Before UK month ended I thought I'd comment on a few of the
professional British police officers who've written police
procedurals as sort of a follo-wup to similar posts during
the LA and San Francisco months.
BASIL THOMSON: Thomson was a professional upper-calss civil
servant who'd been everything from prime minister of a small
island colony to a prison warden when he was appointed
Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard in charge of the CID
and Special Branch. He's appeared as a character in John
Gardner's historical epsionage/family saga books (THE SECRET
GENERATIONS, etc.). Though he was nominally a police officer,
Thomson never patrolled a beat or personally investigated a
case, as far as I know, but he did write some of the first
genuine police procedurals, and he was one of the firt law
enforcement professionals to do so. His most popular series
followed the career of a Scotland Yard officer named
Richardson as he advanced from uniformed constable to
detective superintendant. The first book was called P.C.
RICHARDSON'S FIRST CASE. His books are hard to find, so I
can't provide any personal comments. However, given Thomson's
background, and the era, these books, despite the presumably
authentic police work depicted, probably wouldn't quite pass
muster as HB. That's and educated guess, however, not an
informed opinion.
MAURICE PROCTER: Procter was the real thing, a beat bobby for
the Halifax Borough Police in North England for twenty years
who turned his experiences into highly readable fiction, and
one of the first real cops anywhere in the world to do so.
His first two books, years before Wambaugh and roughly
parallel to MacKinlay Kantor's SIGNAL 32, were "straight"
novels that happened to be about cops, EACH MAN'S DESTINY and
NO PROUD CHIVALRY. He then wrote towo books about a Scotland
Yard inspector named Hunter investigating nasty murders in
the hinterlands, THE PENNYCROSS MURDERS (in the UK THE CHIEF
INSPECTOR'S STATEMENT) and THE RIPPER (in the UK I WILL SPEAK
DAGGERS), both excellent. One of his most highly regarded
books was a one-shot entitled THE PUB CRAWLER about a rooki
cop on an undercover assignment. His most popular series
character, Harry Martineau, was a middle-management detective
in the police force of "Granchester" (i.e. Manchester), who
was introduced in SOMEWHERE IN THIS CITY (in the UK HELL IS A
CITY). McBain is often credited with introducing the "series
villain" to the police procedural with his "Deaf Man"
character, but Procter beat him to that concept with his
character Dixie Costello, Granchester's most powerful
Organized Crime figure who always manages to slip out of
Martineau's grasp. Procter, whose working clas characters
were genuinely hard-boiled, was a solid writer, a seminal
figure in the history of the police procedural, and is
unfortunately not well-rememebered today.
JONATHAN ROSS/JOHN ROSSITER Another North England cop. As
"Ross," a pseudonym he adopted because he was still a serving
Detective Chief Superintendant when he started writing, he's
published a long series of novels about George Rogers,
another middle-level detective in an unnamed North England
force. Under his own name he's written a series of spy novel
about an ex-cop turned secret agent, and three excellent
one-shot cop novels, THE MANIPULATORS, THE VILLAINS, and THE
VICTIMS, in which he criticizes various aspects of Britain's
criminal justice system.
JOHN WAINWRIGHT Yet another North Engand cop, Wainwright,
spent twenty years as a constable in the County Constabulary
of the West Riding of Yorkshire, which is the setting for
most of his police novels, though he changes the names of the
locales. Hence, Leeds becomes "Lessford," Bradford becomes
"Bordfield," and the surrounding county area is, I suppose,
"Lessfordshire." Wainwright's sense of place is especially
strong, and his styule is incredibly tough and fast-moving.
Wainwright has actually achieved the ideal of a "group series
hero" that McBain approached with his 87th Precinct series.
The protagonist in one Wainwright novel, might be only a
supporting character in a second, and might not appear at all
in a third. The most prominent cop in the series is probably
Charles Riply, who, despite dying fairly early in the series,
casts such a long shadow that characters still refer to him
as a legendary figure years later. An incredibly prolific
writer, Wainwright steps up to the plate too many times to
always hit a home run, but when he's on his game, he's the
best cop-writer there is. I'd nominate ALL ON A SUMMER'S DAY
as one of the best police novels ever written.
HAMILTON JOBSON Another North England copper! What is it
about those Yorkshire cops? Jobson character, Matt Anders,
often plays only a supporting role, as the books focus on
victims and, occasionally, criminals.
PETER HILL The dust jacket bio say only that he was once in
the CID. Presumably that was in the London Metropolitan
Police, since his books always feature Scotland Yarders. He's
written one series about a team of homicide specialists from
the Yard, a working class Detective Chief Superintendant and
his assistant, an upper-class detective inspector. A second
series features a terrorist expert from the Yard named
Dice.
PETER WALKER Another North England cop!?! Doesn't anyone from
the south of England write? Walker's written two series under
his own name, one about a Scotland Yard undercover specialist
named Carnaby introduced in Walker's first book CARNABY AND
THE HIJACKERS, and one about a team of cops in a provincial
force intorudced in PANDA ONE INVESTIGATES. As "Andres
Arncliffe" Walker won a CWA award for "Most Authentic Police
Novel" for MURDER AFTER THE HOLIDAY. Some of his books are
hard-boiled, but he's best-known as
"Nicholas Rhea," under which name he's written an
extraordinarily popular series of books about a gentle,
friendly rural bobby introduced in CONSTABLE ON THE HILL.
These books, based closely on Hill's own experiences (the
lead character is also named Nicholas Rhea, and the stories
are told in the first person) might be described as being to
law enforcement what the James Herriot's books are to
veterinary medicine. They've become the basis of a TV series
called HEARTBEAT (Get it? Constable Nick patrols his beat
with a compassionate heart.) which I understand is very
popular in the UK.
ROGER BUSBY I'm not really sure this guy's an actual cop, but
he's listed as a former reporter who now serves (or has
served) as the press officer for yet another northern force.
Whether this makes him an actual policeman or a civilian
employee isn't clear. In any case, he's written quite a few
cop novels, most of which aren't available in the US. One
which is, SNOW MAN, is about a Scotland Yarder, a West German
cop, and an American DEA agent teamed up against an
international drug ring. He got one of the CAW "most
authentic police novel" awards for this book.
GRAHAM ISON Ison was a Detective Chief Superintendant in
Soctland Yard's Special Branch, which is the Met detail
assigned to domestic ounter-espionage novels. Ison's books
feature, not surprisingly, a Special Branch DCS, and are
interesting blends of the spy novel and the police
procedural. The only two which have appeared in the US are
CONFIRM OR DENY and THE HOME SECRETARY WILL SEE YOU
NOW.
UK cop novels tend to be a bit softer-edged than their
American counterparts, but those written by real cops have a
distinctively British, stiff-upper-lip toughness about them,
and those written by Yorkshiremen have a particularly
no-nonsene clarity in their writing style. Wainwright in
particular is as tough as anyone writing on this side of the
pond, and a lot tougher than most.
What strikes me most about these writers is, differences in
procedures, laws, and language aside, how mcuh their
attitudes and world views coincide with their US
colleagues.
JIM DOHERTY
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