Steve,

   Here’s another “Man On The Run” question: I recently watched Odd Man Out with James Mason and could you or David recommend any other urban-type MOTR films? Whether they be wartime, comedic or western doesn’t matter much.

   I am interested in a city atmosphere. I imagine Escape from New York would be one although that is a little too sci-fi for my tastes. Anything at all that comes to mind would be of enormous assistance to me.

         Best,

            Josh

      — —

   This is, of course, a follow-up to David Vineyard’s four Top Ten lists of “Man on the Run” thrillers posted here about three weeks ago. Naturally I tossed the question on to him, graciously offering to let him tackle it. Here’s his reply:

   Hmm, urban man on the run films — there are quite a few of those, so I’ll limit myself a bit. Obviously Odd Man Out is an excellent choice, but here are a few more. Just to keep from going too far astray I’ll stick to ones where the protagonist is on the run in an urban setting rather than what I call ‘hunt the man down’ films like Panic in the City or M which feature classic manhunts.

   These are in no particular order, and vary as to genre (spy, crime, etc.). I’ll also leave off films like Desperate Hours and He Ran All The Way where the bad guy hides out in a home in an urban setting, that’s a genre to itself. Not included, but worth checking out, is The Lost Man with Sidney Poitier, a reworking of Odd Man Out set in the ghetto. Not really a success, but worth seeing. Others:

This Gun For Hire. (Based on Graham Greene’s novel.) Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar. Remade as Short Cut To Hell, directed by James Cagney and as a television movie with Robert Wagner. Stick to the original.

Street of Chance . (Based on Cornell Woolrich’s Black Curtain). Burgess Meredith, Claire Trevor. Amnesiac is hunted as he tries to regain his memory. Also an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (reviewed here ) with Richard Basehart.

Dark Corner. (Novel by Leo Q. Ross — Leo Rosten.) Mark Stevens, Lucille Ball, William Bendix, Clifton Webb. Private eye Stevens gets help from secretary Lucy when he is set up for murder — great noir film with outstanding performances by all — especially Webb and Bendix.

The Fugitive. Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones This made the first list due to the train wreck and the dam escape in the first part of the film, but much of the action takes place in Chicago making good use of the urban setting and that city in particular.

A Man Alone. Ray Milland. Noirish little western directed by Milland about a fugitive trying to clear himself of a murder in a small town. Perhaps not gritty or urban exactly but tense and claustrophobic. His The Thief set in New York is also worth checking, done with sound, but no dialogue.

The Confidential Agent. (Novel by Graham Greene.) Charles Boyer, Lauren Bacall, George Colouris. Boyer is in London to get help for his cause (Republican Spain in the novel) surrounded by enemies and Fascist agents, falling for Bacall who aides him.

Night and the City. (Based on the novel by Gerald Kersh.) Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney. Great film as Widmark’s wrestling promoter tries to avoid the fixers he has double-crossed in London. Skip the remake with Robert De Niro.

Whistling in Brooklyn. Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford Third film of Red’s series of films about radio sleuth the Fox has him on the run from crooks and cops in Brooklyn including a hilarious turn as a bearded baseball player with the real Brooklyn Dodgers. Probably not what you are looking for, but entertaining.

The Sleeping City. Richard Conte. Once controversial film finds undercover cop Conte in big city hospital ferreting out corruption and with every hand against him.

Twelve Crowded Hours. Richard Dix, Lucille Ball Offbeat and entertaining B of reporter and girl racing to clear an innocent man.

Dr. Broadway. MacDonald Carey Early Anthony Mann film and part of a proposed series that never developed has young doctor getting involved with gangsters and finding himself hunted by crooks and cops. Based on the pulp stories of Borden Chase.

Somewhere in the Night. John Hodiak, Lloyd Nolan A war hero with amnesia returns to his home town where he was a less than honest private eye and finds himself pursued by everyone.

D.O.A. Edmond O’Brien One of the greats. O’Brien is hunting down the man who poisoned him, but at the same time he is literally on the run from death as his time runs out.

Slayground. (Based on the Richard Stark novel.) Peter Coyote is Parker hunted in an amusement park.

