James Douglas Rutherford McConnell (14 October 1915 – 29 April 1988) who used the pen-name Douglas Rutherford was a language teacher and an author.

Biography

Born in

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

, Ireland . He went to school in Yorkshire, studied at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

, graduating in 1937, and received his MA from the University of Reading. During the Second World War, he served in the British Army Intelligence Corps in North Africa and Italy. After demobilisation, he became a modern languages teacher at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

from 1946 until his retirement in 1973. Writing on weekends and holidays, he published his first novel, ''Comes the Blind Fury'', in 1950. Many of his works centered on race-tracks or sports cars. With

Francis Durbridge Francis Henry Durbridge (; 25 November 1912 – 10 April 1998) was an English dramatist and author, best known for the creation of the character Paul Temple, the gentlemanly detective who appeared in 16 BBC multi-part radio serials from 1 ...

, he co-authored two novels in the Paul Temple series: ''The Tyler Mystery'' in 1957 and ''East of Algiers'' in 1959. Under the name James McConnell, he published books on learning foreign languages and on Eton. He joined 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 Louisa Rickard, Baroness Orczy, ...

in 1970. He married, in 1939, Margaret Worsley 'Peggy' Gandy (1910–1952) - daughter of Surg.-Cdr. Eric Worsley Gandy OBE; and secondly in 1953, Laura Margaret Goodwin (1922–2001). He died on in Monxton, Hampshire.

Works

Novels

Series: ''Paddy Regan''

*''Comes the Blind Fury'', 1950 *''Meet a Body'', 1951 *''Telling of Murder'', 1952 (alternative title ''Flight into Peril'')

Series: ''Paul Temple'' (with Francis Durbridge)

*''The Tyler Mystery'', 1957 *''East of Algiers'', 1959

Other novels

*''The Chequered Flag'', 1956 *''Grand Prix Murder'', 1955 *''The Perilous Sky'', 1956 *'' The Long Echo'', 1957 *''A Shriek of Tyres'', 1958 (US title ''On the Track of Death'', 1959) *''Murder Is Incidental'', 1961 *''The Creeping Flesh'', 1963 *''Best Motor Racing Stories'', 1965 (ed.) *''The Black Leather Murders'', 1966 *''Skin for Skin'', 1968 *''The Gilt-edged Cockpit'', 1969 *''Clear the Fast Lane'', 1971 *''Kick Start'', 1973 *''Killer on the Track'', 1973 *''The Gunshot Grand Prix'', 1972 *''Rally to the Death'', 1974 *''Race Against the Sun'', 1975 *''Mystery Tour'', 1975 *''Return Load'', 1977 *''Collision Course'', 1978 *''Turbo'', 1980 *''The Benedictine Commando'', 1980 *''Porcupine Basin'', 1981 *''Stop at Nothing'', 1983 *''Battlefield Madonna'', 1985 *''A Game of Sudden Death'', 1987

Short story

* ''The Last Bullet'', 1951 * ''Assignment in San Sebastian'', (Pocket Book Weekly 23 Apr 1955) * ''End of an Epoch'' in 'Omnibus of Speed' (Putnam 1958) * ''Best Underworld Stories'' (ed) (Faber & Faber 1969)

Non-fiction Books

Written as James McConnell or J. D. R. McConnell *''Learn Italian Quickly'', 1960 *''Learn Spanish Quickly'', 1961 *''Learn French Quickly'', 1966 *''Eton: How It Works'', 1967 *''Eton Repointed: The New Structures of an Ancient Foundation'', 1970 with photographs by Ray Williams *''Treasures of Eton'', 1976 (ed.) *''Early Learning Foundation'', 1979 *''English Public Schools'', 1985

Sources

* . * . * .

References

External links

Bibliographie

Biographie et bibliographie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutherford, Douglas 1915 births Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Reading British Army personnel of World War II English mystery writers Irish mystery writers Irish male novelists Irish schoolteachers 1988 deaths