Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark (4 September 1900 – 25 August 1958) was an English
judge[His Honour A. A. Gordon Clark (Obituaries) The Times Tuesday, 26 August 1958; pg. 10; Issue 54239; col E] and
crime writer
True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events.
The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...
under the pseudonym Cyril Hare.
[
]
Life and work
Gordon Clark was born in Mickleham, Surrey
Mickleham is a village in south east England, between the towns of Dorking and Leatherhead in Surrey. The civil parish covers and includes the hamlet of Fredley. The larger ecclesiastical parish includes the majority of the neighbouring villag ...
, the third son of Henry Herbert Gordon Clark of Mickleham Hall, Surrey, a merchant in the wine and spirit trade, Matthew Clark
Matthew Clark is a United Kingdom-based drinks distributor, owned by C&C Group. Founded in 1810, the business primarily serves public houses, restaurants, bars and hotels within the mainland UK.
History
The company was formed in 1810 by Matt ...
& Sons being the family firm. The socialist politician Susan Lawrence was his aunt. He was educated at St Aubyn's, Rottingdean and Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
. He read History at New College, Oxford (where he heard William Archibald Spooner
William Archibald Spooner (22 July 1844 – 29 August 1930) was a British clergyman and long-serving Oxford don. He was most notable for his absent-mindedness, and for supposedly mixing up the syllables in a spoken phrase, with unintentionall ...
say in a sermon that 'now we see through a dark ) and graduated with a First. He then studied law and was called to the Bar at Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
in 1924.
Gordon Clark's pseudonym was a mixture of Hare Court, where he worked in the chambers of Roland Oliver, and Cyril Mansions, Battersea, where he lived after marrying Mary Barbara Lawrence (daughter of Sir William Lawrence, 3rd Baronet) in 1933. They had one son, Charles Philip Gordon Clark (1936-2018; clergyman, later dry stone waller), and two daughters, Alexandra Mary Gordon Clark (b. 1938) and Cecilia Mary Gordon Clark (1944-1999; wife of Roderick Snell
Roderick Saxon Snell is a British electronics engineer, born 1940, who co-founded Snell & Wilcox in 1973, working full-time for it from 1988. The company grew to about five hundred people in the late 1990s. Snell remained on the board during the ...
).
As a young man and during the early days of the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Gordon Clark toured as a judge's marshal, an experience he used in ''Tragedy at Law''. Between 1942 and 1945, he worked at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. At the beginning of the war, he served a short time at the Ministry of Economic Warfare
The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive and the Ministry of Economic Warfare.
See also
* Blockade of Germany (193 ...
, and the wartime civil service with many temporary members appears in ''With a Bare Bodkin''. In 1950, he was appointed county court judge in Surrey. His best-known novel is ''Tragedy at Law'', in which he drew on his legal expertise and in which he introduced Francis Pettigrew, a not-very-successful barrister who in this and four other novels just happens to elucidate aspects of the crime. His professional detective (they appeared together in three novels, and only one has neither of them present) was a large and realistic police officer, Inspector Mallett, with a vast appetite.
''Tragedy at Law'' has never been out of print, and Marcel Berlins
Marcel Berlins (30 October 1941 – 31 July 2019) was a French-born lawyer, legal commentator, author, broadcaster and columnist. He was best known for his work in the United Kingdom, writing for British national newspapers ''The Times'' and ''T ...
described it in 1999 as "still among the best whodunnits set in the legal world." P. D. James
Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, (3 August 1920 – 27 November 2014), known professionally as P. D. James, was an English novelist and life peer. Her rise to fame came with her series of detective novels featuring th ...
went further and wrote that it "is generally acknowledged to be the best detective story set in that fascinating world." It appeared at no. 85 in The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time
''The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time'' is a list published in book form in 1990 by the British-based Crime Writers' Association. Five years later, the Mystery Writers of America published a similar list titled ''The Top 100 Mystery Novels of A ...
. Of his other full-length novels, ''Suicide Excepted'' shows a man committing an almost perfect murder, only to find that a quirk of the insurance laws deprives him of his hoped-for reward. He was a member of the Detection Club
The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Arthur Morrison, Hugh Walpole, John Rhode, Jessie Rickard, Baroness Emma Orczy, R. ...
.
Cyril Hare's short stories were mostly written for the London ''Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
''. Among them, "The Story of Hermione", in which the eponymous character grows rich from the all-too-convenient deaths of several relatives, has been called one of the most chilling short stories ever written. "Sister Bessie" describes vividly the agonies of a blackmail victim and the desperate crimes he commits in the hope of freeing himself from his tormentor. "Miss Burnside's Dilemma" describes the predicament of a person who uncovers a piece of unscrupulous, but entirely legal, chicanery by someone she had previously admired. "A Life for a Life" explores the possibility of atonement for one's earthly sins after death.
Having suffered from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
shortly after the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Gordon Clark was never again in full health and died at his home near Box Hill, Surrey at age 57. His estate was valued at £29,106.
