past half century."
Suddenly, At Singapore (1961)
(Paul Harris, book 1)
Gavin Black (Oswald Wynd)
"A very smooth job, especially strong on background."
How Like an Angel (1962)
Margaret Millar
"Margeret Millar has few peers, and no superior... Her skill is shown at its finest in HOW LIKE AN ANGEL."
Death at Hallows End (1965)
(Carolus Deene)
Leo Bruce (Rupert Croft-Cooke)
"Mr. Leo Bruce is one of the few criminal practitioners who keep the tattered old flag of pure detection flying high."
I Love, I Kill (1968)
John Bingham
"Ar his best he has no superiors and few equals in subtlety and psychological penetration among modern crime writers."
Heroes and Villains (1969)
Angela Carter
"Original, talented, disturbing...the vision is so complete and so finely imaginative."
Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)
(Joe Leaphorn And Jim Chee, book 2)
Tony Hillerman
"The undisputed father of the detective story."
Love Lies Bleeding (2019)
(Maeve Kerrigan, book 7)
Jane Casey
"Has a high-spiritedness rare and welcome in the crime story."
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