About John Rhode
John Rhode was one pseudonym used by the prolific English author Cecil John Charles Street who also wrote as Miles Burton and Cecil Waye. Street lived at Seaford and produced four detective novels a year for thirty-seven years. He was a serving British army officer who attained the rank of Major. He also wrote non-fiction, focussing on history and criminology.
Street was reticent about his background, but there is evidence that he was born in Gibraltar and may have attended a public school in Berkshire, possibly Wellington College. He was awarded a Military Cross and an OBE.
Street's two main series are the Dr Lancelot Priestley books under the Rhode name, and the Desmond Merrion/Inspector Henry Arnold books under the Burton name. The Priestley books are classics of scientific detection, with the elderly Dr Priestley demonstrating how apparently impossible crimes have been carried out. Priestley ages through the series and by the last books must be well into his eighties, but his faculties are unimpaired. The Burton series are more traditional detective fiction with the addition of chases and the occasional romance; in fact the hero, amateur investigator Desmond Merrion, meets his wife in the first, The Secret of High Eldersham (1930).
Street was reticent about his background, but there is evidence that he was born in Gibraltar and may have attended a public school in Berkshire, possibly Wellington College. He was awarded a Military Cross and an OBE.
Street's two main series are the Dr Lancelot Priestley books under the Rhode name, and the Desmond Merrion/Inspector Henry Arnold books under the Burton name. The Priestley books are classics of scientific detection, with the elderly Dr Priestley demonstrating how apparently impossible crimes have been carried out. Priestley ages through the series and by the last books must be well into his eighties, but his faculties are unimpaired. The Burton series are more traditional detective fiction with the addition of chases and the occasional romance; in fact the hero, amateur investigator Desmond Merrion, meets his wife in the first, The Secret of High Eldersham (1930).
Series
Dr. Priestley
The Paddington Mystery (1925)
Dr. Priestley's Quest (1926)
The Ellerby Case (1927)
The Murders in Praed Street (1928)
Tragedy At the Unicorn (1928)
The Davidson Case (1929)
aka Murder at Bratton Grange
The House on Tollard Ridge (1929)
Dr. Priestley Investigates (1930)
aka Pinehurst
Peril At Cranbury Hall (1930)
The Hanging Woman (1931)
Tragedy On the Line (1931)
Dead Men At the Folly (1932)
Mystery At Greycombe Farm (1932)
The Claverton Mystery (1933)
aka The Claverton Affair
Dr. Priestley Lays a Trap (1933)
aka The Motor Rally Mystery
The Venner Crime (1933)
Poison for One (1934)
The Robthorne Mystery (1934)
The Corpse in the Car (1935)
Hendon's First Case (1935)
Mystery At Olympia (1935)
Shot At Dawn (1935)
Death At Breakfast (1936)
In Face of the Verdict (1936)
Death in the Hop Fields (1937)
Death Sits On the Board (1937)
Proceed with Caution (1937)
aka Body Unidentified
The Bloody Tower (1938)
aka The Tower of Evil
Invisible Weapons (1938)
Death on Sunday (1939)
aka The Elm Tree Murder
Death Pays a Dividend (1939)
Death on the Boat Train (1940)
Murder At Lilac Cottage (1940)
Death at the Helm (1941)
They Watched by Night (1941)
The Fourth Bomb (1942)
Dead On the Track (1943)
Death Invades the Meeting (1944)
Men Die At Cyprus Lodge (1944)
Vegetable Duck (1944)
Bricklayer's Arms (1945)
aka Shadow of a Crime
Death in Harley Street (1945)
The Lake House (1946)
Death of an Author (1947)
Nothing But the Truth (1947)
The Paper Bag (1948)
The Telephone Call (1948)
Blackthorn House (1949)
Up the Garden Path (1949)
Family Affairs (1950)
Two Graphs (1950)
aka Double Identities
Dr. Goodwood's Locum (1951)
aka Affair of the Substitute Doctor
The Secret Meeting (1951)
By Registered Post (1952)
aka The Mysterious Suspect
Death At the Dance (1952)
Death in Wellington Road (1952)
Death At the Inn (1953)
aka The Case of the Forty Thieves
Death On the Lawn (1954)
The Dovebury Murders (1954)
Death of a Godmother (1955)
aka Delayed Payment
The Domestic Agency (1955)
aka Grave Matters
An Artist Dies (1956)
aka Death of an Artist
Open Verdict (1956)
Robbery with Violence (1957)
Death of a Bridegroom (1958)
Murder At Derivale (1958)
Death Takes a Partner (1959)
Licensed for Murder (1959)
The Fatal Pool (1960)
Three Cousins Die (1960)
