James Hadley Chase

James Hadley Chase, born as René Lodge Brabazon Raymond on December 24, 1906, in London, England, was a renowned English author of mystery, suspense, and romance novels. His father, Colonel Francis Raymond of the colonial Indian Army, a veterinary surgeon, had intended for his son to pursue a scientific career, but Chase had other plans. After leaving home at the age of 18, Chase worked various jobs, including a children's encyclopedia salesman, a salesman in a bookshop, and an executive for a book wholesaler. It was during this time that he realized the demand for gangster stories, which inspired his writing career.

Chase's writing career took off after he began working in sales, focusing on books and literature. He wrote under several pseudonyms, including James Hadley Chase, Ambrose Grant, R. Raymond, James Docherty, and Raymond Marshall. His first novel, "No Orchids for Miss Blandish," was published in 1939 and became a bestseller. During World War II, Chase served in the British Royal Air Force and achieved the rank of Squadron Leader. He edited the RAF journal and published several stories from it after the war in the book "Slipstream". Chase's writing was influenced by his experience during the war, as well as his friendship with Merrill Panitt, who provided him with a dictionary of American slang, reference books, and detailed maps of the American underworld.

Chase was married to Sylvia Ray for 53 years, and they had one son. He enjoyed photography, reading, listening to classical music, and opera. Chase passed away peacefully on February 6, 1985, in Corseaux-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, where he had been living a secluded life since 1974. His writing career produced over 90 mystery books, making him one of the most prolific thriller writers of all time. His books have been translated into 22 languages and have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
Dave Fenner Books
# Title Year
1 No Orchids for Miss Blandish / The Villain and the Virgin 1939
2 The Doll's Bad News / Twelve C----- and a Woman 1941
Vic Malloy Books
# Title Year
1 You're Lonely When You're Dead 1949
2 Figure It Out for Yourself / The Marijuana Mob 1950
3 Lay Her Among Lilies / Too Dangerous to Be Free 1950
Steve Harmas Books
# Title Year
1 No Business of Mine 1947
2 No Business of Mine ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1947
3 Double Shuffle 1954
4 There's Always a Price Tag 1956
5 Shock Treatment 1959
6 Tell It to the Birds 1963
7 An Ear to the Ground 1968
Frank Terrell Books
# Title Year
1 The Soft Centre 1964
2 The Way the Cookie Crumbles 1965
3 Well Now, My Pretty .. 1967
4 Believed Violent 1968
5 There's a Hippie on the Highway 1970
Mark Girland Books
# Title Year
1 The Whiff of Money 1958
2 This Is for Real 1965
3 Have This One on Me 1967
4 You Have Yourself a Deal 1980
Helga Rolfe Books
# Title Year
1 Ace Up My Sleeve 1972
2 The Joker in the Pack 1975
3 I Hold the Four Aces 1977
Don Micklem Books (as Raymond Marshall)
# Title Year
1 Mission to Siena ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1955
2 Mission to Siena 1955
Tom Lepski Books
# Title Year
1 Like a Hole in the Head 1971
2 Have a Change of Scene 1973
3 Consider Yourself Dead 1977
4 Try This One for Size 1980
5 Hit Them Where It Hurts 1984
Standalone Novels
# Title Year
1 The Flesh of the Orchid 1940
2 Lady -- Here's Your Wreath 1940
3 Lady -- Here's Your Wreath ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1940
4 The Dead Stay Dumb / Kiss My Fist! 1941
5 Miss Callaghan Comes to Grief 1941
6 Get a Load of This 1942
7 You Never Know with Women 1942
8 Eve 1942
9 Just the Way It Is ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1944
10 Just the Way It Is 1944
11 Miss Shumway Waves a Wand 1944
12 Make the Corpse Walk ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1946
13 Make the Corpse Walk 1946
14 I'll Get You for This 1946
15 Blonde's Requiem 1946
16 Blonde's Requiem ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1946
17 More Deadly Than the Male 1946
18 Trusted Like the Fox ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1948
19 Trusted Like the Fox 1948
20 The Paw in the Bottle 1949
21 The Paw in the Bottle ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1949
22 Why Pick On Me? ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1950
23 Why Pick On Me? 1950
24 In a Vain Shadow ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1951
25 In a Vain Shadow 1951
26 But a Short Time to Live 1951
27 But a Short Time to Live ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1951
28 Strictly for Cash 1951
29 The Fast Buck 1952
30 The Wary Transgressor 1952
31 The Wary Transgressor ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1952
32 I'll Bury My Dead 1953
33 The Things Men Do 1953
34 The Things Men Do ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1953
35 Safer Dead / Dead Ringer 1954
36 Mission to Venice ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1954
37 Mission to Venice 1954
38 Tiger by the Tail 1954
39 The Sucker Punch ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1954
40 The Sucker Punch 1954
41 This Way for a Shroud 1954
42 You've Got It Coming 1955
43 The Pickup 1955
44 The Pickup ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1955
45 Ruthless 1955
46 Ruthless ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1955
47 You Find Him, I'll Fix Him 1956
48 The Guilty Are Afraid 1957
49 Never Trust a Woman ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1957
50 Never Trust a Woman 1957
51 Hit and Run 1958
52 The Case of the Strangled Starlet / Not So Safe to Be Free 1958
53 The World in My Pocket 1959
54 Just Another Sucker 1960
55 Come Easy, Go Easy 1960
56 What's Better Than Money? 1960
57 A Lotus for Miss Quon 1961
58 I Would Rather Stay Poor 1962
59 A Coffin from Hong Kong 1962
60 One Bright Summer Morning 1963
61 Cade 1966
62 The Vulture is a Patient Bird 1969
63 Mallory 1969
64 Mallory ( As: Raymond Marshall) 1969
65 He Won't Need It Now 1972
66 Just a Matter of Time 1972
67 Want to Stay Alive? 1972
68 You're Dead Without Money 1972
69 Knock, Knock! Who's There? 1973
70 So What Happens to Me? 1973
71 Three of Spades 1974
72 Believe This... You'll Believe Anything 1975
73 Goldfish Have No Hiding Place 1975
74 So Soon to Die 1975
75 Do Me a Favour - Drop Dead 1976
76 My Laugh Comes Last 1976
77 Meet Mark Girland 1977
78 You Must Be Kidding 1978
79 A Can of Worms 1979
80 You Can Say That Again 1979
81 Have a Nice Night 1981
82 Hand Me a Fig Leaf 1981
83 We'll Share a Double Funeral 1982
84 Not My Thing 1983
James Hadley Chase Anthologies
# Title Year
1 Pulp Frictions: Hardboiled Stories 1996
2 Slipstream: A Royal Air Force Anthology 2020