Bill James (novelist)

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For other people named Bill James, see Bill James (disambiguation).

Bill James(1929 – ) is a Welsh novelist, who writes under several other pseudonyms, including David Craig and Judith Jones. His non-fiction work, The Novels of Anthony Powell, was published under the name James Tucker, which is his real name according to the liner notes on the US edition of Protection. He was a reporter with the Daily Mirror after serving with the R.A.F. He is married, with four children, and lives in South Wales.

The bulk of his output under the Bill James pseudonym are the Harpur and Iles novels. Colin Harpur is a senior detective and Desmond Iles is the Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) of an unnamed seaside town or city in southwestern England. The books are characterized by a grim humor and a bleak view of the relationship between the public, the police force and the criminal element. The first few are designated "A Detective Colin Harpur Novel" but as the series progressed they began to be published with the designation "A Harpur & Iles Mystery".

His best known work, written under the "David Craig" pseudonym and originally titled Whose Little Girl are You, is The Squeeze, which was turned into a film starring Stacy Keach.


[edit] Works ("Detective Colin Harpur" and "Harpur & Iles" novels)

  • You'd Better Believe It, 1991
  • The Lolita Man, 1991 (1986)
  • Halo Parade, 1991 (1987)
  • Protection, 1992 (1988)
  • Come Clean, 1993
  • Take, 1994
  • Club, 1995
  • Astride a Grave, 1996
  • Gospel, 1997
  • Roses, Roses, 1998
  • In Good Hands, 2000
  • The Detective is Dead, 2001
  • Top Banana, 1996
  • Panicking Ralph, 2001
  • Eton Crop, 1999
  • Lovely Mover, 1999
  • Kill Me, 2000
  • Pay Days, 2001
  • Naked at the Window, 2002
  • The Girl with the Long Back, 2004
  • Easy Streets, 2005
  • Wolves of Memory, 2006
  • Girls, 2007

Dates given are the Library of Congress publication dates, usually the first US publication. The dates in parentheses are the copyright dates, taken from the actual books when available.

[edit] References

  • Library of Congress Online Catalog (birth and publication dates)
  • Liner notes for Protection (biographical information)