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John Bude

Born

in Maidstone, Kent, The United Kingdom

January 01, 1901

Died

November 08, 1957

Genre

Mystery, Fantasy, Children's

Influences

Freeman Willis Croft

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John Bude was a pseudonym used by Ernest Carpenter Elmore who was a British born writer.

He was born in 1901 and, as a boarder, he attended Mill Hill School, leaving in 1919 and moving on to Cheltenham where he attended a secretarial college and where he learned to type. After that he spent several years as games master at St Christopher School in Letchworth where he also led the school's dramatic activities.

This keen interest in the theatre led him to join the Lena Ashwell Players as stage manager and he took their productions around the country. He also acted in plays produced at the Everyman Theatre in Hampstead, where he lived for a time. He honed his writing skills, whenever he had a moment to spare, in the various dressing rooms that John Bude was a pseudonym used by Ernest Carpenter Elmore who was a British born writer.

He was born in 1901 and, as a boarder, he attended Mill Hill School, leaving in 1919 and moving on to Cheltenham where he attended a secretarial college and where he learned to type. After that he spent several years as games master at St Christopher School in Letchworth where he also led the school's dramatic activities.

This keen interest in the theatre led him to join the Lena Ashwell Players as stage manager and he took their productions around the country. He also acted in plays produced at the Everyman Theatre in Hampstead, where he lived for a time. He honed his writing skills, whenever he had a moment to spare, in the various dressing rooms that he found himself in.

He eventually returned to Maidstone, the town of his birth, and during the Second World War he ran his local Home Guard unit as he had been deemed unfit to serve in the forces.

He later lived in Loose, Kent, and after that near Rye, East Sussex, and enjoyed golf and painting but never learned to drive although that did not stop him apparently offering advice to his wife when she was driving! He had met his wife, Betty, when producing plays back in Maidstone and they married in 1933.

After becoming a full-time writer, he wrote some 30 crime fiction novels, many featuring his two main series characters Superintendent Meredith and Inspector Sherwood. He began with 'The Cornish Coast Murder' in 1935 and his final two crime novels, 'A Twist of the Rope' and 'The Night the Fog Came Down' were published posthumously in 1958.

He was a founder member of the Norfolk-based Crime Writers Association (CWA) in 1953 and was a co-organiser of the Crime Book Exhibition that was one of the CWA's early publicity initiatives. He was a popular and hard-working member of the CWA's committee from its inception through to May 1957.

Under his own name he also wrote a number of fantasy novels, the most well-known of which is 'The Lumpton Gobbelings' (1954). In addition he wrote a children's book, 'The Snuffly Snorty Dog' (1946).

He was admitted to hospital in Hastings on 6 November 1957, having just delivered his what turned out to be his final manuscript to his publisher, for a routine operation but he died two days later.

Fellow British crime writer Martin Edwards comments, "Bude writes both readably and entertainingly. His work may not have been stunning enough to belong with the greats, but there is a smoothness and accomplishment about even his first mystery, 'The Cornish Coast Murder', which you don't find in many début mysteries."

Interestingly he was the dedicatee of 'The Case of the Running Mouse' (1944) by his friend Christopher Bush. The dedication stated, 'May his stature, and his circulation, increase.'

NB: He was not born on 1 January but the system does not allow a date of birth without a month and date so it defaults to 1 January. ...more

Combine Editions
John Bude’s books

Average rating: 3.57 · 12,471 ratings · 1,865 reviews · 55 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude, Martin Edwards (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 3.53 avg rating — 3,877 ratings — published 1935 — 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 Lake District Murder (Superintendent Meredith, #1) 3.34 avg rating — 2,121 ratings — published 1935 — 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
	The Sussex Downs Murder (Superintendent Meredith, #2) by John Bude, Martin Edwards (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 3.60 avg rating — 1,590 ratings — published 1936 — 2 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
	Death on the Riviera (Superintendent Meredith, #4) by John Bude, Martin Edwards (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 3.55 avg rating — 1,230 ratings — published 1952	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 Cheltenham Square Murder (Superintendent Meredith #3) 3.67 avg rating — 1,003 ratings — published 1937 — 18 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
	Death Makes a Prophet (Superintendent William Meredith #11) 3.75 avg rating — 501 ratings — published 1947 — 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
	Death in White Pyjamas / Death Knows No Calendar 3.80 avg rating — 440 ratings — published 2020 — 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 Telegram from Le Touquet by John Bude, Martin Edwards (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 3.85 avg rating — 362 ratings — published 1956 — 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
	Death Knows No Calendar 3.91 avg rating — 127 ratings — published 1942 — 2 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
	Death in White Pyjamas 3.70 avg rating — 113 ratings — published 1944 — 2 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 John Bude…

Series by John Bude

Superintendent William Meredith (23 books)
by

John Bude

3.56 avg rating — 7,103 ratings

Inspector Blampignon (3 books)
by

John Bude,

Martin Edwards (Goodreads Author) (Introduction)

3.62 avg rating — 1,605 ratings

Inspector Sherwood (3 books)
by

John Bude

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings

Superintendent Green (3 books)
by

John Bude

did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating

Quotes by John Bude (?)

“,m./But it is precisely at those moments when the glass seems to be ‘set fair’ that Fate invariably decides to take a hand.”
― John Bude

tags: destiny, fairness, fate, set-fair, unpredictability, unpredictability-of-life

2 likes

“In my opinion,” said the Superintendent slowly, “an arm-chair review of a case is often far more profitable than any number of enquiries and cross-examinations. You get a better perspective. More wood. Fewer trees.”
― John Bude, The Cornish Coast Murder

2 likes

“Exchange between Inspector Bigswell and Reverend Dodd:

“Then we may as well join forces because I came over here for exactly the same reason. Great minds think alike, eh, sir?”

“Or conversely, Inspector - fools seldom differ. It's curious how these old proverbs cancel each other out with such charming inconsequence. Since we've decided to join forces, I might add that many hands make light work - to which you might aptly reply: ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth.’ You see how beautifully it all works out?”
― John Bude, The Cornish Coast Murder

1 likes

See all John Bude's quotes »

Polls

Which classic English Mystery would you like to read with us during August? Please vote here.

They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie

43 votes, 49.4%

Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham

16 votes, 18.4%

Coffin, Scarcely Used by Colin Watson

14 votes, 16.1%

The Lake District Murder by John Bude

14 votes, 16.1%

87 total votes

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John Bude’s Followers (79)

John Bude

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John Bude’s books