John Rhode

Cecil John Street aka John Street aka John Rhode aka Miles Burton aka Cecil Waye was one of the most prolific authors from the Golden Age of detective fiction – over 70 under the pseudonym John Rhode featuring the scientific detections of Dr Lancelot Priestley (although he is called Launcelot in The Motor Rally Mystery) and over 60 featuring amateur sleuth Desmond Merrion under the pseudonym Miles Burton.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, his work is extremely hard to come by – rarely reprinted, and yet in high demand. I’ve managed to procure a large number of his works. The index below is not a bibliography, but a list of the titles that I own and links to the reviews of the books that I’ve read. The italicised ones are books that I’ve got using the somewhat dodgy Internet Archive editions. There may be more to follow, depending on my eBay prowess. If you own anything not on the list and feel like selling it for not-too-much money, then do get in touch – I really don’t care about the condition or the edition, I just want to read the things…

Some hope has appeared recently for the non-obsessive collector – the British Library have re-issued The Secret Of High Eldersham and Death In The Tunnel and while there is little sign of more of the Miles Burton titles appearing in this range, the Collins Crime Club have re-released The Paddington Mystery, Mystery At Olympia, Death At Breakfast and Invisible Weapons – not his finest work, perhaps, but two good titles and one very good one there (check the reviews to see which one is which). I am given to believe that more might be on the way…

John Rhode