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Philip MacDonald
Philip Macdonald, who also wrote as Oliver Fleming, Anthony Lawless and Martin Porlock, was born in 1899 in England. Macdonald served with the cavalry regiment in Mesopotamia during World War 1 and later trained horses for the army. Writing was in the blood. His gandfather was George Macdonald, and his first two books (written as Oliver Fleming) were co-written with his father, Ronald Macdonald. Ambrotox and Limping Dick (1920) and The Spandau Quid were more thriller than detective fiction.
He wrote some very important and influential books, though, and his third book The Link was ingeniously plotted and remains even today a key book, not least for being one of the first books published in the Collins Crime Club. Murder Gone Mad also merits particular attention, if not only for the stunning dust jacket by Bip Pares. It is again a Golden Age classic and was selected by John Dickson Carr as one of the 'Ten Greatest Detective Novels'. In 1953 and 1956, Macdonald was recognised by the Mystery Writers of America, who awarded him the Edgar Allan Poe award for his short stories.
Philip Macdonald passed away in 1981, but remains very much appreciated today and is one of detective fiction's more important authors.
Books in Order: 13 titles
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The Rynox Mystery
A classic Golden Age crime novel, and the first time Philip MacDonald wrote a crime novel without a detective.''Rynox'' is at that point where one injudicious move, one failure of judgement, one coincidental piece of bad luck will wreck it. So why wo...
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Forbidden Planet
The Novelization of the Classic 1956 Sci-Fi Movie!Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc., 1956FORBIDDEN PLANETby Philip MacDonaldas W. J. StuartPOWER-MAD DR. MORBIUS MUST BE STOPPED BEFORE HE ENSLAVES THE WORLD!Commander Adams and the crew of Spaceship C-57-D...
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The Rynox Murder Mystery
The Rynox Murder Mystery is a sophisticated and atmospheric detective novel by Philip MacDonald, one of the notable voices of Britain's Golden Age of crime fiction. Combining an intricate plot with sharp psychological observation, the novel offers a ...
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Murder Gone Mad
First published in 1931, the first Golden Age detective novel to feature a serial killer with no rational motive - and surely impossible for Scotland Yard to solve? A long knife with a brilliant but perverted brain directing it is terrorising Holmda...
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The List of Adrian Messenger
Adrian Messenger gives a list to a friend in Scotland Yard and asks him to check if each individual is still living at the same place. Messenger dies in an apparent plane sabotage and the search is on for the rest of the men on the list....
