Pamela Jean Branch (née Byatt, 1920–1967) was a British author of four comic murder mystery novels. She was born on her parents' tea plantation in

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. She was educated in England, studied art in Paris, and attended the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

in London. She married the solicitor Newton Branch, and they moved together to Cyprus. She divorced Branch in the late 1950s. In 1962, she married James Edward Stuart-Lyon. In 1967, she died from cancer, aged 47. In 2009, ''The Wooden Overcoat'' was made into a one-hour BBC Radio 4 drama, adapted by

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...

, and starring

David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...

Bibliography

Novels

*''The Wooden Overcoat''. Robert Hale: London, 1951 *''Lion in the Cellar''. Robert Hale: London, 1951 *''Murder Every Monday''. Robert Hale: London, 1954 *''Murder's Little Sister''. Robert Hale: London, 1958

Stage plays

*''Murder Every Monday'' (adapted from the novel) by Pamela Branch and Philip Dale. First performed in 1964

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branch, Pamela Jean 1920 births 1967 deaths British women novelists English crime fiction writers British expatriates in Sri Lanka British expatriates in France