Side Street. Farley Granger Part time postman Granger steals some money and finds himself hunted on all sides. Beautiful use of location work in NYC, expertly directed by Anthony Mann. Great car chase finale in a careening taxi.

My Favorite Brunette. Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr. Early spoof of film noir staples (1947, yet they hit them all) as baby photographer Bob is mistaken for private eye Alan Ladd and finds himself hunted by the crooks who want heiress Lamour’s money and the cops who think he is a murderer.

The Web. Edmond O’Brien, William Bendix, Vincent Price. Bodyguard O’Brien gets framed by boss Price in good noir mystery.

Take One False Step. William Powell, Shelly Winters Powell gets involved with Winters and wanted by the police in entertaining tale with script by Irwin Shaw based on his own story.

Dark Passage. (Novel by David Goodis.) Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall. Bogie is an innocent man who escapes prison, Lauren always believed he was innocent and helps him hide out, get plastic surgery, and catch the real killer. Extensive use of the subjective camera from the hero’s point of view for the first half of the film (until Bogart emerges after the plastic surgery).

The Big Clock. (Novel by Kenneth Fearing.) Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Maureen O’Sullvan Editor at Time-like magazine conglomerate is framed for murder of the publisher’s mistress and ends up hunting himself in the claustrophobic building where he works. Remade as No Way Out and ‘borrowed’ countless times.

Ride the Pink Horse. (Novel by Dorothy B. Hughes.) Robert Montgomery, Thomas Gomez. Tough guy out for revenge and blackmail of vacationing gangster in New Mexico tries to elude killers and police during carnival. One of the greats of film noir. Remade for television as The Hanging Man with Robert Culp.

Mirage. (Based on the novel by Howard Fast.) Gregory Peck, Walter Matthau. Amnesiac loses his memory (or regains it partially) in a blackout and is hunted as he tries to piece his story back together by his former associates.

Arabesque. (Novel by Gordon Cotler.) Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren. While evading spies and assassins Peck and Loren try to put together puzzle involving a threat to a visiting Arab prince in largely comic caper from Stanley Donen (Charade).

Nowhere to Go. (Novel: Donald MacKenzie.) George Nader, Maggie Smith. A thief in London tries to evade police and fellow crooks in this excellent sleeper with notable jazz score by Dizzy Reece.

The Limping Man. Lloyd Bridges. Man finds himself on the run in London from a false charge.

Interrupted Journey. Richard Todd. Man on the run with another woman in suspenseful film — until the end.

Captive City. John Forsythe. Small town newspaper editor finds himself a fugitive in his own town in well done noir film based on a true story.

It Takes All Kinds. Robert Lansing, Vera Miles. Lansing accidentally kills a sailor and Miles hides him out.

The Whistler. (Based on the radio series.) Richard Dix. Solid entry to the B-series in which a man tries to cancel the contract he took out on his life when he thought he was dying.

Rampage. (Novel: Allan Calliou.) Robert Mitchum, Elsa Martinelli, Jack Hawkins. Mitchum and Martinelli find themselves hunting a killer leopard Hawkins has set free in Munich while Hawkins hunts them.

Arch of Triumph. (Novel: Erich Maria Remarque.) Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman. Paris on the eve of the Fall with refugees desperate to escape.

Saboteur. Robert Cummings. The second half of the film has innocent Cummings on the run in New York trying to stop the spies and clear his name including the famous Hitchcock shootout in the movie theater, the ship sinking (based on the suspected sabotage of the Normandie), and the finale atop the Statue of Liberty with assassin Norman Lloyd. And if you can call Monte Carlo urban or gritty, To Catch a Thief.

Cairo. Richard Johnson, George Sanders More or less a remake of The Asphalt Jungle but with a bit more of the urban man on the run theme for Johnson’s half breed character at the end.

Bedeviled . Anne Baxter, Steve Forrest. Seminary student Forrest helps Baxter when she is witness to a murder.

Christmas Holiday. (Novel by W. Somerset Maugham.) Gene Kelly, Deanna Durbin. Durbin tries to hide and protect her sociopathic killer hubby Kelly, directed by noir great Robert Siodmak. Kelly is good in unsympathetic role.

All Through The Night. Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, William Demarest, Judith Anderson. Bogie is a Runyonesque gambler who is framed for murder of Edward Brophy when he stumbles on a ring of fifth columnists. Genuinely funny film with a great cast including Jackie Gleason, Frank McHugh and Phil Silvers. Watch for the scene where Bogie and Demarest double talk a room full of Nazi saboteurs. Great looking film too with serial-like action and sharp script.

I Wake Up Screaming. (Novel: Steve Fisher.) Victor Mature, Betty Grable, Laird Cregar. PR man Mature is framed for murder and on the run in glitzy New York in this noir classic. Remade as Vicki with Jeane Crain, Eliot Reed, and Richard Boone.

Man Hunt. (Based on the novel Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household.) Walter Pidgeon, Joan Bennett, George Sanders. While this Fritz Lang film is a classic of the man hunted in rough country, the scenes in London with Pidgeon shadowed by Nazi agents and his deadly battle with killer John Carradine in the underground are fine examples of the chase film done in an urban setting. Those aspects are largely missing from the well made Rogue Male with Peter O’Toole. Lang recreates the subway setting in his serial killer manhunt film While The City Sleeps.

The Quiller Memorandum. (Novel: Adam Hall — Elleston Trevor.) George Segal, Alec Guiness, Max Von Sydow. Segal’s Quiller finds himself on the run in West Berlin in well done spy film with a screenplay by Harold Pinter.

27th Day . (Novel by John Mantley.) Gene Barry. Preachy but entertaining sf film of group of people from different nations hunted by everyone when aliens give them the power to destroy the world and twenty-seven days to decide whether to use the power.

Ministry of Fear. (Novel: Graham Greene.) Ray Milland, Dan Duryea. Fritz Lang film of amnesiac Milland framed and on the run and the hunt for a spy ring in wartime London. Atmospheric.

The Game. Michael Douglas, Sean Penn. Doesn’t really hold up, plus it’s mean-spirited, but Douglas finds his life turned upside down when his brother gives him an unusual birthday present

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands. (Novel: Gerald Butler.) Burt Lancaster, Joan Fontaine. Ex-POW accused of murder hiding out in London in noirsh film.

The Killers. (Story by Ernest Hemingway.) Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien Insurance investigator O’Brien unravels the story of Swede (Lancaster) a one-time boxer who got involved with crooks who he double crossed and then was hunted down and killed by. Hemingway’s favorite film of his work though only the first few minutes of the film actually recreate the story. William Conrad and Charles McGraw memorable as the killers. Ava Gardner just plain memorable. Remade by Don Siegel with Ronald Reagan (his last film and only villain), Angie Dickinson, Lee Marvin, and John Cassavettes.

Enemy At the Gates. Joseph Fiennes, Jude Law, Ed Harris. Semi-fit of the theme as Russian sharpshooter Fiennes and German sharpshooter Harris hunt each other in the devastation of the battle of Stalingrad.

Five Fingers. James Mason, Michael Rennie. Valet turned spy in WWII Istanbul must evade British and German agents when he is revealed. Based on a true story if not the true story.

Behold a Pale Horse. (Based on the novel Killing a Mouse on Sunday by Emeric Pressberger.) Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn. Again a mix of rough country and city chase. Legendary gunman Peck returns to Franco’s Spain to assassinate brutal Fascist police chief Quinn and becomes object of a manhunt.

The Paris Express. (Based The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By by Georges Simenon.) Claude Rains. Meek embezzler finds himself hunted for more than he expected.

   And since we started with James Mason and Carol Reed we’ll end with James Mason and Carol Reed:

The Man Between. James Mason, Claire Bloom. In post-war Berlin black marketeer Mason falls for Bloom and finds himself torn between East and West and hunted by both.

   But for this list more than the others I think we can count on numerous additions.

             — David

    The inquiry below arrived in today’s email from John Herrington:

    “I am trying to find some information on a Giovanna Francesca Tassinari. Her connection with crime is rather minor as in 1926 she wrote a story ‘The judgment of Solomon’ with Edgar Jepson. She has turned up in the 1960s writing pseudonymous romances; and according to earlier records described herself as an author so I assume there may be other, probably pseudonymous, works in the 1930s to 1950s. Probably romance, but possibly in other genres.

