Julian's Fans (7)

Julian Symons

Author profile

born

in London, The United Kingdom

May 30, 1912

died

November 23, 1994

gender

male

genre

Mystery & Thrillers, Biographies & Memoirs, History

About this author

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Julian Gustave 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...more Julian Gustave 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.

Symons held a number of positions prior to becoming a full-time writer including secretary to an engineering company and advertising copywriter and executive. It was after the end of World War II that he became a free-lance writer and book reviewer and from 1946 to 1956 he wrote a weekly column entitled "Life, People - and Books" for the Manchester Evening News. During the 1950s he was also a regular contributor to Tribune, a left-wing weekly, serving as its literary editor.

He founded and edited 'Twentieth Century Verse', an important little magazine that flourished from 1937 to 1939 and he introduced many young English poets to the public. He has also published two volumes of his own poetry entitled 'Confusions about X', 1939, and 'The Second Man', 1944.

He wrote hie first detective novel, 'The Immaterial Murder Case', long before it was first published in 1945 and this was followed in 1947 by a rare volume entitled 'A Man Called Jones' that features for the first time Inspector Bland, who also appeared in Bland Beginning.

These novles were followed by a whole host of detective novels and he has also written many short stories that were regularly published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. In additin there are two British paperback collections of his short stories, Murder! Murder! and Francis Quarles Investigates, which were published in 1961 and 1965 resepctively.(less)

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Julian Symons's Books

Average rating: 4.34 · 22,721 ratings · 224 reviews · 119 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Tell-tale Heart: The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe 4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 avg rating — 104 ratings — published 1978 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bloody Murder: From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel 3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 avg rating — 67 ratings — published 1972 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Blackheath Poisonings: A Victorian Murder Mystery 3.44 of 5 stars 3.44 avg rating — 62 ratings — published 1978 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Three-Pipe Problem (Sheridan Haynes, #1) 3.33 of 5 stars 3.33 avg rating — 45 ratings — published 1975 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Man Who Killed Himself (Joan Kahn-Harper, #1) 3.43 of 5 stars 3.43 avg rating — 28 ratings — published 1967 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The 31st Of February 3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 1950 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Players and The Game (Joan Kahn-Harper, #4) 3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 1972 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Kentish Manor Murders (Sheridan Haynes, #2) 2.71 of 5 stars 2.71 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 1988 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Man Who Lost His Wife (Joan Kahn-Harper, #2) 3.46 of 5 stars 3.46 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 1977 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Colour Of Murder 3.24 of 5 stars 3.24 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 1957 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Julian Symons…

Series by Julian Symons

Joan Kahn-Harper (8 books)
by Julian Symons
3.489130434782609 of 5 stars 3.49 avg rating — 92 ratings

Sheridan Haynes (2 books)
by Julian Symons
3.1363636363636362 of 5 stars 3.14 avg rating — 66 ratings

Inspector Bland (3 books)
by Julian Symons
3.230769230769231 of 5 stars 3.23 avg rating — 13 ratings

Inspector Crambo (2 books)
by Julian Symons
3.0 of 5 stars 3.00 avg rating — 12 ratings

Francis Quarles (3 books)
by Julian Symons
3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings

More series by Julian Symons…

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