Kenneth Royce
Kenneth Royce, born Kenneth Royce Grandley in Croydon, Surrey, England in 1920, was an accomplished writer and former Army captain who served during World War II. He founded and managed a travel company in London and was a prolific author, publishing nearly one book a year from 1958 until his death in 1997. Royce is particularly noted for his mystery novels, including two prominent detective series. His most famous character, William "Spider" Scott, is introduced in "The XYY Man" (1970), a caper amateur detective who uses his criminal background to help solve cases, reflecting a unique take on the relationship between criminality and sleuthing. The book was later adapted into a three-part television series, which contributed to the character's popularity. Royce also created the George Bulman series, which features a retired police detective who runs a clock repair shop and solves mysteries with the help of an old friend's daughter. Bulman's character is well-known for his quirky habits and love of Shakespeare. Overall, Royce's body of work is characterized by a blend of action, suspense, and engaging character development.
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Kenneth Royce
Writer
- Born: December 11, 1920
- Birthplace: Croyden, England
- Died: 1997
Biography
Kenneth Royce is the pseudonym of Kenneth Royce Grandley. He was born in Croydon, Surrey, England, in 1920. He served in the Army during World War II and attained the rank of captain. Royce was the founder and managing director of Business and Travel, Ltd., in London.
He was also a steady and prolific writer, publishing a book a year nearly every year from 1958, when he published his first novel, My Turn to Die, through 1997, the year of his death. He primarily wrote nonseries mystery novels, four of them published under the pseudonym Oliver Jacks. He is best known, however, for his two detective series, one featuring William “Spider” Scott, a supposedly reformed cat burglar introduced in The XYY Man (1970), and another series featuring private investigator George Bulman. The XYY Man was adapted for television and shown as a three-part series on Granada Television in the United Kingdom in 1976 and 1977. A spin-off from the programs, the television drama series The Strangers, aired from 1978 through 1982. In this series, Detective Sergeant George Bulman, who appeared in The XYY Man television programs, rises to the rank of detective chief inspector. By the time Royce wrote the George Bulman series, starting with No Way Back in 1986, Bulman had retired from the police force.
The Spider Scott series of seven novels fits into the caper amateur detective subgenre, in which a criminal serves as the sleuth. Spider is the XYY man, born with an extra Y chromosome, or double maleness. The genetic anomaly gained attention in the 1970’s, when it was touted in the courtroom as a defense for accused American mass murderer Richard Speck, using the argument that this made him prone to crime and a criminal by nature. The defense failed, since there was no evidence that the X-Y-Y combination causes crime and because Speck had the ordinary male X-Y chromosomes. Spider Scott does have the unusual X-Y-Y- combination, and he has been a thief, or “break-in specialist.” Eventually he becomes a part-time sleuth, especially when a British intelligence agency enlists his aid in solving cases on the theory that it takes a thief to catch a thief. Spider is not completely reformed, since he sometimes wants to burglarize. He also finds himself facing more violent criminals and more dangers than he encountered in his own more genteel “work.” The Spider novels are filled with action and suspense, and it is for this character that Royce is most widely known.
The George Bulman series of only three novels attracted interest because of the earlier television series. Bulman is fond of quoting William Shakespeare, always wears gloves and a scarf, carries a plastic shopping bag, and suffers from a perpetual cold. After his retirement as a police detective, he runs a small clock repair shop. He is assisted in his various investigations by Mary McGinty, the daughter of an old police buddy. After No Way Back, two other Bulman novels were published a decade later.