Julian Symons

Julian Gustave Symons (pronounced SIMM-ons; 30 May 1912 – 19 November 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature. He was born in London and died in Kent.

Life and work
Julian Symons was born in London to a Russian or Polish-born father and an English mother of French and Spanish antecedents. He was a younger brother, and later the biographer, of writer A. J. A. Symons. He left school at 14. He founded the poetry magazine Twentieth Century Verse in 1937, editing it for two years. "He turned to crime writing in a light–hearted way before the war and soon afterwards established himself as a leading exponent of it, though his use of irony to show the violence behind the respectable masks of society place many of his books on the level of the orthodox novel." As an early Trotskyite, he applied for recognition as an anti-capitalist conscientious objector in World War II, but was refused by his tribunal. He chose not to appeal, and ended up in the Royal Armoured Corps 1942 to 1944, when he was invalided out with a non-battle-related arm injury. After a period as an advertising copywriter, he became a full-time writer in 1947. During his career he won two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America and, in 1982, received the MWA's Grand Master Award. Symons served as the president of the Detection Club from 1976 till 1985.

Symons's 1972 book Bloody Murder: From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel (published as Mortal Consequences in the US) is one of the best-known critical works in the field of crime fiction. Revised editions were published in 1985 and 1992. Symons highlighted the distinction between the classic puzzler mystery, associated with such writers as Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr, and the more modern "crime novel," which puts emphasis on psychology and motivation.

Symons published over thirty crime novels and story collections between 1945 and 1994. His works combined elements of both the detective story and the crime novel, but leaned clearly toward the latter, with an emphasis on character and psychology which anticipated later crime fiction writers such as Ruth Rendell and P.D. James. His novels tend to focus on ordinary people drawn into a murderous chain of events; the intricate plots are often spiced with black humour. Novels typical of his style include The Colour of Murder (1957), the Edgar-winning The Progress of a Crime (1960), The Man Whose Dreams Came True (1968) The Man Who Lost His Wife (1970) and The Plot Against Roger Ryder (1973).

Symons wrote two modern-day Sherlock Holmes pastiches, as well as a pastiche set in the 1920s. In A Three Pipe Problem (1975), the detective was "...a television actor, Sheridan Hayes, who wears the mask of Sherlock Holmes and assumes his character. The book neatly reversed the usual theme of the criminal behind the mask by having a rather commonplace man wearing the mask of the great detective." The Kentish Manor Murders was written in 1988. For his 1981 book The Great Detectives, he wrote a Sherlock Holmes pastiche instead of a biographical sketch. Entitled "How a Hermit was Disturbed in His Retirement," the events of the tale take place in the 1920s as Sherlock Holmes is drawn out of retirement to solve an unusual missing persons case. The story was included in the collection The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in which it was given the more Doylean title of "The Adventure of Hillerman Hall." He also made occasional forays into historical mystery, such as The Blackheath Poisonings (1978), which was filmed for television in 1992.

Crime fiction

 * The Immaterial Murder Case (1945)
 * A Man Called Jones (1947)
 * Bland Beginning (1949)
 * The Thirty-First of February (1950)
 * The Broken Penny (1953)
 * The Narrowing Circle (1954)
 * The Paper Chase (1956), as Bogue's Fortune (US)
 * The Colour of Murder (1957) (Winner, 1957 Gold Dagger Award)
 * The Gigantic Shadow (1958), as The Pipe Dream (US)
 * The Progress of a Crime (1960) (Winner, 1961 Edgar Award, Best Novel)
 * The Killing of Francie Lake (1962), as The Plain Man (US)
 * The End of Solomon Grundy (1964)
 * The Belting Inheritance (1965)
 * The Man Who Killed Himself (1967) (filmed in 1969 as Arthur! Arthur!)
 * The Man Whose Dreams Came True (1968)
 * The Man Who Lost His Wife (1970)
 * The Players and the Game (1972)
 * The Plot Against Roger Rider (1973)
 * A Three-Pipe Problem (1975)
 * The Blackheath Poisonings (1978)
 * Sweet Adelaide (1980)
 * The Detling Murders (1982), as The Detling Secret (US)
 * The Name of Annabel Lee (1983)
 * The Criminal Comedy of the Contented Couple (1985), as A Criminal Comedy (US)
 * The Kentish Manor Murders (1988)
 * Death's Darkest Face (1990)
 * Something Like a Love Affair (1992)
 * Playing Happy Families (1994)
 * A Sort of Virtue: A Political Crime Novel (1996)

