Julian Symons’s Followers (67)

Julian Symons

Born

in London, The United Kingdom

May 30, 1912

Died

November 23, 1994

Genre

Mystery & Thrillers, Biographies & Memoirs, History

edit data

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 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. ...more

Combine Editions
Julian Symons’s books

Average rating: 4.23 · 61,491 ratings · 2,214 reviews · 257 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Colour of Murder 3.66 avg rating — 695 ratings — published 1957 — 38 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 Belting Inheritance by Julian Symons, Martin Edwards (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 3.70 avg rating — 495 ratings — published 1965 — 14 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 Progress of a Crime 3.26 avg rating — 294 ratings — published 1960 — 28 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 3.81 avg rating — 229 ratings — published 1972 — 24 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 3.61 avg rating — 161 ratings — published 1978 — 17 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 Tell-Tale Heart: The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe 4.12 avg rating — 127 ratings — published 1978 — 15 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) 3.05 avg rating — 134 ratings — published 1975 — 32 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 3.38 avg rating — 105 ratings — published 1967 — 23 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 3.13 avg rating — 86 ratings — published 1950 — 32 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 3.36 avg rating — 64 ratings — published 1972 — 19 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 (9 books)
by

Julian Symons

3.35 avg rating — 337 ratings

Sheridan Haynes (2 books)
by

Julian Symons

2.97 avg rating — 200 ratings

Inspector Bland (3 books)
by

Julian Symons

3.16 avg rating — 57 ratings

Inspector Crambo (2 books)
by

Julian Symons

3.09 avg rating — 46 ratings

Francis Quarles (3 books)
by

Julian Symons,

John Cooper (Editor)

3.20 avg rating — 15 ratings

More series by Julian Symons…

Quotes by Julian Symons (?)

“The answer to this question, which is at the root of the tragi-comedy of Gordon, rests in the illogic of human conduct compared with rationality of human thought”
― Julian Symons, England's Pride: The Story of the Gordon Relief Expedition

0 likes

“This also was routine, something that had been done and said ten thousand times in a hundred police stations, and Twicker, as he looked at Norman’s fleshy face set in its mask of good humour, and at Garney’s, in which fear was beginning to replace arrogance, felt nothing at all. Lies and tricks, threats and promises, these were the methods that brought results.”
― Julian Symons, The Progress of a Crime

0 likes

“Before 1914, the external trappings of typical detective stories corresponded with the world outside. The big country house still existed, with its lengthy visits from friends and relations, its mild local entertainments, its shooting and fishing, its small army of servants, and its multiplicity of rooms, including the corpse-filled library”
― Julian Symons, Morttal Consequences

0 likes

See all Julian Symons's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The History Book ...: G'S 50 BOOKS READ IN 2013	124	207	Jan 03, 2014 02:05PM
Cozy Mysteries : 2015 SUMMER Challenge	156	180	Sep 24, 2015 03:00PM
Cozy Mysteries : Title and Author Game, Round 2	15570	1206	Mar 21, 2016 09:15AM
The Life of a Boo...: September 2016 Monthly Reading Challenge	51	298	Oct 01, 2016 06:38PM
The Life of a Boo...: Bill's 2016 Individual Reading Group Challenge	479	351	Dec 31, 2016 07:27PM
Cozy Mysteries : Title and Author game, Round 3	13653	559	Apr 03, 2017 09:53AM

More…

Julian Symons’s Followers (67)

Julian Symons

Combine EditionsJulian Symons’s books

Series by Julian Symons

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Julian Symons’s books