Tue 19 May 2009
The Compleat H(ENRY) J(AMES) S(EBASTIAN) ANDERTON, 1871-1946.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Crime Fiction IV[2] Comments
H. J. S. Anderton is hardly an author who is or ever was a household name, but Steve Holland recently posted the results of his research into his life on his Bear Alley blog.
A British writer, Anderton was responsible for nine crime thrillers that came out in the 1930s. The titles are included in the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin, all published in cheap paperback form, but what Steve has come up with for the first time is his full name, the year he was born, when he died, and most amazingly, some information about his family.
Anderton’s books are impossibly difficult to find, so I can’t show you a picture of one of his covers. Only a single copy of one of his books is offered for sale on ABE, a reprint copy of his first book, The League of the Yellow Skull.
Steve mentions this book in the following paragraph, which I’m quoting in full:
I think he’s referring to Yellow Claws, The Golden Idol, and Shadow of Chu Kong. All nine of Anderton’s books are now on my wish list, but I think I’m going to have to wish awfully hard.
Bibliography [taken from Crime Fiction IV] —
ANDERTON, H. J. S.
The League of the Yellow Skull (n.) Mellifont 1932
The Quest of the Crimson Idol (n.) Mellifont 1932
“The Panther” (n.) Mellifont 1933
The League of Death (n.) Mellifont 1934
Yellow Claws (n.) Mellifont 1934
The Golden Idol (n.) Mellifont 1936
The Dope King (n.) Mellifont 1937
The King of Crime (n.) Archer Croft 1940
Shadow of Chu Kong (n.) Popular Fiction 1940
May 19th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Anderton goes on my list too. A couple you might check out who aren’t as obscure, but not well known this side of the pond are George Goodchild and Captain A.O. Pollard. Both wrote thrillers more or less in the Edgar Wallace mode. Pollard was the more interesting of the two being a Victoria Cross winner (the British equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor). I’ve only read a few by him, but they were great fun if not great literature.
Another, a bit better known than Anderton was Hector Hawton. I’ve only read one by him, The Green Scorpion, featuring the daring Colonel Max Masterman of the British Secret Service in Middle Eastern intrigue. Depending on your tolerance for this sort of thing some fun. Nothing major, but sometimes more entertaining than the better written more sober books by better writers.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
For some reason I came across a short stack of George Goodchild books, some time back in the 1970s. I read a few of them. They were probably some of his Inspector McLean books, but I think I overdosed on them at the time, and I don’t think I could tell you a single thing about them.
But they were hardcover books, and you can still find them, I think. Anderton’s were paperbacks only, which more than likely meant that they were read a few times and thrown away or scooped up in paper drives.
The demand for them — and books like them — is probably small, but the supply I’m sure is even smaller.
As for Hector Hawton, I’m not sure if I have any of his or not. Probably not, but here’s one of his titles that caught my attention just now:
* *Murder by Mathematics (Ward, 1948, hc) [Asmun Hill; Academia; England]
Calculus will do that to you, every time. Guaranteed.
— Steve