Short crime fiction

 * Murder! Murder! (1961)
 * Francis Quarles Investigates (1965)
 * How to Trap a Crook (1977)
 * The Great Detectives: Seven Original Investigations (1981)
 * The Tigers of Subtopia (1982)
 * Did Sherlock Holmes Meet Hercule . . . (1988; single story in a limited edition of 200 copies) Collected in The Man Who Hated Television
 * The Man Who Hated Television (1995)
 * A Julian Symons Sherlockian Duet (2000; 2 stories in a pamphlet)
 * The Detections of Francis Quarles (Crippen & Landru, 2006)

Biography, history and literary criticism

 * A J A Symons: His Life & Speculations (1950) biography
 * Charles Dickens (1951)
 * Thomas Carlyle. The life and ideas of a prophet (1952?) biography
 * Criminal Acts (1955)
 * Horatio Bottomley (1955) biography
 * The General Strike – A Historical Portrait (1959)
 * A Reasonable Doubt (1960) non-fiction
 * The Thirties: a Dream Revolved (1960) revised 1975
 * Buller’s Campaign (1963) military history
 * England's Pride: The Story of the Gordon Relief Expedition (1965) military history
 * Crime and Detection: An Illustrated History from 1840 (1966)
 * Critical Occasions (1966) essays
 * Between the Wars (1972) history
 * Notes From Another Country (1972) stories
 * Bloody Murder – From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel: A History (1972) (US title: Mortal Consequences) (Special Edgar Award, 1973)
 * A Reflection on Auden (1973) broadsheet poem
 * The Angry 30s (1976) history
 * The Tell-Tale Heart: The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe (1978)
 * Conan Doyle – Portrait of an Artist (1979)
 * Agatha Christie – the Art of Her Crimes (1981)
 * Critical Observations: Diverse Essays (1981)
 * Crime and Detection Quiz (1983)
 * 1948 and 1984. The Second Orwell Memorial Lecture (1984)
 * Dashiel Hammett (1985)
 * Two Brothers. Fragments of a Correspondence (1985)
 * Makers of the New: The Revolution in Literature, 1912–1939 (1987)
 * Oscar Wilde: A problem in Biography (1988) Lurcy Lecture, Amherst College
 * Somebody Else (1990) stories
 * The Thirties and The Nineties (1990)
 * Portraits of The Missing: Imaginary Biographies (1991)
 * Does Literature Exist? (1992) Lurcy Lecture, Amherst College
 * Criminal Practices -Symons on Crime Writing 60s to 90s (1994)
 * Hell Gate

Edited collections

 * An Anthology of War Poetry (1942) editor
 * Selected Writings of Samuel Johnson (1949) editor
 * Carlyle: Selected Works (1957) editor
 * Essays & Biographies by A.J.A. Symons (1969) editor
 * Verdict of Thirteen: a Detection Club Anthology (1978)
 * Edgar Allan Poe Selected Tales (1980) editor
 * New Poetry 9, an Arts Council Anthology (1983) editor
 * Classic Crime Omnibus (1984) editor, stories

