Anthony Berkeley Cox
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Anthony Berkeley Cox | |
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crime writer |
Anthony Berkeley Cox (5 July 1893 – 9 March 1971) was an English
Early life and education
Anthony Berkeley Cox was born 5 July 1893 at Watford, son of medical practitioner Dr Alfred Edward Cox (1861–1936), of Monmouth House and The Platts, two adjoining properties on Watford High Street, and Sybil Maud (died 1924), née Iles, who ran a school at Monmouth House. His paternal grandfather was a Derby wine merchant. Cox had two younger siblings: Stephen Henry Johnson Cox (1899–1960), who became a schoolmaster, and Cynthia Cicely Cox (born 1897).
With his brother, Cox was educated at Rose Hill School, Banstead, Surrey, and from the age of 14 was educated at Sherborne School[1] and then University College, Oxford.
Career
As an ex-cadet of the
Following the war, he worked as a journalist for many years, contributing to such magazines as Punch[4] and The Humorist.
His first novel, The Layton Court Mystery, was published anonymously in 1925. It introduced Roger Sheringham, the amateur detective who features in many of the author's novels including the classic Poisoned Chocolates Case. In 1930, Berkeley founded the Detection Club in London along with Agatha Christie, Freeman Wills Crofts and other established mystery writers.
His 1932 novel (as "Francis Iles"), Before the Fact was adapted into the 1941 classic film Suspicion, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. Trial and Error was turned into the unusual 1941 film Flight from Destiny starring Thomas Mitchell.
He was a friend of
In 1938, he took up book reviewing for
Bibliography
Published as Anthony Berkeley
Roger Sheringham
- The Layton Court Mystery (Herbert Jenkins, 1925) (Published as by "?")
- The Wychford Poisoning Case (Collins, 1926) (published as by "The Author of "The Layton Court Mystery"")
- Roger Sheringham and the Vane Mystery [US title: The Mystery at Lovers' Cave] (1927)
- The Silk Stocking Murders (1928)
- The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929)
- The Second Shot (1930)
- Top Storey Murder (1931)
- Murder in the Basement (1932)
- Jumping Jenny [US title: Dead Mrs. Stratton] (1933)
- Panic Party [US title: Mr Pidgeon's Island] (1934)
- The Roger Sheringham Stories (1994); limited edition of 95 copies: The Avenging Chance, White Butterfly, Perfect Alibi, The Wrong Jar, Mr Bearstowe Says..., The Body's Upstairs (a brief parody), Double Bluff, Razor-Edge and Red Anemones (These are earlier versions of "Mr. Bearstowe Says...". "Red Anemones" is a radio script.), Temporary Insanity (a stage play adapted from The Layton Court Mystery, Direct Evidence (an earlier version of "Double Bluff")[9]
- The Avenging Chance and Other Mysteries from Roger Sheringham's Casebook (2004); 2nd edition with an additional story, Crippen & Landru, 2015: The Avenging Chance, White Butterfly, Perfect Alibi, The Wrong Jar, Mr Bearstowe Says..., The Body's Upstairs(a brief parody), Double Bluff, The Mystery of Horne's Copse, Unsound Mind, The Bargee's Holiday (First published Diss Express, 5 February 1943)
Other novels
- Professor On Paws (1926)
- Mr Priestley's Problem (first published as by A.B. Cox) [US title: The Amateur Crime] (1927)
- The Piccadilly Murder (1929)
- The Floating Admiral (1931) (written in collaboration with eleven members of the Detection Club)
- Trial and Error (1937)
- Not to Be Taken [US title: A Puzzle in Poison] (1938)
- Death in the House (1939)
- The Scoop and Behind the Screen (1983) (Originally published in The Listener (1931) and (1930), both written by members of the Detection Club)
Uncollected short stories
- "Mr Simpson Goes to the Dogs" (1934)
- "The Policeman Only Taps Once" (1936)
- "Publicity Heroine" (1936)
- "Hot Steel" (Sheringham)
Published as Francis Iles
Novels
- Malice Aforethought (1931)
- Before the Fact (1932)
- As for the Woman (1939)
Short stories
- "Outside the Law" (1934)
- "Dark Journey" (1935)
- "It Takes Two to Make a Hero'" (1943)
True crime essays
- "The Rattenbury Case" (1936)
Published as A. Monmouth Platts
- Cicely Disappears (1927) (Also known as The Wintringham Mystery)
Published as A. B. Cox
References
- ^ "The Mysterious Case of Anthony Berkeley Cox". The Old Shirburnian Society. 27 October 2017. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ "No. 28910". The London Gazette. 22 September 1914. p. 7483.
- ^ "No. 29618". The London Gazette. 9 June 1916. p. 5743.
- ^ a b "Article on Anthony Berkeley". martinedwardsbooks.com. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ a b "The Psychology of Anthony Berkeley Transcript". Shedunnit. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ^ "No. 31327". The London Gazette. 6 May 1919. pp. 5657–5658.
- Violet PowellThe Life of a Provincial Lady p101
- ^ "Find a will | GOV.UK".
- ^ Turnbull, Malcolm J. (1996). Elusion Aforethought: The Life and Writing of Anthony Berkeley Cox.
- ISBN 0-87972-715-2, p. 119.
- ^ "Jugged Journalism (1925) by A. B. Cox". Crossing Examining Crime. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
External links
- Works by Anthony Berkeley Cox at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Anthony Berkeley Cox at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)