Maurice Procter

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Maurice Procter (born February 4, 1906 in Nelson , Lancashire , † April 28, 1973 in Halifax , West Yorkshire ) was an English writer.

Life

Procter was the eldest son of the weaver William Procter and his wife Rose Hannah and had two younger brothers, Edward and Emmot. He completed his school days at the grammar school in his hometown. At the age of fifteen, Procter ran away from home and joined the British Army . Although he lied about his age, his parents could not revoke his entry.

After several years of military service, Procter worked for some time in his homeland as a weaver in a cotton mill . In the spring of 1927 he entered the police force and trained as a patrol officer. A little later he was transferred to Halifax as a constable, where he lived in a furnished room with the Arthur and Isabella Blakely families. In 1933 he married their youngest daughter Winifred at Saint Mary's Church in Halifax.

During the Second World War , Procter served as a village policeman in Mixenden , a village outside Halifax. He lived there with his wife and only son Noël. During the war, Procter began to write and was able to publish his first novel in 1947. His fourth publication was a detective novel and, confirmed by its success, Procter remained connected to the genre.

At the age of 67, Maurice Procter died at the Royal Halifax Infirmary and found his final resting place in Halifax.

reception

Procter's trilogy about Philip Hunter is considered a kind of forerunner of the series about Harry Martineau, a Chief Inspector of the CID . This was located in Granchester, a fictional industrial city that Manchester had as a model.

Some of Procter's novels were translated directly from English into German, others only found their translation via the US edition.

Works (selection)

Novels

  • No proud chivalry . Chivers Publ., Bath 1972 (EA London 1947)
  • Each man's destiny . 1947.
  • The end of the street . 1949.

Detective novels

  • Hurry the darkness . 1952.
  • The pub crawler . 1956.
    • German: In dark alleys . Desch Verlag, Munich 1963
  • Three at the angel . 1958.
    • English: Damn Jewels . Desch Verlag, Munich 1963.
  • The spearhead death . 1960.
  • Devil in the mooonlight . 1962.
    • German: The devil came by moonlight . Desch Verlag, Munich 1965.
Philip Hunter Trilogy .
  1. The chief inspector's statement . 1951.
    German: Murder in the Kuckuckswald . Aufwärts Verlag, Berlin 1953.
  2. Rich is a treasure . 1952.
    German: What is Tomaszow . Aufwärts Verlag, Berlin 1953.
  3. I will speak daggers . 1953.
Harry Martineau series
  • Hell is a city . 1954.
    • German: Somewhere in this city . Desch Verlag, Munich 1967.
  • The midnight plumber . 1957.
  • Man in ambush . 1958.
    • German: The Unmasking . Desch Verlag, Munich 1962.
  • Killer at large . 1959.
    • German: Wanted is ... . Desch Verlag, Munich 1966.
  • Devil's due . 1960.
    • German: The devil's account . Desch Verlag, Munich 1966.
  • The devil was handsome . 1961.
  • A body to spare . 1962.
  • Moonlight flitting . 1963.
  • Two men in twenty . 1964.
    • German: Two out of twenty . Desch Verlag, Munich 1966
  • Death has a shadow . 1965.
    • German: being blonde is dangerous . Desch Verlag, Munich 1967.
  • His weight in gold . 1966.
  • Rogue running . 1966.
    • English: Hunt the murderer . Desch publishing house, Munich 1968.
  • Exercise hoodwink . 1967.
    • German: company spider web . Desch publishing house, Munich 1968.
  • Hideaway . 1968.
    • German: Who is the doppelganger . Desch publishing house, Munich 1969.
  • The dog man . 1969.

Film adaptations

  • Dennis O'Keefe (Director): Diamonds. GB 1982.
  • Val Guest (Director): Hunting. GB 1960 (based on Hell is a city )
  • Wolfgang Storch (Director): Escape from London. FRG 1982 (after Two men in twenty )

literature

  • Paul Gerhard Buchloh , Jens P. Becker: The detective novel. Studies of the history and form of English and American detective literature . WBG, Darmstadt 1978, ISBN 3-534-05379-6 .
  • Armin Arnold, Josef Schmidt (Ed.): Reclams Kriminalromanführer . Reclam Verlag, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-15-010279-0 , pages 283-284.

Individual representations

  1. ^ Translated by Walter Kolbenhoff .
  2. ↑ Translated by Max Beutler.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Translated by Luise Däbritz.
  4. ^ Translated by Fritz Helke .
  5. ↑ US edition under the title Somewhere in the city
  6. ^ Translated by Paul Baudisch.
  7. ↑ Translated by Erika Nosbüsch.
  8. ^ US edition under the title: The graveyard rolls .
  9. ↑ Translated by Eduard Wald.
personal data
SURNAME Procter, Maurice
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 4, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Nelson , Lancashire
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 1973
Place of death Halifax , West Yorkshire