Short stories

 * Strolling in the Square One Day. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates and How to Trap a Crook (Francis Quarles)
 * The Archer. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * Out of the Mouths. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * Thirty Days Hath September. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * The Woman Afraid of October. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * Blue Paint. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * One Little Letter. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * The Santa Claus Club. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates and How to Trap a Crook (Francis Quarles)
 * Hot Summer Night. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * Coffee for Three. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * Four letters. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * Kidnap Plot. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * A Matter of Dentistry. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * By the Sea. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * Centre Court Mystery. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * Test Match Murder. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * The Grand National Case. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * Meeting in the Snow. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * The Wrong Hat. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * The Absent-Minded professor. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * Each Man Kills. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * Picture Show. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * The Hiding Place. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * Comedy in Venice. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * The Invisible Poison. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * Little Man Lost. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * The Tigers of Subtopia. Collected in The Tigers of Subtopia
 * The Dupe. Collected in The Tigers of Subtopia
 * Somebody Else. Collected in The Tigers of Subtopia
 * The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring. Collected in The Tigers of Subtopia
 * The Boiler. Collected in The Tigers of Subtopia
 * The Murderer. Collected in The Tigers of Subtopia
 * The Last Time. Collected in The Tigers of Subtopia
 * The Flaw. Collected in The Tigers of Subtopia
 * The Best Chess Player in the World. Collected in The Tigers of Subtopia
 * Experiment in Personality. Collected in How to Trap a Crook
 * A Theme for Hyacinth. Collected in How to Trap a Crook and The Tigers of Subtopia
 * Eight Minutes to Kill. Collected in How to Trap a Crook
 * 'Twixt the Cup and the Lip. Collected in How to Trap a Crook
 * How to Trap a Crook. Collected in How to Trap a Crook (Francis Quarles)
 * The Tiger's Stripe. Collected in How to Trap a Crook
 * Love Affair. Collected in How to Trap a Crook and The Tigers of Subtopia
 * The Main Chance. Collected in How to Trap a Crook
 * The Sensitive Ears of Mr Small. Collected in How to Trap a Crook
 * Pickup on the Dover Road. Collected in How to Trap a Crook
 * The Case of the Frightened Promoter. (London) Evening Standard, 13 May 1950. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * Affection Unlimited. (London) Evening Standard, 10 July 1950. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Unhappy Piano Tuner. (London) Evening Standard, 20 July 1950. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * The Case of SW2. (London) Evening Standard, 2 August 1950. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * Mrs Rolleston's Diamonds. (London) Evening Standard, 10 August 1950. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * A Cup of Tea. (London) Evening Standard, 12 September 1950 (Francis Quarles)
 * Happy Hexing. (London) Evening Standard, 19 September 1950. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Desk. (London) Evening Standard, 29 September 1950. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Murder - But How Was it Done?. (London) Evening Standard, 29 October 1950. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Who Killed Harrington?. (London) Evening Standard, 28 November 1950. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Credit to William Shakespeare. (London) Evening Standard, 13 December 1950. Collected in Murder! Murder! and How to Trap a Crook (Francis Quarles)
 * Death in the Scillies. (London) Evening Standard, 13 March 1951. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Ghost from the Past. (London) Evening Standard, 1 October 1951. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Pepoli Case. (London) Evening Standard, 2 February 1952. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Clue in the Book. (London) Evening Standard, 5 May 1952 (Francis Quarles)
 * Red Rum Means Murder. (London) Evening Standard, 15 May 1952. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Whistling Man. (London) Evening Standard, 9 July 1952. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Vanishing Trick. (London) Evening Standard, 28 July 1952. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * An Exercise in Logic. (London) Evening Standard, 8 September 1952. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Poison Pen. (London) Evening Standard, 15 September 1952. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Preserving the Evidence. (London) Evening Standard, 18 September 1952. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Nothing up His Sleeve. (London) Evening Standard, 23 September 1952. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Double Double Cross. (London) Evening Standard, 25 September 1952. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Death for Mr Golightly. (London) Evening Standard, 22 December 1952. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * A Pearl among Women. (London) Evening Standard, 26 January 1953. