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The Grand Master of Crime

“They live in my mind. . . I can see them and hear them much more clearly than most people whom I know in life. Some, like the Toff and the Baron and Gordon Craigie, I’ve known for nearly 40 years; some, such as Cellini, only for five or six. It never occurs to me that they don’t exist.”

– John Creasey

“...start thinking of people as people. Whatever they are, whatever their colour, whatever their social position, people are people. That may sound corny, but it's true. In their different ways, in their different lives, they all need help. The first thing needed is to get rid of the hatred.”

– John Creasey

A Doll for the Toff (1959)

“How many words a day do I write? Between six and seven thousand. And how many hours does that take? Three on a good day, as high as thirteen on a bad one.”

– John Creasey

John Creasey was the prolific author of over 600 novels, using multiple different pseudonyms, with worldwide sales in the 1970’s of over 80 million copies in 28 different languages.

In 1953, John Creasey founded the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) in the UK. The CWA New Blood Dagger is awarded every year in his memory, for first books by previously unpublished writers. In 1962, Creasey won an Edgar Award for Best Novel, from the Mystery Writers of America (MWA), for Gideon’s Fire, written under the pseudonym J. J. Marric. In 1969 he received the MWA’s greatest honour, the Grand Master Award.

The Grand Master of Crime

“They live in my mind. . . I can see them and hear them much more clearly than most people whom I know in life. Some, like the Toff and the Baron and Gordon Craigie, I’ve known for nearly 40 years; some, such as Cellini, only for five or six. It never occurs to me that they don’t exist.”

– John Creasey

“...start thinking of people as people. Whatever they are, whatever their colour, whatever their social position, people are people. That may sound corny, but it's true. In their different ways, in their different lives, they all need help. The first thing needed is to get rid of the hatred.”

– John Creasey

“How many words a day do I write? Between six and seven thousand. And how many hours does that take? Three on a good day, as high as thirteen on a bad one.”

– John Creasey

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The John Creasey Collection

Themes of John Creasey’s Books

The Toff: Two BBC Radio 4 classic thrillers

Interview Series with Richard Creasey

“Phenomenal”

– Life Magazine

“There may come a time when all the possibilities of crime will have been fully explored in fiction, but Mr. John Creasey’s inventive powers make that prospect seem remote.”

– Times Literary Supplement

"I never cease to be amazed at John Creasey's versatility – he can handle the widest diversity of fictional situations with astonishing ease."

– Allen J. Hubin, The New York Times