John Creasey was an English crime and science fiction writer who wrote more than 600 novels using twenty-eight different pseudonyms. In 1937 alone, twenty-nine of Creasey’s books were published.
Creasey created several characters which are now famous, such as The Toff (The Honourable Richard Rollison), Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard, Inspector Roger West, The Baron (John Mannering), Doctor Emmanuel Cellini and Doctor Stanislaus Alexander Palfrey. The most popular of these was Gideon of Scotland Yard, who was the basis for the television series Gideon’s Way and for the John Ford film Gideon of Scotland Yard (1958), also known by its British title Gideon’s Day. The Baron character was also made into a 1960s TV series starring Steve Forrest as The Baron.
Other adaptations of Creasey’s novels included: Salute the Toff (1952, also known as Brighthaven Express in the USA), Hammer the Toff (1952), and Cat & Mouse (1958, also known as The Desperate Men in the USA), written as Michael Halliday.
In 1953, John Creasey founded the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) in the UK. The CWA New Blood Dagger is awarded in his memory, for first books by previously unpublished writers.
In 1962, Creasey won an Edgar Award for Best Novel, from the Mystery Writers of America (MWA), for Gideon’s Fire, written under the pseudonym J. J. Marric. In 1969 he received the MWA’s greatest honour, the Grand Master Award.
Read More