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * The Duke of York. (London) Evening Standard, 27 January 1953. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Conjuring Trick. (London) Evening Standard, 28 January 1953. Collected in The Man Who Hated Television and The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * No Deception. (London) Evening Standard, 29 January 1953. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Link. (London) Evening Standard, 30 January 1953. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * A Man with Blue Hair. (London) Evening Standard, 31 January 1953. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Swedish Nightingale. (London) Evening Standard, 14 September 1953. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Two Suitors. (London) Evening Standard, 15 September 1953. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Tattoo. (London) Evening Standard, 16 September 1953. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Collector. (London) Evening Standard, 18 September 1953. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Jack and Jill. (London) Evening Standard, 19 September 1953; also published as Death by Drowning. Aberdeen Evening Express, 22 October 1953. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles
 * Iced Champagne. (London) Evening Standard, 19 October 1953. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Sailors' Hornpipe. Aberdeen Evening Express, 22 October 1953. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * Time for Murder. Aberdeen Evening Express, 2 February 1954. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * The Plaster Pekingese. Aberdeen Evening Express, 3 February 1954. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * Airport Incident. Aberdeen Evening Express, 4 February 1954. Collected in Murder! Murder! (Francis Quarles)
 * Stealing the Picture. Aberdeen Evening Express, 5 February 1954
 * Ace of Spades. Aberdeen Evening Express, 6 February 1954. Collected in Francis Quarles Investigates (Francis Quarles)
 * The Barton Hall Dwarf. (London) Evening Standard, 16 August 1954. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Little Boy Blue. (London) Evening Standard, 20 August 1954. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Summer Show. (London) Evening Standard, 21 August 1954. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * A Present from Santa Claus. (London) Evening Standard, 24 December 1954. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Murder Too Perfect. (London) Evening Standard, 19 July 1955 (Francis Quarles)
 * Death of an MP. (London) Evening Standard, 29 and 30 August 1955 (Francis Quarles)
 * Final Night Extra. (London) Evening Standard, 3 and 5 September 1955. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Airborne with a Borgia. (London) Evening Standard, 28 September 1955. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Party Line. (London) Evening Standard, 30 October 1956. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Second Bullet. (London) Evening Standard, 31 October 1956. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Murder in Reverse. (London) Evening Standard, 2 November 1956. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * Ancestor Worship. (London) Evening Standard, 3 November 1956. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * A Mystery in Spain. Aberdeen Evening Express, 25 February 1961
 * Art Loving Mr Lister Lands a Fake. (London) Evening Standard, 13 March 1963. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * No Use Turning a Deaf Ear to Murder. (London) Evening Standard, 1 June 1964. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * The Impossible Theft. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January 1966. Collected in The Detections of Francis Quarles (Francis Quarles)
 * How a Hermit Was Disturbed in His Retirement. The Great Detectives: Seven Original Investigations (Sherlock Holmes)
 * About Miss Marple and St Mary Mead. The Great Detectives: Seven Original Investigations (Miss Marple)
 * In Which Archie Goodwin Remembers. The Great Detectives: Seven Original Investigations (Nero Wolfe)
 * Which Expounds the Ellery Queens Mystery. The Great Detectives: Seven Original Investigations (Ellery Queen)
 * About Maigret and the Stolen Papers. The Great Detectives: Seven Original Investigations (Inspector Maigret)
 * The Life of Hercule Poirot: based on the notes of Captain Arthur Hastings. The Great Detectives: Seven Original Investigations (Hercule Poirot)
 * About the Birth of Philip Marlowe. The Great Detectives: Seven Original Investigations (Philip Marlowe)
 * The Man Who Hated Television. Collected in The Man Who Hated Television
 * In The Bluebell Wood. Collected in The Man Who Hated Television
 * Et In Arcadia Ego. Collected in The Man Who Hated Television
 * Has Anybody Here Seen Me?. Collected in The Man Who Hated Television
 * The Birthmark. Collected in The Man Who Hated Television
 * Waiting For Mr. McGregor. Collected in The Man Who Hated Television
 * The Dream Is Better. Collected in The Man Who Hated Television
 * The Borgia Heirloom. Collected in The Man Who Hated Television
 * Did Sherlock Holmes Meet Hercule?. Collected in The Man Who Hated Television
 * Holocaust At Mayhem Parva. Collected in The Man Who Hated Television

Poetry

 * Confusions About X (Fortune Press 1938)
 * The Second Man (1943)

Uncollected non-fiction

 * Did Spiritual Exercises Really Cure Eva Barton?. (London) Daily Mail, 3 December 1957
 * One Thing They All Said: SUBUD Makes You into a Different Person. (London) Daily Mail, 4 December 1957
 * Frank Cousins under the Microscope. (London) Daily Mail, 11 January 1958
 * The Enigma of Frank Cousins. (London) Daily Mail, 13 January 1958
 * Cousins Can't Make Them Cry. (London) Daily Mail, 14 January 1958
 * A Touch of Fowles' Play. (London) Daily Mail, 6 October 1977