    “She was born 1897, probably in Italy, and died in London in 1978. She was probably the daughter of Signora Danyell Tassinari who died in Florence in 1950 and whose obituary says was one of the oldest surviving English-born residents of Florence of the time.

    “Could you give her a mention in case the name means something to someone?”

Dear Steve,

Greetings from a total stranger. I wonder if you can spare me a few minutes of your time and some of your expertise.

I am a keen reader of the “man on the run” type of thriller novel. As you know, this is a sub genre where a person, usually male, finds himself pursued by a deadly enemy for most of the book. He has to elude his opponent in clever and creative ways before finally confronting him/ it/ them. I particularly like wilderness or countryside settings for these pursuits rather than urban ones.

I have read the few classic examples that I know of: Household’s Rogue Male, Watcher in the Shadows and Dance of the Dwarfs, and Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps come to mind.

Now comes the inevitable question: do you know of any bibliographies or reading lists for this kind of thriller, or can you suggest some more authors and titles I should seek out?

Thank you in anticipation,     — D.

I passed the question on to David Vineyard, who quickly responded with the list that follows.     — Steve

   As a lover of the man on the run thriller myself, I’m glad to say there is quite a bit on it to be found at various sources.

   To begin with, look up a book called The World of the Thriller, by Ralph Harper. Harper was a British minister (religious kind, not political) and his book is mostly dedicated to the man on the run style thriller. There is also a good article on the subject in Dilys Winn’s Mystery Ink. The subject comes up in some of the books on the spy novel, too, since it is closely related. .

   Below I’ve done a sort of annotated list that deal with the subject in general. Generally it’s a British thing, but a few Americans, South Africans, and Canadians have contributed too.

   The first use of the man on the run theme was William Godwin’s (Mary Shelly’s father) Caleb Williams, the story of a man framed by his employer who ends up befriended by outlaws before clearing his name, though you could easily say the genre began with Homer and The Odyssey. Odysseus the man pursued by fate and the gods.

   Before Buchan came along, the model was established by Robert Louis Stevenson with Kidnapped, Catriona (sequel to Kidnapped), St. Ives (the story of an escaped Napoleonic soldier in England), and the novella “Pavillion on the Links.”

   Conrad also touches on it in his novel, The Rover, about a Frenchman who has to sink a British blockade ship during the Napoleonic wars. Elements of it figure in books like The Prisoner of Zenda, A.E.W. Mason’s The Four Feathers, and of course Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables.

   The Power House by John Buchan (1910) generally considered the first of the form and called by Graham Greene the first modern spy novel. Most of the pursuit is in London, but historically important.

   Prester John — a young man in Africa falls in with a hypnotic African leader who plots a bloody uprising.

   Mr. Standfast/Greenmantle/The Three Hostages/Island of Sheep — the adventures of Richard Hannay — all featuring the man on the run theme to one extent or the other.

   A Prince of the Captivity — stand alone novel by Buchan about a British agent who sets out to find a man he believes can save society from the dangers of fascism. Good details of his actions in WWI as an undercover agent, a rescue in the arctic, and a chase across the Alps pursued by Storm Troopers.

   Also by Buchan and touching the theme, The Dancing Floor, John McNab, Huntingtower, Castle Gay, House of the Four Winds and the historical novels Salute to Adventurers, Blanket of the Dark, and The Free Fishers.

    Also:

Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers — prophetic novel of two men who uncover a German plot to invade England prior to WWI.

Brown on Resolution by C.S. Forester — a British sailor with a rifle holds a German raider at bay on a desert island while the crew hunts him. Also a film as Sailor of the King.

The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim — a British nobleman in Africa is replaced by a German agent on the eve of WWI — or is he?

Francis Beeding — best known today for the book that became Hitchcock’s Spellbound, his series about Col. Alistair Granby are often of the man on the run variety. The Five Flamboys.

Valentine Williams — his novels featuring the German spy Clubfoot are often as not chase and pursuit novels with the British hero a hunted spy in Germany.

Household — virtually all of his books are on this theme — other than the ones you mention try The High Place, The Fifth Passenger (a humorous take), A Time to Die, A Rough Shoot, The Courtesy of Death, The Sending, and Red Anger.

