James Chase English detective writer Date of Birth: 24.12.1906 Country: Great Britain

Biography of James Hadley Chase

James Hadley Chase was an English writer and author of over 80 detective novels. He was also known by the pseudonyms James L. Docherty, Raymond Marshall, and Ambrose Grant.

Chase was born into a family of a retired officer and studied at the Royal School in Rochester and later in Calcutta. At the age of 18, Chase left his family and education behind. He tried various professions and worked in multiple places. Eventually, he became a book agent for the "Children's Encyclopedia." Reflecting on those years, Chase once said, "I had to knock on at least a hundred thousand doors, and behind each one, I could meet any of the characters from my future novels. I could expect any kind of reception, from a friendly invitation to have a cup of coffee to a harsh order to leave... And how much I had to endure in the rain and on wet pavements, which now no one can force me to go out in bad weather."

After a few years, Chase began working in a large wholesale book firm called "Simkin and Marshal," initially as a salesman and later as the head of the department responsible for supplying products to special bookstores. Here, he familiarized himself with literature and read extensively, sometimes spending nights reading. He witnessed the entire literary business firsthand and studied the tastes and needs of mass readers. Soon, he decided to "try writing something myself..."

In the beginning, Chase wrote a series of humorous stories under various pseudonyms. In 1938, he made his first attempts at writing a thriller in the style of "American gangster adventures," as there was plenty of information about them in the newspapers. In just six weekends (12 days), the 32-year-old Chase composed his first "tough detective" novel, "No Orchids for Miss Blandish" (1939; revised edition - 1961). The novel was well received by the publisher, critics, and readers, becoming one of the best-selling books of the decade. Chase became a professional writer, writing a lot and frequently publishing his works, until his service as a pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II temporarily interrupted his career.

Some literary critics, such as Bogomil Raynov, found a "plot connection" between Chase's first novel and William Faulkner's famous "Sanctuary," which was published a few years earlier than "No Orchids." However, it seems that both novels were based on a sensational criminal case about a gang led by "Bloody Mama Barker" that was widely covered in the press.

Most of Chase's novels were written using American slang dictionaries, detailed maps, encyclopedias, and reference books about the American criminal world. The action of most of his novels takes place in the United States, although Chase himself never lived there (except for two short trips to Miami and New Orleans). Chase's novels were written in the style of "hard-boiled" works by famous American authors of the noir genre, such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. In 1943, Raymond Chandler accused Chase of plagiarism, and the accusation was proven, leading to Chase publicly apologizing.

In 1956, Chase moved to France, and in 1961, he relocated to Switzerland, where he passed away in 1985.

Chase's novels are highly popular in Asia and Africa. Many of his novels were first published in France, in Marcel Duhamel's "Série Noire" by the major Paris-based publisher, "Gallimard." Only later were they printed in other countries. Many of Chase's novels have been adapted into films, especially in France. Chase was particularly popular in the Soviet Union during the period of perestroika.

Chase's works encompass a range of genres, including pure detective novels featuring private detectives Vic Malloy, Mark Girland, or Dave Fenner ("Solve This Yourself," "Lay Her Among the Lilies," "The Scent of Gold," "Girland's First Case," "This Is Serious," "Twelve Chinese and One Mouse," "No Orchids for Miss Blandish," "Souvenir from the 'Musketeers Club'"). He also wrote police detective novels ("The Hit and Run Case," "Do Me a Favor, Die," "Better to Stay Poor," "When the Film Breaks," and others), as well as numerous adventure novels ("Stolen Treasures," "Why Did You Choose Me?," "What Will Happen to Me?," "You Will Get Yours!," "I Will Take Care of Everything Myself," "Mission in Venice," "Mission in Siena," and more). There are also many novels with plots centered around blackmail ("Nowhere to Hide for the Goldfish," "An Extra Card Up My Sleeve," "Find Him, I'll Deal with Him Myself," and others), as well as gangster stories ("It's a Man's Game," "I Will Bury My Dead Myself," "The Whole World in Your Pocket," "There Will Be No Witnesses," "The Coffin from Hong Kong," and more). Chase also wrote novels that combine various subgenres skillfully into a cohesive whole ("The Trap," "The Dead Man's Wig," "The Dead Man's Trap Worked," "Believe This, Believe Anything," "An Evening Out of the House," and others).