Roderic Jeffries / Roderic Graeme Books In Order

Publication Order of Blackshirt Books

Publication Order of Brandy Books

Publication Order of Don Kerry Books

Publication Order of C. I. D. Room Books

Publication Order of Inspector Alvarez Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Roderic Jeffries is British detective fiction author who also writes as Graham Hastings, Roderic Graeme, Jeffrey Ashford, and Peter Alding. Jeffries is descended from Quaker William Penn, who famously gave his name to the newly found colony of Pennsylvania. His father was the popular detective thriller writer Graham Montague Jeffries of the “Blackshirt” series of novels fame. Jeffries was born in 1926 London, and attended Harrow View House Preparatory School, before proceeding to University of Southampton Department of Navigation. He would go on to become a sailor, joining the New Zealand Shipping Company. The company sailed to New Zealand and Australia though the young Jeffries soon found a job with Union Castle Company, as he wanted to see other parts of the world. Upon his return to England in the middle of the century, he became a member of the Honorable Society of Gray’s Inn while he was reading for the Bar. He made it into the Bar in 1953 but had a terrible time as jurist losing all seven of his cases, severely denting his confidence as a lawyer. He decided the law was not for him and quit to pursue a career in writing and published his first novel in 1950.

With over 150 novels in his various names, Jeffries is one of the most enduring and popular of names in detective crime fiction. He is best known for continuing the “Blackshirt” series of novels started by his father Bruce Graeme, in which he wrote twenty titles. After immigrating to Mallorca in Spain, he would pen another of his very popular detective crime fiction series, “The Inspector Alvarez” series. His experiences working as a lawyer and in the merchant navy have had a significant influence on his writings. Many of the novels that may be best described as police procedurals explain how the justice and law enforcement systems work, while also trying to explain criminal behavior and psychology. Using his real name and numerous pseudonyms, he has written dozens of standalone novels and series that have gone on to become wildly popular. As Jeffrey Ashford, he wrote the “Inspector Don Kerry” series, as Peter Alding he wrote the “C.I.D. Room” which features Scotland Yard’s Inspector Fusil and Constable Kerr. Jeffries is currently settled in Mallorca, Spain where he lives with his wife and two children in a 17th century farmhouse. His novels have been published in dozens of countries and have been adapted for radio, television, and film.

Like many prolific writers of his time, Jeffries found that publishers would not allow him to publish his novels as fast as he would like, hence the need for pseudonyms. As such, similar to his character in “The Colour of Violence”, he took up pseudonyms and went on to publish over 60 mystery stories at the rate of about two to three titles a year. Starting with his father’s Blackshirt series, he wrote at least two dozen titles before he moved onto other titles. While most of his works are police procedurals, each author pseudonym has a distinctive character and plot for the novel series or standalone they write.

Roderic Jeffries earlier works were for the most part straight detective novels with no lead character. Over the years and especially after moving to Mallorca, he gravitated towards a strong lead starting with his most popular character, Inspector Alvarez. Jeffries “Blackshirt” and “Inspector Alvarez” series of novels are murder tales that involve clever courtroom tactics that call for the defendant to take charge of his own defense in an attempt at acquittal. The “Blackshirt” series of novels are about Richard Varell, a bestselling author and secret crook masquerading as a gentleman. Given his extensive knowledge on crime and criminals, the police often call on him to assist in resolving complicated crimes that are beyond ordinary law enforcement officers. Even as Varell starts out as a crook, his willingness to help others and good nature soon see him become a fully-fledged member of crime fighters in his city. Jeffries Inspector Enrique Alvarez character is a Spanish police officer who fights crime on Mallorca, a Spanish island resort. Alvarez is a middle-aged man who solves crime in a unique unhurried yet diligent approach that consistently delivers results.

“Concerning Blackshirt” is a top class whodunit about a country gentleman turned detective who uses the mechanisms of law to delay justice. It starts with Richard Varell the said gentleman spending a quiet weekend at a friend’s estate in Kent. Everything seems normal until he walks across the field looking for a good spot for some target practice and stumbles upon a Blower four and half Bentley in a garden shed. Rushing back to the house to fetch his host, they return to find themselves facing unseen gunmen shooting at them from semi-automatic weapons, followed by the roar of the Bentley roaring away. Surviving the scare unharmed, they flee to a nearby building only to find the body of a strange man. What better incentive to become involved in something that has nothing to do with him that a dead body. Blackshirt being who he is would never hesitate to take such a mysterious case. “Concerning Blackshirt” is a novel of dangerous secrets, revolvers, money, and chasing women as Blackshirt sets out to resolve one of the most intriguing of mysteries.

“Blackshirt Passes” by is a fascinating novel that is vintage Roderic Jeffries at his best. Richard Varell is out on an evening stroll minding his own business when he spots his car being dangerously driven behind the British Museum. Not a man to stand by and wonder how his car came into the possession of a man he knew nothing about, he sets out to track down the man through the backstreets. It is not long before he learns that the man driving the car had been the perpetrator of a daring raid targeting the British Museum. He had made away with only one item; a ruby and gold horse from the museums precious Saladin collection. Why would the man make such a daring raid to steal only one item is a mystery that Blackshirt is determined to unravel. Moving with the prodigious speed we have come to expect of the master detective, he delights as he traverses the posh estates of the elite of London, down to the darkest and dirties of its poorest, looking for clues and answers to a strange mystery.