John Malcolm Andrews (born 21 August 1936) is an English author on

antiques An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

, journalist and

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 ...

, engineering businessman and author – as John Malcolm – of the Tim Simpson series of art crime novels, author as John Andrews of the first ''Price Guide to Antique Furniture'' (1968) and Managing Editor of ''Antique Collecting'' magazine.Andrews' Editorials for ''Antique Collecting'' magazine
/ref>

Biography

Born in

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Chorlton (ward), Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, and Chorlton Park (w ...

, Manchester, the son of May (née Whiteley) and Ernest Andrews, an engineer, John Andrews was educated at Sale High School in Manchester and

The British Schools of Montevideo The British Schools of Montevideo is a private, coeducational, non-profit school, founded in 1887 and based in the capital of Uruguay. It offers a bilingual education, combining the Uruguayan national curriculum with an English-language program ...

(1946–1950), before returning to England as a boarder at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS or simply Modern) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowme ...

(1950–1955), and at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he read Engineering and was Captain of the Lady Margaret Boat Club. He graduated MA in 1958. Andrews worked as design engineer (1958–63), an export sales manager (1963–70), management consultant (1970–76), and international marketing manager (1976–90) before setting up his own business as a machinery broker in 1990, travelling abroad extensively. In 1966 he was a founder member of the Antique Collectors' Club and became its first author as John Andrews with ''The Price Guide to Antique Furniture'' (1968). He went on to write more books on antique furniture and is currently Managing Editor of ''Antique Collecting'' magazine. He was Chairman of the Trustees of Rye Art Gallery from 1995 to 2004. In 1984 his first crime novel, ''A Back Room in Somers Town'', written as John Malcolm, was published by

Collins Crime Club Collins Crime Club was an imprint of British book publishers William Collins, Sons and ran from 6 May 1930 to April 1994. Throughout its 64 years the club issued a total of 2,012in "The Hooded Gunman -- An Illustrated History of Collins Crime ...

. He went on to write a total of fifteen of the Tim Simpson series of crime novels plus two more with different central characters. He was Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association from 1994–5 and wrote a number of short stories. The art background to many of the Tim Simpson series involves the work of modern painters such as

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

, Mary Godwin, Sir

William Orpen Major (United Kingdom), Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who mainly worked in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portrai ...

Gwen Gwen may refer to: * Gwen (given name), including a list of people with the name * Gwen (singer), a member of the Filipino Pinoy pop group Bini * ''Gwen, or the Book of Sand'', a 1985 animated film * Gwen (film), a 2018 horror film * Tropical Storm ...

and

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

, Sir William Nicholson and

Ben Nicholson Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscapes, and still-life. He was one of the leading promoters of abstract art in England. Backg ...

, Sir

Alfred Munnings Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) is known as having been one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund after the Gre ...

James Tissot Jacques Joseph Tissot (; 15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), better known as James Tissot ( , ), was a French painter, illustrator, and caricaturist. He was born to a drapery merchant and a milliner and decided to pursue a career in art at a y ...

Wyndham Lewis Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 – 7 March 1957) was a British writer, painter and critic. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art and edited ''Blast (British magazine), Blast'', the literary magazine of the Vorticists. His ...

, C.R.W. Nevinson, the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossett ...

Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...

, Whistler,

Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters of 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

and

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

. Andrews is a member of the

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. ...

and the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

. He married Geraldine Lacey (a picture restorer) on 25 March 1961. The couple live in

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

and have one son.

Bibliography

Novels as John Malcolm

The Tim Simpson series: *''A Back Room in Somers Town'' (1984) *''The Godwin Sideboard'' (1984) *''The Gwen John Sculpture'' (1985) *''Whistler in the Dark'' (1986) *''Gothic Pursuit'' (1987) *''Mortal Ruin'', (1988) *''The Wrong Impression'' (1990) *''Sheep, Goats and Soap'' (1991) *''A Deceptive Appearance'' (1992) *''The Burning Ground'' (1993) *''Hung Over'' (1994) *''Into the Vortex'' (1996) *''Simpson's Homer'' (2001) *''Circles and Squares'' (2002) *''Rogues' Gallery'' (2005)

Crime Novels

*''Mortal Instruments'' (2003) *''The Chippendale Factor'' (2008)

Non-fiction as John Andrews

*''The Price Guide to Antique Furniture'' (1968) (revised 1978) *''The Price Guide to Victorian Furniture'' (1970) *''The Price Guide to Victorian, Edwardian and 1920s Furniture'' (1980) *''British Antique Furniture'' (1989), (new editions: 2001; 2005/6; 2011) *''Victorian and Edwardian Furniture'' (1992), (new edition: 2001) *''Antique Furniture: The ACC Guide to the Antique Furniture of the Western World'' (1997) *''Arts and Crafts Furniture'', (2005), (new edition: 2013)

Notes

References

*The Crime Writers' Association *T J Binyon Murder Will Out *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, John 1936 births Living people People educated at Bedford Modern School 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English crime fiction writers English non-fiction writers English male novelists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers People educated at The British Schools of Montevideo