Life
1896-1951 [pseud. of Major Reginald Evelyn Peter Southhouse Cheyney; var. Southouse], b. Co. Clare; author of poems and thrillers; editor of St. John’s Ambulance Gazette. His many thrillers incl. This Man is Dangerous (1936), Ladies Won’t Wait (1951), and Velvet Johnnie (1952). DIB DIW OCIL
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Commentary
A. N. Jeffares, Anglo-Irish Literature (1982), p. 225: ‘great success as a skilful writer of crime novels ... based on a mixture of experience in law, wartime intelligence, and his own detective bureau ... acted out the life of a “clubland hero”, but had the ingenuity to create Lemmy Caution and Slim Callaghan, and to write an effective American style; This Man is Dangerous (1936) began his popularity, and Ladies Won’t Wait (1951) is a good example of his Americanised writing.’
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References
DIB, b. Co. Clare, Reginald Southouse-Cheyney [sic], ed. London Univ., wounded in World War I; ed. Sunday Graphic, 1933-34; literary agency, and detective agency (‘Cheyney Research and Intelligence)’; ‘tough transatlantic characters, Caution and Callaghan. [NO entry IF2.]
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