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
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Title
Year
Goodreads
Amazon
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
Goodreads
Amazon
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
Goodreads
Amazon
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
Goodreads
Amazon
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
Goodreads
Amazon
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
Goodreads
Amazon
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
Goodreads
Amazon
1
Mission to Siena ( As: Raymond Marshall)
1955
2
Mission to Siena
1955
Tom Lepski Books
#
Title
Year
Goodreads
Amazon
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
Goodreads
Amazon
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