Francis Durbridge – författare

Actress Norma Rice is found dead on a train, and the letters REX are scrawled in red chalk on her compartment window. It is the third death to occur in a mysterious string of murders and Scotland Yard are compelled to send once again for Paul Temple.Temple, now acting as an investigator as well as a mystery novelist, is joined by his wife Steve as they are embroiled in this latest mystery. As they convene to discuss the case with the Yard's Sir Graham Forbes at a nightclub, they witness one of the performers die in the middle of her act before they have a chance to speak to her. Can Steve and Paul unmask 'Rex' before they strike again?

In the dead of night, a watchman is brutally attacked and with his dying breath cries out, “The Green Finger!” It is the latest in a series of robberies to take place that have left Scotland Yard mystified, and with no other choice but to call upon the expertise of Detective Paul Temple.Aided by the beautiful journalist Louise Harvey – affectionately known as Steve – the duo discover that this is not the first victim to warn of the dangerous and elusive ‘Green Finger’… who or what is it? The pair must work together to solve the deepening mystery.

The detective novel ‘The Front Page Men’ is a resounding success, but its author Andrea Fortune keeps herself hidden from the public. When a series of robberies are committed, a calling card is left bearing the legend of ‘The Front Page Men’.Then the murders begin.Paul and his wife Steve assist Scotland Yard in finding the murderers, but Steve is in grave danger and the clock is ticking.

Paul and Steve are back to solve the latest hard-hitting case of robbery and murder. After a heist goes down at Harkdale bank, a gang of thieves flee and a car chase ensues.As police close in on them, the thieves come to a screeching dead end.All the police have to do is retrieve the money … but the only thing the thieves have on them is an Oxford Dictionary! And when Paul Temple returns home, he finds the dead body of one of the robbers…

Paul and Steve are called upon to crack a case involving Carl Milbourne, the brother-in-law of wealthy financier Maurice Lonsdale. After the news that Carl has perished in a fatal car accident, rumours begin to stir that despite all odds, Carl is alive and well.When Maurice’s widowed Sister Margaret pleads for the crime-fighting duos help, Paul and Steve find themselves on a trail of deception stretching from London to Switzerland. Their lives are in grave danger as everything is done in an attempt to stall their search – anonymous gunmen, exploding cars, ransom demands, and a mysterious rendezvous that may prove to be the end of Paul and Steve…

Never before published in paperback, and back in print for the first time since 1951, this long-lost novelisation reworks the nail-biting radio serial ‘Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair’ with new and original characters.The Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard visits retired Detective Lionel Wyatt with the chilling news that an old adversary they never caught has struck again, strangling an innocent girl. Wyatt is reluctant to return to police work, but then another body is found – this time at his own home, with a personal message: ‘With the compliments of Mr Rossiter’.In Design for Murder, Francis Durbridge adapted his longest Paul Temple serial, Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair, into a full-length novel. All the obligatory elements from the thrilling radio episodes were present, but in a new twist, he renamed the principal characters: Paul and Steve Temple became Lionel and Sally Wyatt, and ‘Mr Rossiter’ replaced the villainous Gregory. Reprinted for the first time in 66 years, fans of Francis Durbridge and of Paul Temple can finally relive this ingenious adventure.Also includes an introduction by bibliographer Melvyn Barnesplus the exclusive 1946 Radio Times short story‘Paul Temple’s White Christmas’.

When two young women are found murdered within a week of each other, Scotland Yard enlist the help of sleuthing crime writer Paul Temple to unravel the mystery.Working in tandem with his astute and elegant wife Steve, Temple takes up the scent and discovers a dark secret that places them both in mortal danger.

This novelisation of the radio serial Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery also includes a Paul Temple short story, ‘The Ventriloquist’s Doll’.Photographer and amateur detective Philip Holt is asked to investigate the unexplained murder of an American student at an English university. With a postcard signed ‘Christopher’ and the boy’s father’s missing signet ring as his only leads, Holt’s investigation soon snowballs into forgery, blackmail, smuggling … and more murder.Dead to the World is Francis Durbridge’s novelisation of his radio serial Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery, rewriting the Paul and Steve Temple characters as Philip Holt and his secretary Ruth Sanders. This new edition is introduced by bibliographer Melvyn Barnes and includes the Paul Temple Christmas story THE VENTRILOQUIST’S DOLL.

This novelisation of the radio serial Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case also includes a bonus short story, ‘Paul Temple and the Nightingale’.It was an open-and-shut case: Lucy Staines was murdered by her hot-headed fiancé Harold Weldon. But something about it is troubling ex-Fleet Street crime reporter Mike Baxter – why was one of Lucy’s shoes missing from the crime scene? When an identical murder occurs while Weldon is safely behind bars, the whole case is re-opened – and everything revolves around another woman’s shoes…Another Woman’s Shoes is Francis Durbridge’s rewrite of his radio serial Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case, in which Mike and Linda Baxter take the places of Paul and Steve Temple in pursuing the killer. This new edition is introduced by bibliographer Melvyn Barnes and includes the short story PAUL TEMPLE AND THE NIGHTINGALE.

Republished for the first time since 1951, Beware of Johnny Washington is Francis Durbridge’s clever reworking of the very first Paul Temple radio serial using his new characters, the amiable Johnny Washington and newspaper columnist Verity Glyn. Includes as a bonus the first Paul Temple short story, ‘A Present for Paul’. When a gang of desperate criminals begins leaving calling cards inscribed ‘With the Compliments of Johnny Washington’, the real Johnny Washington is encouraged by an attractive newspaper columnist to throw in his lot with the police. Johnny, an American ‘gentleman of leisure’ who has settled at a quiet country house in Kent to enjoy the fishing, soon finds himself involved with the mysterious Horatio Quince, a retired schoolmaster who is on the trail of the gang’s unscrupulous leader, the elusive ‘Grey Moose’.Best known for creating Paul Temple for BBC radio in 1938, Francis Durbridge’s prolific output of crime and mystery stories, encompassing plays, radio, television, films and books, made him a household name for more than 50 years. A new radio character, ‘Johnny Washington, Esquire’, hit the airwaves in 1949, leading to the publication of this one-off novel in 1951.This Detective Club classic is introduced by writer and bibliographer Melvyn Barnes, author of Francis Durbridge: A Centenary Appreciation, who reveals how Johnny Washington’s only literary outing was actually a reworking of Durbridge’s own Send for Paul Temple.

Howard, a well-known book publisher, is concerned for his wife, Joanna, who has become unusually distressed and nervous. When Howard arrives home one day to find that Joanna has shot his former friend, Perry, during a struggle, he decides to protect her by confessing to the shooting himself.