Twice Dead (1960)
The Vanishing Diary (1961)
The Paddington Mystery (1925)
Dr. Priestley's Quest (1926)
The Ellerby Case (1927)
The Murders in Praed Street (1928)
Tragedy At the Unicorn (1928)
The Davidson Case (1929)
aka Murder at Bratton Grange
The House on Tollard Ridge (1929)
Dr. Priestley Investigates (1930)
aka Pinehurst
Peril At Cranbury Hall (1930)
The Hanging Woman (1931)
Tragedy On the Line (1931)
Dead Men At the Folly (1932)
Mystery At Greycombe Farm (1932)
The Claverton Mystery (1933)
aka The Claverton Affair
Dr. Priestley Lays a Trap (1933)
aka The Motor Rally Mystery
The Venner Crime (1933)
Poison for One (1934)
The Robthorne Mystery (1934)
The Corpse in the Car (1935)
Hendon's First Case (1935)
Mystery At Olympia (1935)
Shot At Dawn (1935)
Death At Breakfast (1936)
In Face of the Verdict (1936)
Death in the Hop Fields (1937)
Death Sits On the Board (1937)
Proceed with Caution (1937)
aka Body Unidentified
The Bloody Tower (1938)
aka The Tower of Evil
Invisible Weapons (1938)
Death on Sunday (1939)
aka The Elm Tree Murder
Death Pays a Dividend (1939)
Death on the Boat Train (1940)
Murder At Lilac Cottage (1940)
Death at the Helm (1941)
They Watched by Night (1941)
The Fourth Bomb (1942)
Dead On the Track (1943)
Death Invades the Meeting (1944)
Men Die At Cyprus Lodge (1944)
Vegetable Duck (1944)
Bricklayer's Arms (1945)
aka Shadow of a Crime
Death in Harley Street (1945)
The Lake House (1946)
Death of an Author (1947)
Nothing But the Truth (1947)
The Paper Bag (1948)
The Telephone Call (1948)
Blackthorn House (1949)
Up the Garden Path (1949)
Family Affairs (1950)
Two Graphs (1950)
aka Double Identities
Dr. Goodwood's Locum (1951)
aka Affair of the Substitute Doctor
The Secret Meeting (1951)
By Registered Post (1952)
aka The Mysterious Suspect
Death At the Dance (1952)
Death in Wellington Road (1952)
Death At the Inn (1953)
aka The Case of the Forty Thieves
Death On the Lawn (1954)
The Dovebury Murders (1954)
Death of a Godmother (1955)
aka Delayed Payment
The Domestic Agency (1955)
aka Grave Matters
An Artist Dies (1956)
aka Death of an Artist
Open Verdict (1956)
Robbery with Violence (1957)
Death of a Bridegroom (1958)
Murder At Derivale (1958)
Death Takes a Partner (1959)
Licensed for Murder (1959)
The Fatal Pool (1960)
Three Cousins Die (1960)
Twice Dead (1960)
The Vanishing Diary (1961)
Novels
The White Menace (1926)
The Figure of Eight (1931) (writing as Cecil Waye)
Murder at Monk's Barn (1931) (writing as Cecil Waye)
The Fire At Greycombe Farm (1932)
The End of the Chase (1932) (writing as Cecil Waye)
The Prime Minister's Pencil (1933) (writing as Cecil Waye)
The Clue of the Silver Brush (1936)
Murder At the Motor Show (1936)
Drop to His Death (1939) (with Carter Dickson)
aka Fatal Descent
Signal for Death (1941)
Night Exercise (1942)
aka Dead of the Night
Too Many Suspects (1945)
Secret of the Lake House (1946)
Experiment in Crime (1947)
Shadow of an Alibi (1948)
The Links in the Chain (1948)
The Last Suspect (1951)
The Figure of Eight (1931) (writing as Cecil Waye)
Murder at Monk's Barn (1931) (writing as Cecil Waye)
The Fire At Greycombe Farm (1932)
The End of the Chase (1932) (writing as Cecil Waye)
The Prime Minister's Pencil (1933) (writing as Cecil Waye)
The Clue of the Silver Brush (1936)
Murder At the Motor Show (1936)
Drop to His Death (1939) (with Carter Dickson)
aka Fatal Descent
Signal for Death (1941)
Night Exercise (1942)
aka Dead of the Night
Too Many Suspects (1945)
Secret of the Lake House (1946)
Experiment in Crime (1947)
Shadow of an Alibi (1948)
The Links in the Chain (1948)
The Last Suspect (1951)
Omnibus
The Second Crime Club Omnibus Volume (1932) (with Agatha Christie, A Fielding and Victor L Whitechurch)
Out of Control / Too Many Suspects / Eye For An Eye (1945) (with Oliver Weld Bayer, Baynard Kendrick)
Out of Control / Too Many Suspects / Eye For An Eye (1945) (with Oliver Weld Bayer, Baynard Kendrick)
Anthologies edited
Non fiction
Anthologies containing stories by John Rhode
Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror 2nd Series (1931)
The Great Book of Thrillers (1935)
Fifty Famous Detectives of Fiction (1983)
The Great Book of Thrillers (1935)
Fifty Famous Detectives of Fiction (1983)
Short stories
| The Elusive Bullet (1931) | |||
| The Vanishing Diamond |
|
© 2009 FantasticFiction Bibliography by D C Wands Last Updated:
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