Works
Novels
*''Tenant for Death'' (1937), adapted from the stage play ''Murder in Daylesford Gardens''
*''Death Is No Sportsman'' (1938)
*''Suicide Excepted'' (1939)
*''Tragedy at Law'' (1942)
*''With a Bare Bodkin'' (1946)
*''The Magic Bottle'', a children's book (1946)
*''When the Wind Blows'' (US title ''The Wind Blows Death'', 1949)
*'' An English Murder'' (1951), adapted from the radio play ''Murder at Warbeck Hall'' (Title of some US reprints ''The Christmas Murder'', 1953)
*''That Yew Tree's Shade'' (US title ''Death Walks the Woods'', 1954)
*''He Should Have Died Hereafter'' (US title and also title of some UK reprints ''Untimely Death'', 1958)
Short Story Collections
*''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare'' (US title ''Death among Friends and Other Stories'', 1959, edited by Michael Gilbert)''
Short Stories
*''Miss Burnside's Dilemma''. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''The Tragedy of Young Macintyre''. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''Where There's a Will''. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''As the Inspector Said ...''. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''A Life for a Life''. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''A Very Useful Relationship''. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''The Death of Amy Robsart''. The Sketch
''The Sketch'' was a British illustrated weekly journal. It ran for 2,989 issues between 1 February 1893 and 17 June 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine with regular features on ro ...
, Christmas Number 1937. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''Weight and See''. Illustrated London News
''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...
, Christmas Number 1938. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare'' (Mallett)
*''TITLE UNKNOWN''. The Sketch
''The Sketch'' was a British illustrated weekly journal. It ran for 2,989 issues between 1 February 1893 and 17 June 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine with regular features on ro ...
, Christmas Number 1938
*''The Return Visit''. The Gloucester Journal, 6 April 1940 (Mallett)
*''It Takes Two ...''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 29 November 1949. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''Sister Bessie''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 23 December 1949. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare'' as ''Sister Bessie or Your Old Leech''. Reprinted as ''Sister Bessie or The Present in the Post''. Queensland Times
''The Queensland Times'' is an online newspaper serving Ipswich and surrounds in Queensland, Australia. The newspaper is owned by News Corp Australia. The circulation of ''The Queensland Times'' is 10,804 Monday to Friday and 14,153 on Saturday ...
, 28 December 1950
*''I Never Forget a Face''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 27 April 1950. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''The Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt'' (Mallett). Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 4 December 1950
*''Spare the Rod and Spoil the Crime''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 24 January 1951
*''Murderers' Luck''. This Week, 24 June 1951. Reprinted, Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 17 July 1951 and collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''. Also published as ''Mugs' Luck'' and ''Mug's Luck''
*''Death among Friends''. To be confirmed, 25 July 1951, as ''Death among Strangers''. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''Amazing Lady''. This Week, 23 September 1951. Reprinted Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 4 October 1951 and collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare'' as ''The Story of Hermione''
*''The Will''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 6 December 1951
*''Line out of Order''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 4 January 1952. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''. Also published as ''Automatic Out of Order''
*''Accident''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 21 June 1952
*''Name of Smith''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 5 July 1952. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare'' (Pettigrew)
*''The Old Flame''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 5 August 1952. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''Death of a Blackmailer''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 2 September 1952. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''The Markhampton Miracle''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 17 October 1953. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''. Also published as ''The Christmas Miracle of Markhampton'', ''Solving the Markhampton Mystery'' and ''The Double-Take''
*''Dropper's Delight''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 13 April 1954. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''This Side up with Care''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 8 July 1954
*''The Rivals''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 14 July 1955. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''The Man from Pannonia''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 30 September 1955
*''Punctuality Grant''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 11 October 1955. Also published as ''The Phone Call at 4am''
*''The Magnifying Glass''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 10 March 1956
*''The Ruling Passion''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 25 July 1956. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare'' (Pettigrew)
*''The Man in the Silk Pyjamas''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 15 August 1956. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare'' as ''The Heel''
*''A Surprise for Christmas''. Reprinted: The Times for India, 6 December 1956, as ''Surprise for Christmas''. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''Monday's Child''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 6 October 1958. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''Tuesday's Child''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 7 October 1958. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''Wednesday's Child''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 8 October 1958. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''Thursday's Child''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 9 October 1958. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''. Also published as ''The Island''
*''Friday's Child''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 10 October 1958. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
*''Saturday's Child''. Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
, 11 October 1958. Collected in ''Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare''
Radio Plays
*''Murder at Warbeck Hall'' BBC Light Programme, 27 January 1948 (Episode 2 in a series of plays by members of The Detection Club)
Stage Plays
*''Murder In Daylesford Gardens'' (1929). Revised as ''The Noose Is Cut'' (1935)
*''The House of Warbeck'' (1955). Adapted from ''An English Murder''
Reviews
*''Forensic Farce'' (Review of ''Friends at Court
''Friends at Court'' is a 1956 comedy novel by the British writer Henry Cecil. It was published in the United States the following year by Harper Publications.Reilly p.278 It is a sequel to his bestseller '' Brothers in Law''. Roger Thursby the h ...
'' by ''Henry Cecil''). Daily Telegraph, 16 March 1956
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hare, Cyril
1900 births
1958 deaths
Alumni of New College, Oxford
People educated at Rugby School
English crime fiction writers
20th-century English judges
Members of the Detection Club
20th-century English novelists
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis deaths in England
County Court judges (England and Wales)