Back in the late sixties and early seventies when I first read John Creasey books he was very popular and so when I rediscovered them in the late nineties I was appalled to find how few were in print or even held in my local library. Second-hand bookshops and more recently Ebay has meant that my collection has grown to over 180 titles. However, please note that Creasey's total output is over 570 books!

Working within the obvious first requirement of fiction to entertain, I feel that the "Gideon" series of books give a realistic portrayal of police procedures of the 1950'/1960's as do the later books in the "Inspector West" series. To illustrate this, as well as the quality of John Creasey's writing, I have included below the details from the back of "Gideon's London"

"Gideon has done more than any other character in fiction to maintain the reading public's faith in Scotland Yard"

"The Observer"

No other author since Dickens has done more to show London in all its many-sided aspects than John Creasey in his unique "Gideon" series. The books are so much more than mere police procedurals. In each there are slices of London life presented so vividly and with such telling accuracy that those who know and love London will revel in them, and strangers to the city will find fascinating detail at every turn.

"A portrait emerges that is probably very much like that of a good police officer, the portrait of a man both tough and conscientious, not intellectual but extremely shrewd."

"The Sunday Times"

Books

Film, Television and Radio

Trade Advertisement for the 1952 British film of "Salute the Toff"