Hammond Innes — the king of the British adventure story in the fifties — all of his novels are outdoor adventure with one man against the odds. The Wreck of the Mary Deare, Atlantic Fury, Blue Ice, White South, Campbell’s Kingdom, The Strode Venturer, Levkas Man.

Gavin Lyall — his early novels are much in the Innes mode with a touch of Eric Ambler — The Most Dangerous Game, Shooting Script, Venus With Pistol, Midnight Plus One. His later books are more often spy novels.

Desmond Bagley — South African writer in the Innes/Alistair MacLean mode — The Vivero Letter, High Citadel (a group of people stranded by a plane crash hunted by a South American army), Freedom Trap (filmed as MacIntosh Man), Running Blind, many more.

Wilbur Smith — several of his novels deal with the theme including A Time to Kill, Shout at the Devil, and The Diamond Hunters.

    Others:

Alistair MacLean — particularly the books Guns of Navarone, Night Without End, Fear is the Key, The Secret Ways, The Satan Bug, South By Java Head, When Eight Bells Toll, The Black Shrike

Duncan Kyle — Black Camelot, others

Anthony Trew — South African writer — variations on the theme

Mary Stewart — My Brother Michael, The Gabriel Hounds, Moonspinners, Wildfire at Midnight — romantic suspense, but with a strong Buchan/Hitchcock theme

Geoffrey Jenkins —South African writer — River of Diamonds, A Twist of Sand, A Grue of Ice, Hunter Killer

Douglas Orgill

Steve Frazee (Sky Block and Run Target)

Charles Williams (Man on the Run)

Q. Patrick (Man in the Net)

James Goldman (The Man From Greek and Roman)

Graham Greene (The Man Inside)

David Garth (most titles)

Edward Abbey (The Brave Cowboy — a modern cowboy in New Mexico flees across the Sangre de Cristos — filmed with Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau as Lonely Are the Brave)

Gavin Black (the Paul Harris series)

Alan Furst (most of his novels feature protagonists who find themselves hunted by the Nazi’s)

Ethel Vance — Escape (an American has to save his German mother from the Nazi’s)

Helen MacInnes — the best woman writer of the genre — Above Suspicion, Assignment in Brittainy, Horizon, Pray for a Brave Heart, more

Martha Albrand — another woman with a taste for the man on the run theme

Dornford Yates — Storm Music, Cost Paid, She Fell Among Thieves — his heroes are usually on the run from the villains while hunting a treasure in some remote European location

Allan Caillou — actor and writer — many of his books are on the theme — Journey to Orassia, Rampage (a film with Robert Mitchum)

Ted Willis — Man Eater about a man hunting a man eating Tiger on the loose in rural England, Buckingham Palace Connection — a Brit in revolutionary Russia tries to save the Royal family

Victor Canning — one of the greats. Any of his books.

David Dodge — Plunder of the Sun, The Red Tassel, The Long Escape, To Catch a Thief, Angel Ransom

David Walker — Harry Black and the Tiger

John Masters — The Breaking Strain, Himalayan Concerto, Far Far the Mountain Peak, Lotus in the Wind — many of his novels feature the hero in classic chase and pursuit while others are more historical or adventure writers.

Berkely Mathers — The Achilles Affair, Without Prejudice (Mather co-wrote the screenplay of Dr.No) others.

Elleston Trevor — variations on the theme — also Adam Hall, many of the Quiller books have him on the run and alone — in fact most of them.

Nevil Shute — some of his novels follow the theme — So Disdained, Most Secret, Trustee in the Toolroom

Ernest Gann — variations on the theme particularly in Soldier of Fortune, Band of Brothers, The Aviator

Lawrence Durrell — White Eagles of Serbia a juvenile novel

Geoffrey Rose — A Clear Road to Archangel, No Road Home — outstanding and too little known in the US

Alan Williams — False Beards, Snake River, Holy of Holies.

Francis Clifford — Act of Mercy, The Naked Runner, more

Eric Ambler — Background to Danger, Epitaph for a Spy, Journey Into Fear, Cause for Alarm, The Schirmer Inheritance, A Kind of Anger, The Light of Day, Dr. Frigo

Jack Higgins — most of his books before The Eagle Has Landed fit the bill.

