Herbert Adams
Herbert Adams was a British author born in London in 1874, known for his contributions to the mystery genre during the Golden Age of British detective fiction. Initially educated at the City of London School, Adams published his first novel, *A Virtue of Necessity*, in 1899, but it did not achieve commercial success. Following his marriage to Jessie Louise Cooper, he shifted his focus to a career in real estate for nearly twenty-five years before returning to writing in the 1920s. His first mystery novel, *The Secret of Bogey House*, introduced lawyer Jimmie Haswell and set the stage for several other works featuring golf and crime. Throughout his prolific writing career, Adams published over fifty novels, often blending crime narratives with elements of romance. His writing was characterized by clever plotting and a legal background, appealing to readers despite some criticism from literary reviewers. Adams's novels reflect the prevailing British attitudes of his time, maintaining a high-minded ethos while navigating the complexities of crime and responsibility. He continued writing until his death in 1958, leaving behind a notable legacy in the mystery literature landscape.
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Herbert Adams
Writer
- Born: 1874
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: 1958
Biography
Herbert Adams, the son of Clara Simkin Adams and William Adams, was born in London in 1874 and educated at the City of London School. He published short stories and humorous verse in his youth, and in 1899 a small London publisher brought out his first novel, A Virtue of Necessity. The book did not sell well, and when Adams married Jessie Louise Cooper the following year, he prudently turned to a career in commerce. A member of the Surveyors Institute, he dealt in real estate and did not publish for the next quarter century.
In 1924, Adams’s first mystery, The Secret of Bogey House, introduced his first series character, lawyer Jimmie Haswell. As the title suggests, golf furnished the background for the novel. That sport, Adams’s favorite pastime, provided the setting for several of his mysteries, especially those featuring his second series character, Roger Bennion. Bennion, an amateur sleuth and heir to a wealthy baronet, was also an avid golfer. Reviewers noted that though some of Adams’s books are heavy on the discussion of golf (or cricket or tennis), even readers not interested in the sport could enjoy the stories.
The 1920’s and 1930’s, the period between the two world wars, are often referred to as the Golden Age of the classic British mystery. The timing of his second foray into publishing proved golden for Adams, as his style fit the tenor of the popular desire for clever and stylish entertainment wrapped up at the end by an honorable detective who restored order to the community. In return, his prolific pen and consistent quality during that period helped popularize the genre even more.
From 1924 until his death in 1958, Adams published from one to four books every year, for a total of more than fifty volumes, including two published during a particularly prolific period under the pseudonym Jonathan Gray. Except for a book of short golfing stories, some of which were mysteries, and a couple of romances, all of his books were crime novels, usually tempered with a love story.
Once he found success as an author, Adams and his wife enjoyed traveling. He reported finding copies of The Paulton Plot in Norwegian translation in Iceland and in Spitsbergen and Hell, Norway, when he visited those spots in 1932. In 1933, the couple took a cruise to Spain and Morocco, where, he told The New York Times, he hoped to find “new ideas” for crime fiction.
Adams’s novels reflect the generally high-minded British ethos of the time, including occasional ethnic slurs, an insistence that people accept responsibility for their actions, and the calm assumption that despite all that crime, the English way of life was the ideal. The occasional political or economic reference reflects the platitudes of the day rather than rabble- rousing or social commentary. Few of Adams’s novels generated excitement among critics, but his wit, clever plotting, and legal acumen proved persistently popular among readers for more than thirty years.