W. J. Burley
Encyclopedia
William John Burley was a British crime writer, best known for his books featuring the detective Charles Wycliffe
, who became the basis of the popular Wycliffe
television series throughout the mid 1990s.
Burley was born in Falmouth
, Cornwall
. Before he began writing, he was employed in senior management
with various gas
companies, before giving it up after the Second World War when he obtained a scholarship to study zoology
at Balliol College, Oxford
. After obtaining an honours degree he became a teacher. Appointed head of biology
, first at Richmond & East Sheen County Grammar School in 1953, then at Newquay
Grammar School
in 1955, he was well established as a writer by the time he retired at the age of 60 in 1974. He died at his home in Holywell, Cornwall
, on 15 August 2002.
Charles Wycliffe
Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe is a fictional detective, created by author W. J. Burley. He is featured in twenty-two novels. ....
, who became the basis of the popular Wycliffe
Wycliffe (TV series)
Wycliffe is a British TV series, based on W. J. Burley's novels about Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe . It was produced by HTV and broadcast on the ITV Network, following a pilot episode on 7 August 1993, between 24 July 1994 and 5 July 1998. The series was filmed in Cornwall, with a...
television series throughout the mid 1990s.
Burley was born in Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. Before he began writing, he was employed in senior management
Senior management
Senior management, executive management, or management team is generally a team of individuals at the highest level of organizational management who have the day-to-day responsibilities of managing a company or corporation, they hold specific executive powers conferred onto them with and by...
with various gas
Gas
Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
companies, before giving it up after the Second World War when he obtained a scholarship to study zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
at Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
. After obtaining an honours degree he became a teacher. Appointed head of biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, first at Richmond & East Sheen County Grammar School in 1953, then at Newquay
Newquay
Newquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England. It is situated on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately west of Bodmin and north of Truro....
Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
in 1955, he was well established as a writer by the time he retired at the age of 60 in 1974. He died at his home in Holywell, Cornwall
Holywell, Cornwall
Holywell is a coastal village in north Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated about three miles west-southwest of Newquay.Holywell beach adjoins the settlement to the northwest and Penhale Camp, an army training establishment regularly used by cadets, is half-a-mile to the southwest...
, on 15 August 2002.
Wycliffe
- Wycliffe and the Three-Toed PussyWycliffe and the Three-Toed PussyWycliffe and the Three-Toed Pussy is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley, the first in his acclaimed Wycliffe series.-Synopsis:...
(1968) - Wycliffe and How to Kill a CatWycliffe and How to Kill a CatWycliffe and How To Kill A Cat is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley featuring detective Charles Wycliffe.-Synopsis:A young, auburn haired and naked woman turns up strangled in a seedy hotel room down by the docks, her face savagely beaten after death...
(1970) - Wycliffe and the Guilt Edged AlibiWycliffe and the Guilt Edged AlibiWycliffe and the Guilt Edged Alibi is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley featuring his series detective, Charles Wycliffe.-Synopsis:...
(1971) - Wycliffe and Death in a Salubrious PlaceWycliffe and Death in a Salubrious PlaceWycliffe and Death in a Salubrious Place is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley.-Synopsis:In a remote corner of the Isles of Scilly, the murdered body of a young woman has been found, her skull and facial bones smashed...
(1973) - Wycliffe and Death in Stanley StreetWycliffe and Death in Stanley StreetWycliffe and Death in Stanley Street is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley.-Synopsis:In a sleazy cul-de-sac just off the main road of a sprawling West Country port, a prostitute has been found naked and strangled in her bed...
(1974) - Wycliffe and the Pea-Green BoatWycliffe and the Pea-Green BoatWycliffe and the Pea-Green Boat is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley, featuring his recurring protagonist Charles Wycliffe.-Synopsis:...
(1975) - Wycliffe and the SchoolgirlsWycliffe and the SchoolgirlsWycliffe and the Schoolgirls is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley.-Synopsis:Two very different women, a nightclub singer and a nurse, have been strangled in their own homes, under the same efficient modus operandi, within the space of one week...
(1976) - Wycliffe and the ScapegoatWycliffe and the ScapegoatWycliffe and the Scapegoat is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley.-Synopsis:Every Halloween in Cornwall, the life size effigy of a man rolls down the cliffs and into the sea inside a flaming wheel; the morbid commemoration of an age old Pagan ritual whereby the dummy would in fact be a...