John Willard — The Action of the Tiger

Allan Dipper

Rupert Hart-Davis — The Heights of Rim Ring, Level 7

John Welcome — Run For Cover, Before Midnight good thrillers in the adventure vein

Archie Roy — Brit scientist whose books are often in the chase and pursuit vein of Buchan.

P.M. Hubbard — Kill Claudio — most of his books. Well worth finding. Similar to Household but not imitative.

Fred Hoyle — Buchanesque sf novel Ossian’s Ride.

L.P. Davies — some sf some thriller some mix the two. His heroes are frequently trying to find their identity while pursued by some threat

John Christopher— same mix

Desmond Cory — his hero Johnny Fedora often on the run from spies and the law

Michael Gilbert — some of his books fall into the genre such as The Etruscan Tomb, The Long Journey Home, The 92nd Tiger, Danger Route (based on his escape from an Italian POW camp in WW II).

Andrew Garve — some of his many novels fall into the category — Two if by Sea, Ascent of D-13, The Megstone Plot

Philip Loraine — Brit thriller writer and screenwriter — Dead Men on Sestos, Nightmare in Dublin, Break in the Circle.

Alan MacKinnon — hard to find but well worth it.

Donald Mackenzie — before his John Raven series his novels often featured small time crooks on the run from police and other crooks or spies.

Donald Hamilton — his non series novels, and even many of the Matt Helms fall into the general category.

Edward S. Aarons — Girl on the Run, chase for lost treasure in post war France

Frank Gruber — Bridge of Sand, Brothers of the Sword excellent Ambleresque adventures

Lionel Davidson — one of the best ever — Rose of Tibet, Night of Wenecslas, The Menorah Men, The Sun Chemist, Kolmsky Heights (read this one), Smith’s Gazelle

James Aldridge — The Statesmen’s Game, A Captive in the Land

George Macdonald Fraser — most of the Flashman novels feature Flashy hunted and pursued on all sides — very funny, and also the adventure novel done right.

Bernard Cornwell — several good modern thrillers and the Richard Sharpe series which often finds Sharpe and his friend Sgt. Harper hunted and on the run from Napoleon’s army and other enemies.

Mark Derby — hard to find, but good adventure thriller writer from the fifties and early sixties usually in the chase and pursuit vein.

Anthony Horowitz — his juvenile Alex Rider series often finds his young hero alone and on the run from his enemies — well written and not just for young readers.

Barry England — Figures in a Landscape — forget the awful movie — two men escape a brutal prison and flee across desert and mountains. A bit too literary, but well done.

Jon Manchip White — Nightclimber, Game of Troy — fine examples of the theme with almost Poe like touches.

Peter O’Donnell — you’d be surprised how often Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin end up alone and hunted on all sides. Notably in Sabre-Tooth, A Taste for Death, The Impossible Virgin, The Last Day in Limbo, Night of Morning Star.

Norman Lewis — travel writer and adventure novelist. In real life escaped from an Italian POW camp in WW II with Michael Gilbert so he knows whereof he writes.

   Anyway, these will lead you to many others. Considering how simple the theme is, the variations are endless.

          David Vineyard

   In the Revised Crime Fiction IV, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Erle Stanley Gardner are denoted as series characters in a series of three novels by author William F. Nolan:

      The Black Mask Murders. St. Martin’s, 1994.

      The Marble Orchard. St. Martin’s, 1996.
      Sharks Never Sleep. St. Martin’s, 1998.

    None of the above are given credit as fictional characters in other detective novels. Hammett and Chandler both appeared in Chandler, by William Denbow, for example; and obviously Hammett appeared in Joe Gores’ Hammett.

    Question: Are there other novels, ones I’m not thinking of, in which any of the above (including Gardner) appeared as fictional characters?

    And as long as I’m asking, what other real life mystery writers may have shown up as characters in novels written by someone else? Josephine Tey, I know, in a couple of novels by Nicola Upson, but since they were published after 2000, they’re beyond the scope of CFIV. Disregarding the date, are there others?

   In my comment following Marv Lachman’s review of Nicholas Blake’s Malice in Wonderland, I pointed out that the book had, over the years, been published under four different titles:

      1) Malice in Wonderland (Collins)
      2) The Summer Camp Mystery (Harper-US)
      3) Malice with Murder (Pyramid-US)
      4) Murder with Malice (Carroll & Graf-US)

   I also wondered whether or not this was a record for the most titles one mystery novel has been published under.

