Roderic Jeffries is a prolific British author, best known for his work in the detective fiction genre. He has also written under several pseudonyms, including Graham Hastings, Roderic Graeme, Jeffrey Ashford, and Peter Alding. Jeffries' family has a rich literary history; he is descended from Quaker William Penn, who founded the colony of Pennsylvania, and his father was the popular detective thriller writer Graham Montague Jeffries, known for the "Blackshirt" series of novels.
Born in 1926 in London, Jeffries attended Harrow View House Preparatory School and later the University of Southampton Department of Navigation. After completing his education, he became a sailor, working for the New Zealand Shipping Company and later the Union Castle Company. His time at sea allowed him to travel to New Zealand and Australia, and his wanderlust led him to seek out new experiences in different parts of the world.
Upon his return to England in the middle of the century, Jeffries became a member of the Honorable Society of Gray's Inn while he was reading for the Bar. However, his career as a lawyer was short-lived; he made it into the Bar in 1953 but lost all seven of his cases, which significantly impacted his confidence as a lawyer. As a result, he decided to leave the legal profession and pursue a career in writing instead. He published his first novel in 1950, launching a successful career as a fiction author.