Anthony Gilbert was the
pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
of Lucy Beatrice Malleson (15 February 1899 – 9 December 1973), an English
crime writer
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...
and a cousin of actor-screenwriter
Miles Malleson
William Miles Malleson (25 May 1888 – 15 March 1969) was an English actor and dramatist, particularly remembered for his appearances in British comedy films of the 1930s to 1960s. Towards the end of his career, he also appeared in cameo roles ...
. She also wrote fiction and a 1940 autobiography, ''Three-a-Penny'', as Anne Meredith.
Biography
Lucy Malleson was born in
Upper Norwood
Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Lambeth, Lambeth and London Borough of Southwark, Southwark. It is north ...
, Croydon. She attended
St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School is a private day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in west London, England.
The school is included in The Schools Index as one of the world's 150 best private schools and among top ...
. When her stockbroker father lost his job in 1914, the family suffered financial hardship, and she took up shorthand typing to earn a living. She began writing poetry, and then, inspired by the play
''The Cat and the Canary'' by
John Willard (1922), she tried her hand at detective novels, using the name J. Kilmeny Keith. The first was ''The Man Who Was London'', published in 1925. She published over sixty crime novels as Anthony Gilbert, most of which featured her best-known character, Arthur Crook. Crook is a vulgar London lawyer totally (and deliberately) unlike the sophisticated detectives, such as
Lord Peter Wimsey
Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A amateur, dilettante who solves myst ...
and
Philo Vance
Philo Vance is a fictional amateur detective originally featured in 12 crime novels by S. S. Van Dine in the 1920s and '30s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, films, and radio. He was portrayed as a stylish—even foppish� ...
, who dominated the mystery field when Gilbert introduced him. Instead of dispassionately analysing a case, he usually enters it after seemingly damning evidence has built up against his client, then conducts a no-holds-barred investigation of doubtful ethics to clear him or her. As fellow mystery author
Michael Gilbert noted, "...he behaved in a way which befitted his name and would not have been approved by the
Law Society." The first Crook novel, ''
Murder by Experts'', was published in 1936 and was immediately popular. The last Crook novel, ''A Nice Little Killing'', was published in 1974.
Adaptations
Her novel ''
The Vanishing Corpse'' (1941) was adapted as the film ''
They Met in the Dark
''They Met in the Dark'' (also known as ''Dark End'' and ''Spionagering M'' ) is a 1943 British comedy thriller film directed by Karel Lamač and starring James Mason, Joyce Howard and Edward Rigby. The screenplay concerns a cashiered Royal N ...
'' (1943), another novel, ''
The Mouse Who Wouldn't Play Ball'' (1943) was filmed as ''
Candles at Nine
''Candles at Nine'' is a 1944 British mystery film directed by John Harlow and starring Jessie Matthews, John Stuart and Beatrix Lehmann. A wealthy man taunts his relations and staff about which of them shall inherit his estate after he chan ...
'' in 1944, and her novel on abduction and a faked identity, ''The Woman in Red'', which features Arthur Crook and his assistant Bill Parsons (1941), was adapted as the 1945 film noir, ''
My Name Is Julia Ross.'' "You'll Be the Death of Me," an October 1963 episode of ''
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 a ...
,'' was adapted from Gilbert's short story "The Goldfish Button" in the February 1958 ''
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fic ...
''. Her short stories "Door to a Different World" and "Fifty Years After" were Edgar Award nominees.
The 1942 novel ''
Something Nasty in the Woodshed'' (American title ''Mystery in the Woodshed'') was adapted for stage by
Dennis Hoey
Dennis Hoey (born Samuel David Hyams, 30 March 1893 – 25 July 1960) was a British film and stage actor, best remembered for playing Inspector Lestrade in six films of Universal's Sherlock Holmes series.
Early life
Hoey was born Samuel ...
as ''The Haven,'' opening in New York in 1946.
Crook was played by
Melville Cooper
George Melville Cooper (15 October 1896 – 13 March 1973) was an English actor. His many notable screen roles include the High Sheriff of Nottingham in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), Mr. Collins in ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1940) and ...
. The production received poor reviews and lasted only five performances.
Revival
While Malleson's books sold well enough to keep publishers asking for more, she was never a best-seller. However, in 2017 interest in her was revived through the reissue of the Anne Meredith crime novel ''Portrait of a Murderer'' under the British Library's Crime Classics imprint. Martin Edwards believes this novel to be "a major departure.
Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...
was her model, although
Anthony Berkeley's influence was also in play." Although quickly forgotten in 1933 it did win the praise of
Dorothy L Sayers. The reissue sold many more copies than the original edition, and was followed by a reissue of the 1933 Anthony Gilbert novel, ''Death in Fancy Dress'', as well as the Anne Meredith autobiography ''Three-a-Penny'' in December 2019. The title of the latter was taken from a remark made to her by Sayers: "Although authors are three-a-penny to us, they are quite exciting to other people." ''Three-a-Penny'' was also serialised on BBC Radio 4. The book also paints a vivid portrait of poverty between the wars in the East End of London.
Bibliography
Novels as J. Kilmeny Keith
* ''The Man Who Was London'', 1925
* ''The Sword of Harlequin'', 1927
Novels as Anthony Gilbert (alternative titles for US publication)
Novels as Anne Meredith
Autobiography, as Anne Meredith
* ''Three-a-Penny'', 1940, reissued 2019
Short Stories as Anthony Gilbert
[Blackwell, L R: ]
Frederic Dannay, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and the Art of the Detective Short Story
' (2019)
Radio Plays as Anthony Gilbert
Radio Plays as Anne Meredith
*''The Adventurer''. BBC Home Service, 29 March 1941
*''The Rich Woman''. BBC Home Service, 9 July 1943
*''The Innocent Bride''. BBC Home Service, 18 January 1953
*''The Sisters''. BBC Home Service, 12 October 1955
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Anthony
1899 births
1973 deaths
20th-century English novelists
20th-century pseudonymous writers
English crime fiction writers
English women novelists
Members of the Detection Club
People educated at St Paul's Girls' School
People from Upper Norwood
Pseudonymous women writers
Women crime fiction writers
Writers from the London Borough of Croydon
Writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction