Julian Symons's picture
21 followers

Julian Symons


(Julian Gustave Symons)
UK flag (1912 - 1994)

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
thumbthumbthumb
 
Insp. Crambo
   The Narrowing Circle (1954)
   The Gigantic Shadow (1958)
     aka The Pipe Dream
thumbthumb
 
no image availableno image availablethumb
 
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 Secret (1982)
     aka The Detling Murders
   8. The Man Who Hated Television (1987)
     aka Did Sherlock Holmes Meet Hercule?
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumbthumbthumbthumb
 
thumbthumb
 
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)
   A Criminal Comedy (1985)
     aka The Criminal Comedy of the Contented Couple
   The General Strike (1987)
   Something Like a Love Affair (1992)
   Playing Happy Families (1994)
   A Sort of Virtue (1996)
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumbthumbthumbthumb
thumbthumb
 
Collections
   The Tigers of Subtopia (1965)
   How to Trap a Crook (1977)
   Somebody Else (1990)
   Murder at Christmas (1991) (with others)
thumbthumbno image availablethumb
 
Anthologies edited
   Great Detectives (1981)
thumb
 
Non fiction show
 
Omnibus editions show
 
Julian Symons recommends
thumb
Love Lies Bleeding (2019)
(Maeve Kerrigan, book 8)
Jane Casey
"Has a high-spiritedness rare and welcome in the crime story."
thumb
The Choirboys (1975)
Joseph Wambaugh
"The undisputed father of the detective story."
thumb
Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)
(Joe Leaphorn And Jim Chee, book 2)
Tony Hillerman
"The undisputed father of the detective story."

More recommendations 


Anthologies containing stories by Julian Symons
thumb
Murder in a Heatwave (2023)
(Vintage Murders, book 7)
edited by
Cecily Gayford
thumb
Murder in the Falling Snow (2022)
(Vintage Murders, book 6)
edited by
Cecily Gayford
thumb
Final Acts (2022)
Theatrical Mysteries
(British Library Crime Classics)
edited by
Martin Edwards

More anthologies 


Visitors also looked at these authors


About Fantastic Fiction       Information for Authors