(1978) - Wycliffe in Paul's CourtWycliffe in Paul's CourtWycliffe in Paul's Court is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley.-Synopsis:The small community of Paul's Court is shattered by the violent deaths of Willy Goppel, a German doll house maker found hanging from a beam in his home, and Yvette Cole, a fifteen year old with a wild reputation,...
(1980) - Wycliffe's Wild Goose ChaseWycliffe's Wild Goose ChaseWycliffe's Wild Goose Chase is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley.-Synopsis:While taking a leisurely Sunday stroll along the West Country estuary, Wycliffe stumbles across a service revolver with one recently fired chamber...
(1982) - Wycliffe and the BealesWycliffe and the BealesWycliffe and the Beales is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley featuring his series detective, Charles Wycliffe.-Synopsis:...
(1983) - Wycliffe and the Four JacksWycliffe and the Four JacksWycliffe and the Four Jacks is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley.-Synopsis:The reclusive writer David Cleeve has been receiving mysterious warnings in the form of a single playing card; the Jack of Diamonds...
(1985) - Wycliffe and the Quiet VirginWycliffe and the Quiet VirginWycliffe and the Quiet Virgin is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley featuring his series detective, Charles Wycliffe.-Synopsis:...
(1986) - Wycliffe and the Winsor BlueWycliffe and the Winsor BlueWycliffe and the Winsor Blue is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley. -Synopsis:Following the death of artist Edwin Garland from a heart attack, his family and friends gather for the funeral, and are duly shocked by the apparently motiveless shooting of the dead man's son...
(1987) - Wycliffe and the Tangled WebWycliffe and the Tangled WebWycliffe and the Tangled Web is a crime novel by Cornwish writer W. J. Burley. -Synopsis:Shortly after informing her boyfriend and sister of her pregnancy, a young woman from a quiet Cornish village goes missing, opening up the possibility that she may have been raped or murdered...
(1988) - Wycliffe and the Cycle of DeathWycliffe and the Cycle of DeathWycliffe and the Cycle of Death is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley featuring his series detective, Charles Wycliffe.-Synopsis:...
(1990) - Wycliffe and the Dead FlautistWycliffe and the Dead FlautistWycliffe and the Dead Flautist is a crime novel by the Cornish writer W. J. Burley.-Synopsis:When the body of amateur flautist Tony Mills is found shot dead by his own gun on the secluded estate of Lord and Lady Bottrell, everyone simply assumes suicide...
(1991) - Wycliffe and the Last RitesWycliffe and the Last RitesWycliffe and the Last Rites is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley featuring his series detective Charles Wycliffe.-Synopsis:...
(1992) - Wycliffe and the Dunes MysteryWycliffe and the Dunes MysteryWycliffe and the Dunes Mystery is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley. -Synopsis:Fifteen years ago, Cochran Wilder supposedly vanished during a walking holiday in Cornwall, and has now just been released from a psychiatric hospital, where he was incarcerated after successfully pleading...
(1993) - Wycliffe and the House of FearWycliffe and the House of FearWycliffe and the House of Fear is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley featuring detective Charles Wycliffe.-Synopsis:For five hundred years the Kemps, a fiercely Catholic family, have held onto their ancestral home of Kellycoryk...
(1995) - Wycliffe and the RedheadWycliffe and the RedheadWycliffe and the Redhead is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley.-Synopsis:Simon Meagor, a lonely bookseller and divorcee, ends up falling for pretty redhead Morwenna, whose father killed himself as a result of Simon's testimony in a murder trial several years ago...
(1997) - Wycliffe and the Guild of NineWycliffe and the Guild of NineWycliffe and the Guild of Nine is a crime novel by Cornish writer W. J. Burley. -Synopsis:On the moor west of St. Ives, an artists colony has been running on the site of a disused mine, run by the married astrologers Archer and Lina. Their latest member is the shadowy and beautiful Francine, who...
(2000) - Wycliffe and the Last Lap (2003) unfinished
Miscellaneous
- The Schoolmaster (1977)
- The Sixth Day (1978)
- Charles and Elizabeth (1979)
- The House of Care (1981)
External links
- W.J.Burley biographical website
- Wycliffe author dies in Cornwall, BBC news report
- W.J. Burley at the Internet Book List
- Article on W.J. Burley