Colin Watson was a British writer, born in Croydon, London, who was best known for his creation of the "Flaxborough Chronicles" series of novels. The series features Inspector Purbright and Lucilla Teatime and is set in a fictional small town in England. Four of these books were adapted by the BBC under the title "Murder Most English."
Watson was born in humble surroundings and attended Whitgift School, which was founded to offer medical care and education for the needy and poor from the Lambeth and Croydon parishes. After leaving school, he became a cub reporter at the "Boston Guardian" in 1937, where he gained the inspiration for the Flaxborough series from the small towns and villages around Lincolnshire. The town of Flaxborough is a composite of Boston and other small villages such as Horncastle and Sleaford.
Watson's career as a journalist took him to London and Newcastle-on-Tyne, where he worked as a leader-writer for Kemsley Newspapers. He published his debut novel, "Coffin, Scarcely Used," in 1958, and went on to write twelve titles by the time of his death in 1983. In addition to his Flaxborough series, Watson also wrote a study of detective stories and thrillers called "Snobbery with Violence." He was married, had three children, and lived in Lincolnshire. After retiring from journalism, he designed silver jewelry.