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Verner, Gerald

Page history last edited by Christopher Verner 13 years, 7 months ago

Gerald Verner (1897-1980) was a prolific writer of thrillers and wrote more than 120 novels translated into over 35 languages. Successful stage plays included adaptations of Peter Cheyney’s “The Urgent Hangman” into “Meet Mr.Callaghan” (1952)  and the Agatha Christie thriller Towards Zero (1956).  Many of his books were adapted into radio serials, stage plays and films. In the 1930s he wrote for the magazines The Thriller and Detective Weekly.  With changed names of titles and the protagonists many of these stories were recycled as novels for the publisher Wright & Brown. His style was heavily influenced by that of Edgar Wallace.

 

He was born John Robert Stuart Pringle in Streatham, London on 31st January 1897 and died of natural causes at Broadstairs, Kent,  England on 16th September 1980. The Duke of Windsor was an avid fan of Verner's thrillers and was presented with a special edition of 15 of them bound in blue.

 

In his early days he used to write entirely under the name of Donald Stuart, including 44 stories for the Sexton Blake Library. He also wrote 6 stories for Union Jack and 3 for the The Thriller under this pseudonym as well as two stage plays and two films.  His other pseudonyms include Derwent Steele and Nigel Vane.

 

Bibliography (All Published by Wright & Brown except where stated)

 

Novels

The Embankment Murder (1933)

Alias the Ghost (1933)

The Black Hunchback (1933)

Black Skull (1933)

The Death Play (1933)

Phantom Hollow (1933

The Con Man (1934)

Green Mask (1934)

The Hangman (1934)

The Lady of Doom (1934)

The Next to Die (1934)

Sinister House (1934)

The Squealer (1934)

The Crooked Circle (1935)

The Q Squad (1935)

Queer Face (1935)

Terror Tower (1935)

White Wig (1935)

The Cleverness of Mr Budd (1935):

     Book One: The Ghost of Rufus Manners (The Thriller Dec 1934)

     Book Two: The Whispering Man (The Thriller March 1935)

     Book Three made up of 5 Short Stories:

          The Man Who Vanished

          The Grey Monk (The Grey Monk first appeared Dec 17th 1934 The Leader).

          The Clue

          The Undoing of Mr.Dawes

          The Clever Crook

The Ghost Man (1936)

The Grim Joker (1936)

The Hand of Fear (1936)

Mr Whipple Explains (1936):

      Book One: Mr.Whipple Explains 

     Book Two: Red Snow (The Clue of the Crimson Snow (Donald Stuart Detective Weekly 44 December 1933)

     Book Three: Death at the Microphone (Donald Stuart Detective Weekly Murder at the Microphone (111 April 1935)

The River Men (1936)

The Seven Clues (1936)

The Watcher (1936)

The Frightened Man (1937)

The Token (1937)

The Jockey (1937)

The Three Gnomes (1937)

The Glass Arrow (1937)

The Silver Horseshoe (1938)

The Return of Mr.Budd (1938):

     Book One: The Clue of the Whispering Pines (Detective Weekly No 234 August 1937)

     Book Two: The Black Widow (Detective Weekly No 206 January 1937)

     Book Three: The Devil’s Footprint The Devil’s Footprint (Detective Weekly No 221 May 1937) Pub as The Valley of Terror by Donald Stuart

The River House Mystery (1938)

The Witches Moon (1938)

The Clue Of The Green Candle (1938)

The Poisoner (1938)

The Vampire Man (1938)

Mr.Budd Again (1939):

     Book One: The Beard of the Prophet (Detective Weekly No 246 November 1937)

     Book Two: The Vanishing Men

     Book Three: The Leering Lady

The Football Pool Murders (1939) aka The Coupon Crimes.

The Angel (1939)

Mr.Budd Investigates (1940)

The Hunstman (1940)

The Nightmare Murders (1940)

Dene Of The Secret Service (1941)

The Next To Die (undated)

The Heel of Achilles (1945)

Thirsty Evil (1945) Pub: John Westhouse

Come not, Lucifer (1945) Anthology, Pub: John Westhouse

The Twelve Apostles (1946)

Prince of Darkness (1946) Anthology, Pub: Rider

The Seven Lamps (1947)

They Walk In Darkness (1947)

The Royal Flush Murders (1948)

The Whispering Woman (1949) aka Noose for A Lady

The Tipster (1949) The Novel of the April 1948 BBC Radio Serial Play

The Show Must Go On (1950) The Novel of the August 1948 BBC Radio Serial Play

Noose For A Lady (1952) The Novel of the September 1950 BBC Radio Serial Play

Mr.Midnight (1953)

Sorcerer's House (1956) Pub: Hutchinson

The Crimson Ramblers (1960) The Novel of the 1956 Television Serial Play

Grim Death (1960)

The Nursery Rhyme Murders (1960)

Ghost House (1961)

The Shadow Men (1961)

The Third Key (1961)

The Red Tape Murders (1962)

The Last Warning (1962)

I Am Death (1963)

The Ghost Squad (1963)

Murder In Manuscript (1963)

The Faceless Ones (1964)

Six Men Died (1964)

The Moor House Murders (1964)

Death Set In Diamonds (1965)

Mister Big (1966)

The Tudor Garden Mystery (1966)

Dead Secret (1967)

 

 

The Adventures of Lattimer Shrive Short Stories:  

 

 

  • The Mystery of the Unfortunate Undertaker Christmas PIE Dec 1946 
  • The Extraordinary Problem of the Eccentric Lodger Summer PIE June 1947   
  • The Strange Affair of the Dancing Parson Spring PIE Feb 1947 

 

Other Short Stories: 

 

  • The Grey Monk  Dec 17th 1934 The Leader. Book Three of The Cleverness of Mr.Budd
  • The Shadow Over Iris (February 25th 1935 The Evening Telegraph)  
  • The Chained Man in Anthology My Most Exciting Story Faber and Faber 1936
  • Murder Flowers In The Spring The Leader 1944     
  • The Man Who Vanished
  • The Tenth Time
  • The Spirit of Adventure
  • The Christmas Card Game
  • A Matter of Detail
  • The Undoing of Mr.Dawes
  • The Mistake
  • Sheer Luck
  • The Clue
  • The Clever Crook
  • The Vengeance of the Trees
  • The Eye of God
  • The Riddle of the Red Queen
  • A Lady of Quality
  • The Ears of Mr Neap
  • The Red Golf Ball
  • The Blackmailing of Lady Milstead
  • Death in the Charge Room
  • Mr. Gilmot Goes Home (November 1972 Argosy Magazine)

 

Detective Weekly:

  • The Riddle of the Red Queen (No 133 September 1935)
  • Blake of the Secret Service (No 176 July 1936)
  • The Sign of the Jockey (No 203 September 1936)
  • The Black Widow (No 206 January 1937) Book 2 of The Return of Mr Budd
  • The Devil’s Footprint (No 221 May 1937) Pub as The Valley of Terror by Donald Stuart and Book 3 of The Return of Mr Budd
  • The Sign of the Silver Horseshoe (No 231 July 1937)
  • The Clue of the Whispering Pines (No 234 August 1937)
  • The Beard of the Prophet (No 246 November 1937) Book One of Mr Budd Again
  • Alias the Angel (No 255 January 1938)
  • The Devil’s Brood (No 285 August 1938)
  • The Huntsman (No 288 Aug 1938)
  • The Football Pool Murders (No 318 March 1939)
  • Secret Weapon (No 377 May 1940)

 

The Sexton Blake Library:

  • The Clue of the Second Tooth (105 August 1927) The Embankment Murder 1933

 

The Thriller:

  • The Ghost of Rufus Manners (Dec 1934) Book One of The Cleverness of Mr.Budd
  • The Whispering Man (March 1935) Book Two of The Cleverness of Mr.Budd
  • River Rats (September 1936)
  • The House of the Goat (December 1939)
  • The Seven Sleeping Men (January 1940)
  • The Seal of Soloman (February 1940)

 

Thriller Library (4d):

  • Queen Face (No 21)

 

Plays

  • Towards Zero (1956) St James's Theatre, London) Adapted from the book Towards Zero by Agatha Christie
  • Meet Mr.Callaghan (May 1952 Garrick Theatre, London) Adapted from the Book The Urgent Hangman by Peter Cheyney filmed in 1954
  • Dangerous Curves (April 1953 Garrick Theatre, London) Adapted from the Book Dangerous Curves by Peter Cheyney.
  • Design For Murder 1957

 

BBC Radio

  • The Tipster April 1948 BBC Radio Serial Play
  • Answer Next Week (1948-49) Radio series including posers on crime and law by Gerald Verner and a lawyer.  7th 14th 21st 28th Nov 48 5th 12th 19th 26th Dec 48 2nd 9th 16th 23rd 30th Jan 49 6th 13th 20th 27th Feb 49 6th 13th 20th 27th Mar 49 3rd Apr 49
  • The Show Must Go On August 1948 BBC Radio Serial Play filmed as Tread Softly in 1952
  • Excerpt from Act 1 of Meet Mr.Callaghan (Oct 1952) from the Garrick Theatre, London.  
  • Noose For A Lady July1950 BBC Radio Serial Play filmed in 1953

 

Films

  • Tread Softly (1952) Directed by David Macdonald from the radio serial The Show Must Go On
  • Noose For A Lady (1953) Insignia Films Directed by Wolf Rilla
  • Meet Mr.Callaghan (1954) Eros Films Ltd Directed by Charles Saunders

 

Television

  • French for Love (October 1955) ITV Television Playhouse:  (adaptation of the play by Derek Patmore and Marguerite Stein) Directed by Hugh Rennie
  • The Crimson Ramblers (July 1956) Television Serial Play Directed by Robert Evans
  • Double Danger  8 July 1961 (Season 1, Episode 18) (July 1961)   The Avengers  Directed by Roger Jenkins

 

As Donald Stuart

 

Novels

The White Friar (1934)

The Man Outside (1934)

The Shadow (1934)

The Man In The Dark (1935)

Midnight Murder (1935)

The Valley of Terror (1935) Pub as The Devil’s Footprint’ Detective Weekly No 221 May 1937 and Book 3 of The Return of Mr.Budd 1938 

Sexton Blake: The Danger at Westways (1968) Dean and Son

Sexton Blake Wins (Anthology) The Green Jester (1986)

 

The Sexton Blake Library: (with Gerald Verner equivalents in brackets)

The Box of Doom (125 January 1928)

The Riddle of the Phantom Plague (143 May 1928)

The Mystery of Sherwood Towers (The Watcher) (152 July 1928)

The Mystery of the Phantom Blackmailer (157 September 1928)

The Silent Slayer (195 June 1929)

The Fatal Manuscript (198 July 1929)

The Black Skull (217 December 1929)

The Secret of the Vault (227 February 1930)

The Crime of Four (237 May 1930)

The Death Card (225 September 1930)

The Fence’s Victim (266 Dec 1930)

The Hooded Raider (278 March 1931)

The Next Victim (286 May 1931)

The Terror of Lonely Tor (302 September 1931)

The Garden City Crime (314 December 1931)

Dead Man’s Secret (322 February 1932)

The Squealer’s Secret (334 May 1932) (The Squealer)

The Embankment Crime (341 July 1932)

The Case of the Missing Estate Agent (350 September 1932)

The Secret of Seven (363 December 1932)

The Empty House Murder (373 March 1933)

Guilty But Insane (385 June 1933)

The £1,000,000 Film Murder (401 October 1933)

The Motor Bus Murder (422 March 1934)

The Village of Fear (430 May 1934) (Terror Tower)

The Secret of the Sealed Room (470 March 1935) (The Crooked Circle)

The Cottage of Terror (The Ghost Man) (481 June 1935)

The Truth about Lord Trench (503 November 1935)

The Terror of Greytowers (176 July 1936)

The Fatal Hour (188 September 1936)

The Bells of Doom (The Token) (545 October 1936)

The Riddle of the Sunken Garden (The Three Gnomes) (581 July 1937)

The Unknown Menace (561 February 1937) (The Frightened Man)

The Time of the Crime (The River House Mystery) (605 January 1938)

The Three Who Paid (The Glass Arrow) (612 February, 1938)

The Secret of Moor House (The Man Outside) (634 August 1938)

Danger at Westways (645 November 1938)  

The Third Victim (The Next to Die) (653 January 1939)

The Fatal 13th (672 May 1939)

The Burmese Dagger (675 June 1939) Rewrite of 1st series No 102 by A Murray

The Hidden Menace (The Q Squad) (690 Oct 1939) Rewrite of 1st series No 71 by J W Bobin

The Secret of the Hulk (708 Month unknown 1940) Rewrite of 1st series No 83 by A Murray

The Mystery of Sherwood Towers (714 Month unknown 1940) Reprint of No 152

Twenty Years of Hate (732 Month unknown 1940) Rewrite??

 

Union Jack:

  • The Invisible Clue
  • The Secret of the Whispering Beeches (Sinister House)
  • The Green Jester (1379 March 1930)
  • Mister Midnight (1422 January 1931)
  • The Witches Moon (1488 April 1932)
  • The Crimson Smile (1523 December 1932)

 

The Thriller:

  • The Midnight Gang (No 26 August 1929)
  • Sinister House (No 64 April 1930)
  • The Sinister Quest (No 245 October 1933)

 

Detective Weekly:

  • The Clue of the Crimson Snow (44 December 1933)
  • The Christmas Card Crime (96 December 1934)
  • Murder at the Microphone (111 April 1935)
  • The Riddle of the Red Queen (No 133 September 1935)
  • The Terror of Grey Towers (No 176 July 1936)
  • The Fatal Hour (No 188 September 1936)
  • The Clue of the Painted Smile (304 December 1938)

 

 Short Stories

  • The Portable Typewriter June Argosy 1972
  • The Able Mr. Kane July Argosy 1972

 

  • The Will and the Way Jan Argosy 1973

 

Plays

  • Sexton Blake (September 1930 Prince Edward Theatre) Became Mr.Midnight Union Jack 1422
  • The Shadow (?? New Theatre)

 

BBC Radio

  • Sexton Blake (August – December 1967) 17 x 30 min Case Histories by Donald Stuart

 

Films

  • The Man Outside (1933) Real Art Productions Directed by George A Cooper
  • The Shadow (1933) Real Art Productions Directed by George A Cooper

 

As Thane Leslie

 Yu-Malu, The Dragon Princess (1967) Wright & Brown

 

As Derwent Steele

The Black Gangster (1934)

The Avenger (1935)

The Phantom Slayer (1935)

The Purple Plague (1935)

The Poison Gang (1937)

 

As Nigel Vane

The Menace of Li-Sin (1934)

The Devil’s Dozen (1935)

The Veils of Death (1935)

The Vengeance of Li-Sin (1935)

The Midnight Men (1936)

The Vanishing Death (1937)

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