Ernest Carpenter Elmore (4 November 1901 – 8 November 1957) was an English theatre producer and director, and writer of crime and fantasy novels. He wrote his crime novels under the pseudonym John Bude.

Life

Elmore was born in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1901. He attended

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, Day school, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' ...

until 1919 as a boarder, and then studied at a secretarial college in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, before becoming a games master at

St Christopher School St Christopher School is a private day and boarding school in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, England. Established in 1915 as the Garden City Theosophical School, it has long been a flagship of progressive education. The present name was ...

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990. Letchworth ...

. While there he also assisted with the school's dramatic activities. His interest in dramatics led him to join the

Lena Ashwell Lena Margaret Ashwell, Lady Simson ( Pocock; 28 September 1872 – 13 March 1957) was a British actress and theatre manager and producer, known as the first to organise large-scale entertainment for troops at the front, which she did during Wo ...

Players as stage manager, touring the country with the company. Much of Elmore's early writing took place in dressing rooms during his spare time. In 1931 he is known to have been living in the village of

Loose, Kent Loose is a village and civil parish some south of Maidstone, Kent, situated at the head of the Loose Valley, with which it forms the Loose Valley Conservation Area. The fast-flowing River Loose which rises near Langley runs through the cent ...

, before returning to Maidstone, where he produced plays for the local dramatic society. There he also met his future wife Betty. They married in Maidstone in 1933 and moved to Beckley, Sussex, where he became a full-time writer. Together Elmore and his wife had a daughter, Jennifer, and a son, Richard. In December 2015, Elmore's photo appeared in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' of London, along with a lengthy article detailing the success of reprints of his books.

Writings

Elmore published 30 crime novels under the pseudonym John Bude, with Inspector William Meredith appearing in most of them. The first two were ''The Lake District Murder'' and ''The Cornish Coast Murder'', published in 1935, followed the next year by ''The Sussex Downs Murder''. These three have since been reprinted by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

. Elmore was a founding member of the

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

-based

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors' organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its "Dagger" awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. ...

in 1953. Straddling the crime novels were several works of humorous fantasy written under his own name, the most well-known being ''The Steel Grubs'' (1928), ''This Siren Song'' (1930), and ''The Lumpton Gobbelings'' (1954). He wrote seven books in his own name, including the children's book ''Snuffly Snorty Dog'' (1946).World Catalog
/ref> Later British crime author

Martin Edwards Charles Martin Edwards (born 24 July 1945) is the former chairman of Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, a position he held from 1980 until 2002. He now holds the position of honorary life president at the club and Director of Inview Tech ...

commented: "Bude writes both readably and entertainingly. His work may not have been stunning enough to belong with the greats, but there is a smoothness and accomplishment about even his first mystery, ''The Cornish Coast Murder'', which you don't find in many début mysteries."

List of publications

Adaptations

Audio book versions of ''The Lake District Murder'', ''The South Downs Murder'' (originally ''The Sussex Downs Murder'', 1936), and ''The Cornish Coast Murder'' were produced by Soundings Audio Books and narrated by Gordon Griffin.Gordon Griffin recordings lis
Retrieved 7 December 2015.
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elmore, Ernest 1901 births 1957 deaths English crime fiction writers English fantasy writers 20th-century English novelists Crime Writers' Association People from Maidstone People from Beckley, East Sussex 20th-century British short story writers People from Loose, Kent Writers from Hastings Writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction