Originally Posted by norway1456
For the past year, I have been (re)discovering an author named Quentin Patrick. In the UK and US he is known under the names Q. Patrick/Patrick Quentin/Jonathan Stagge. All three names (four if we count the Norwegian variant of the name) are pseudonyms for Hugh Callingham Wheeler, Richard Wilson Webb, Martha Mott Kelley and Mary Louise White Aswell who wrote mysteries together for more than 20 years under the three aliases.
His books (I say "he" and "his" because it is is more convenient and natural to me) are not easy to find here in Norway, even though he was a very popular author and printed in large numbers. Unfortunately it's been a long time since the last reprint, and many of his books have begun to disappear from the libraries because of wear. His most famous book, "The Death and the Maiden", is the only one that is regularly reprinted at least once a decade.
He wrote mysteries of the classical kind, in the era called The Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The plots are very good, the characters interesting (not exactly believable and realistic, but charming and picturesque), and the focus for the reader is on the detective intrigue with its arsenal of clues and red herrings, i.e. puzzles of the classical kind.
I was just wondering if this author is as forgotten in UK and US as he is here in Norway? During the 1950's to the 1970's, he was very popular. Even during the war (second world war), with paper rationing and all, Q. Patrick was one of the authors "chosen" to be translated and published. Today he is almost sadly forgotten. |