   A few days ago I received the email below from British bookseller Jamie Sturgeon. This is not a contest, since while he didn’t quite give the answers, he revealed enough so that anyone with access to Al Hubin’s Crime Fiction IV will be able to discover what he came up with right away. But for the sake of anyone who doesn’t have a handy copy of CFIV or who’d like to give it a try on their own, I’ll wait to reveal all until the first comment to this post.

Hi Steve,

   I’ve not managed to come up with a book with five titles but there are two John Creasey Inspector West books that both have four different titles.

            Regards,

               Jamie

Hi Steve,

   I am starting to research the authors of the Herbert Jenkins publishing company, and wonder if you can help me by asking if anyone knows anything about four of their 1930s authors.

   Robert Ladline, Peter Luck and Gret Lane are pseudonyms of unidentified writers. The HJ archive tell me the contracts they hold are signed by different names, but won’t tell me without a search for descendants who would give permission for them to release the information! Since I have waited over a year so far for them to find such a descendant for another writer, that may be something to leave till all other possibilities have been checked.

   Garstin Begbie is the name on the contracts for books under that name, but a search of Ancestry etc has failed to produce anything.

   So would it be possible for you ask on your blog if the names mean anything to anyone? I know it’s a slim chance, but there’s always a chance someone might be looking for the names.

               Regards

                 John

Bibliographic Data [taken from the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin] —

         BEGBIE, GARSTIN

    Murder Mask (Jenkins, 1934, hc) [Supt. Samuel Quan; England]
    Sudden Death at Scotland Yard (Jenkins, 1933, hc) [Supt. Samuel Quan; England]
    Trailing Death (Jenkins, 1932, hc) [England]

         LADLINE, ROBERT

    A Devil in Downing Street (Jenkins, 1937, hc) [J. A. (Rem) Remington; England]
    The Man Who Made a King (Jenkins, 1936, hc) [England]
    The Quest of the Vanishing Star (Jenkins, 1932, hc) [England]
    The Shoe Fits (Jenkins, 1936, hc) [J. A. (Rem) Remington; England]
    Sinister Craft (Jenkins, 1939, hc) [J. A. (Rem) Remington; England]
    The Sky’s the Limit (Jenkins, 1937, hc) [J. A. (Rem) Remington; England]
    Stop That Man! (Jenkins, 1940, hc) [J. A. (Rem) Remington; England]
    They Stuck at Nothing (Jenkins, 1935, hc) [England]
    When Fools Endanger Us (Jenkins, 1938, hc) [J. A. (Rem) Remington; England]
    When the Police Failed (Jenkins, 1933, hc) [England]
    The Wolf Swept Down (Jenkins, 1935, hc) [England]

         LANE, GRET. Given name probably Margaret.

    The Cancelled Score Mystery (Jenkins, 1929, hc) [Kate Clare (Marsh); (Insp.) John Barrin; England]
    The Curlew Coombe Mystery (Jenkins, 1930, hc) [Kate Clare (Marsh); (Insp.) John Barrin; England]
    Death in Mermaid Lane (Jenkins, 1940, hc) [Kate Clare (Marsh); (Insp.) John Barrin; England]
    Death Prowls the Cove (Jenkins, 1942, hc) [Kate Clare (Marsh); (Insp.) John Barrin; England]
    Death Visits the Summer-House (Jenkins, 1939, hc) [Kate Clare (Marsh); (Insp.) John Barrin; England]
    Found on the Road (Jenkins, 1926, hc) [England]
    The Guest with the Scythe (Jenkins, 1943, hc) [Kate Clare (Marsh); (Insp.) John Barrin; England]
    The Hotel Cremona Mystery (Jenkins, 1932, hc) [Kate Clare (Marsh); (Insp.) John Barrin; London]
    The Lantern House Affair (Jenkins, 1931, hc) [Kate Clare (Marsh); England]
    The Red Mirror Mystery (Jenkins, 1938, hc) [Insp. Hook; England]
    The Stolen Scar (Jenkins, 1925, hc) [Idaho]
    Three Dead That Night (Jenkins, 1937, hc) [Insp. Hook; England]
    The Unknown Enemy (Jenkins, 1933, hc) [Kate Clare (Marsh); (Insp.) John Barrin; England]

