Bill James (novelist)
Encyclopedia
Bill James is a pseudonym of James Tucker, a Welsh
novel
ist. He also writes under his own name and the pseudonyms David Craig and Judith Jones. He was a reporter with the Daily Mirror and various other newspaper
s after serving with the RAF He is married, with four children, and lives in South Wales.
The bulk of his output under the Bill James pseudonym is the Harpur and Iles series. Colin Harpur is a Detective Chief Inspector and Desmond Iles is the Assistant Chief Constable in an unnamed coastal city in southwestern England. Harpur and Iles are complemented by an evolving cast of other recurring characters on both sides of the law. The books are characterized by a grim humour and a bleak view of the relationship between the public, the police force and the criminal element. The first few are designated "A Detective Colin Harpur Novel" but as the series progressed they began to be published with the designation "A Harpur & Iles Mystery".
His best known work, written under the "David Craig" pseudonym and originally titled Whose Little Girl are You, is The Squeeze, which was turned into a film starring Stacy Keach
, Edward Fox
and David Hemmings
. The fourth Harpur & Iles novel, Protection, was televised by the BBC
in 1996 as Harpur & Iles, starring Aneirin Hughes
as Harpur and Hywel Bennett
as Iles.
Dates given without parentheses are the Library of Congress publication dates, usually the first US publication, except where the books do not (yet) appear in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. The dates in parentheses are the copyright dates, taken from the actual books when available.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist. He also writes under his own name and the pseudonyms David Craig and Judith Jones. He was a reporter with the Daily Mirror and various other newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s after serving with the RAF He is married, with four children, and lives in South Wales.
The bulk of his output under the Bill James pseudonym is the Harpur and Iles series. Colin Harpur is a Detective Chief Inspector and Desmond Iles is the Assistant Chief Constable in an unnamed coastal city in southwestern England. Harpur and Iles are complemented by an evolving cast of other recurring characters on both sides of the law. The books are characterized by a grim humour and a bleak view of the relationship between the public, the police force and the criminal element. The first few are designated "A Detective Colin Harpur Novel" but as the series progressed they began to be published with the designation "A Harpur & Iles Mystery".
His best known work, written under the "David Craig" pseudonym and originally titled Whose Little Girl are You, is The Squeeze, which was turned into a film starring Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
, Edward Fox
Edward Fox (actor)
Edward Charles Morice Fox, OBE is an English stage, film and television actor.He is generally associated with portraying the role of the upper-class Englishman, such as the title character in the film The Day of the Jackal and King Edward VIII in the serial Edward & Mrs...
and David Hemmings
David Hemmings
David Edward Leslie Hemmings was an English film, theatre and television actor as well as a film and television director and producer....
. The fourth Harpur & Iles novel, Protection, was televised by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1996 as Harpur & Iles, starring Aneirin Hughes
Aneirin Hughes
Aneirin Hughes born , is a Welsh television and film actor and a singer.Born in Aberystwyth in Wales as Aneurin Hughes, Hughes studied music at the University College of Wales Aberystwyth under Professor Ian Parrott. As a student Hughes's first acting experience was gained when he appeared in...
as Harpur and Hywel Bennett
Hywel Bennett
Hywel Thomas Bennett is a Welsh film and television actor. Bennett is best known for his recurring title role as James Shelley in the television sitcom Shelley from 1979 to 1984 and its sequel The Return of Shelley from 1988 to 1992....
as Iles.
Works as Bill James ("Detective Colin Harpur" and "Harpur & Iles" novels)
- You'd Better Believe It, 1991
- The Lolita Man, 1991 (1986)
- Halo Parade, 1991 (1987)
- Protection (also available as Harpur & Iles), 1992 (1988)
- Come Clean, 1993
- Take, 1994
- Club, 1995
- Astride a Grave, 1996
- Gospel, 1997
- Roses, Roses, 1998
- In Good Hands, 2000
- The Detective is Dead, 2001 (1995)
- Top Banana, 1996
- Panicking Ralph, 2001
- Lovely Mover, 1999
- Eton Crop, 1999
- Kill Me, 2000
- Pay Days, 2001
- Naked at the Window, 2002
- The Girl with the Long Back, 2004 (2003)
- Easy Streets, 2005 (2004)
- Wolves of Memory, 2006
- Girls, 2007 (2006)
- Pix, (2007)
- In the Absence of Iles, (2008)
- Hotbed, (2009)
- I Am Gold (2010)
- Vacuum (2011)
Works as Bill James ("Simon Abelard" novels)
- Split, 2001 (2001)
- A Man's Enemies, 2003 (2003)
Works as Bill James (other)
- The Last Enemy, (1997)
- Double jeopardy (a Kerry Lake novel - see Judith Jones, below), (2002)
- Middleman, 2002 (2002)
- Between Lives, (2003)
- Making Stuff Up, (2006)
- The Sixth Man and other Stories (short stories, includes Harpur and Iles stories), (2006)
- Letters from Carthage, (2007)
- Off-street Parking, (to be published in 2008)
Works as David Craig ("Roy Rickman" novels)
- The Alias Man, 1968 (1968)
- Message Ends, 1969 (1969)
- Contact Lost, 1970 (1970)
Works as David Craig ("Bellecroix and Roath" novels)
- Young Men May Die, 1970 (1970)
- A Walk at Night, 1971 (1971)
Works as David Craig ("Brade and Jenkins" novels)
- Forget it, (1995)
- The Tattoed Detective, (1998)
- Torch, (1999)
- Bay City, (2000)
Works as David Craig ("Sally Bithron" novels)
- Hear me Talking to You, (2005)
- Tip Top, (2006)
Works as David Craig (other)
- Up from the Grave, 1971 (1971)
- Double Take, 1972 (1972)
- Bolthole (US title: Knifeman), 1973 (1973)
- A Dead Liberty, 1974 (1974)
- Whose Little Girl are You? (US title: The Squeeze), 1974 (1974)
- The Albion Case, 1975 (1975)
- Faith, Hope and Death, 1976 (1976)
Works as Judith Jones ("Kerry Lake" novels)
- Baby Talk, (1998)
- After Melissa, (1999)
Works as James Tucker (fiction)
- Equal Partners, (1960)
- The Right Hand Man, (1961)
- Burster, (1966)
- Blaze of Riot, 1979 (1979)
- The King's Friends, (1982)
Works as James Tucker (non-fiction)
- Honourable Estates, (1966)
- The Novels of Anthony Powell, 1976 (1976)
Dates given without parentheses are the Library of Congress publication dates, usually the first US publication, except where the books do not (yet) appear in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. The dates in parentheses are the copyright dates, taken from the actual books when available.