John Creasey wrote over 600 books under 28 pseudonyms. I’ve read about half of them. Some of Creasey’s best work can be found in his GIDEON series of police procedurals published under the pseudonym of “J. J. Marric.” George Gideon of Scotland Yard finds himself confronted by baffling crimes as well as family problems and bureaucratic politics. Creasey deftly balances the main plot with the various sub-plots to deliver a suspenseful series of novels. If you haven’t read any John Creasey, I recommend you start with this series:
1. Gideon’s Day (1955)
aka Gideon of Scotland Yard
2. Gideon’s Week (1956)
aka Gideon’s Fear
3. Gideon’s Night (1957)
4. Gideon’s Month (1958)
5. Gideon’s Staff (1959)
6. Gideon’s Risk (1960)
7. Gideon’s Fire (1961)
8. Gideon’s March (1962)
9. Gideon’s Ride (1963)
10. Gideon’s Vote (1964)
11. Gideon’s Lot (1965)
12. Gideon’s Badge (1966)
13. Gideon’s Wrath (1967)
14. Gideon’s River (1968)
15. Gideon’s Power (1969)
16. Gideon’s Sport (1970)
17. Gideon’s Art (1971)
18. Gideon’s Men (1972)
19. Gideon’s Press (1973)
20. Gideon’s Fog (1974)
21. Gideon’s Drive (1976)
22. Gideon’s Force (1978)
Great pick. Hardly anybody seems to remember Creasy now, but at one time his books were all over the place.
Like most prolific writers, Creasey wrote great stuf–and some dreck, Bill. I consider his Gideon series one of his high points.
I agree. You don’t hear the name much any more, which is indeed too bad. I have a couple of these I’ve not yet read, and now I want to put them on the top of the TBR stack. Well, I would if it wasn’t so high already it’s about to topple over.
You have to admire any writer who could publish over 600 books, Rick. Sadly, Creasey is almost completely forgotten now.
Say, how about a Bouchercon update here? Art Scott won the Sandstrom! Yay!
I’ve recently read some Creasey for the first time, and I’ve been pretty impressed. On top of Gideon, there is also the INSPECTOR WEST series, as well as THE TOFF and THE BARON. Given the speed that he was working at, it’s amazing that he kept to such a generally high standard.
Creasey had good quality control. He wrote a few stinkers, but with publishing 600 books, you have to figure on a few clunkers.
Wait a minute, you’ve read 300 Creasey books? I thought only Bob Briney had done that.
I’ve read all the Marrics and a handful of the rest of his huge output.
Yes, Jeff, I’ve read about 300 Creaseys give or take a few. But remember, that’s over 30 years of reading mystery fiction. And, I would binge on Creasey in the early days and read a complete series like the Gideon books in a couple of weeks. I don’t do that much any more.