         LUCK, PETER

    Crime Legitimate (Jenkins, 1937, hc) [England]
    Infallible Witness (Jenkins, 1932, hc) [England]
    The Killing of Ezra Burgoyne (Jenkins, 1929, hc) [England]
    Terror by Night (Jenkins, 1934, hc) [England]
    The Transome Murder Mystery (Jenkins, 1930, hc) [England]
    Two Shots (Jenkins, 1931, hc) [England]
    Under the Fourth-? (Jenkins, 1927, hc) [England]
    Who Killed Robin Cockland? (Jenkins, 1933, hc) [England]
    The Wingrave Case (Jenkins, 1935, hc) [England]
    The Wrong Number (Jenkins, 1926, hc) [England]

JACK FOXX – Wildfire.   Bobbs-Merrill, hardcover, 1978. Reworked and republished as Firewind, as by Bill Pronzini: M. Evans, hardcover, 1989; paperback reprint: Ballantine, 1990.

   Very nice review of Wildfire, which I missed seeing when it first appeared; I’m pleased that you found it to be a suspenseful read. Firewind is a reworking of Wildfire, but not merely a reissue under a different title.

   Although the basic storyline and general progression are similar in both versions, Wildfire has a contemporary setting and Firewind a historical one, and the characters and their motives and interactions are different.

   I wasn’t satisfied with the way Wildfire turned out, but it wasn’t until a few years after it was published that I realized why: the story works better as a “western” and should have been written as such in the first place.

   So when Sara Ann Freed, who was editing M. Evans’ western line in the late 80s, asked me to do a second book for her (after The Last Days of Horse-Shy Halloran), it gave me an opportunity to transform Wildfire into Firewind. The latter is much the better of the two.

   As to the Jack Foxx name, which you also asked about, I chose it for two reasons. The minor is that it’s short and punchy, both surname and given name just four letters; the major is that I’ve always considered the letter “X” something of a lucky talisman.

   Long-time readers of my work might note that I often give characters names containing an “x”.

   Pronzini’s “X” file. One of my many quirks, on and off the printed page.

   A couple of weeks ago, I posted an inquiry on the behalf of Charles Seper, who was looking for a photo of mystery writer Philip MacDonald.

   He had only a small one at the time, and Juergen Lull found another small one that he sent me, which I posted here.

   But from the back cover of the Doubleday edition of The List of Adrian Messenger, Charles was able to obtain what he was looking for, a large photograph of Mr MacDonald that he could use as part of a project he’s working on.

   I’m grateful to him for sending it along. I was sure I’d seen one somewhere over the years. I’m not sure that this is the one I remember, but if it’s not, it’s close:

   John Herrington sent me the following inquiry several days before my computer mishap. Here it is online at last:

    “I have spent some time trying to trace Bridget Yva Benediall who is in CF for one 1915 title (wrote three others before 1921). But the surname has failed to surface in a search of Ancestry and other databases. Could you possibly mention her, in case the name does mean something to someone?”

   From the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin, here’s her full entry there:

BENEDIALL, BRIDGET YVA
     -Blind Sight (Mills, 1915, hc) Dodd, 1915.

   One online bookseller calls the book “a romantic detective story, listed in Hubin, Benediall also wrote Child Lover; Jeremy’s Love Story; The Pilgrim and Pamela…”

   Google has put a digital copy of Blind Sight online, in case you’d like to read it. (Note that the hyphen before the title in Hubin means either marginal or an unknown amount of criminous content.)

   And this — far too little, I’m sorry to say — sums up all I know about the lady.

   It’s a little strange, since he was a very popular mystery writer in his day, but so far only one other photograph of Philip MacDonald has turned up. (Here’s a link to the earlier inquiry.) This one arrived during this past hiatus, thanks to Juergen Lull in Germany:

      Hi Steve,

   You’ll probably have a better photo of Philip MacDonald by now. Anyway, this one is from the back of a Penguin of 1955 (X v. Rex).

         Regards,

            Juergen