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REGINALD PETER CHEYNEY

1896 - 1951

Writing as: Peter Cheyney


British crime and espionage author Peter Cheyney spent most of his adult life as a police reporter and investigator, much of it freelance. This meant that he spent a good deal of his time broke. The legend goes that Mr. Cheyney commented that anyone could write a hard-boiled American-style detective novel and was bet 5 pounds that he could not. He did and he went on to sell that book to a publisher, starting a far more prosperous career.

Though he is largely unknown today, during his life he was very popular, especially for his detective stories. Far more famous than his spymaster Peter Quayle were Slim Callaghan, a somewhat disreputable private eye, and Lemmy Caution, an FBI agent later becoming a private detective.



Series Books
 
Ernie Guelvada Dark Interlude ()
  Dark Duet (1942)
  It Doesn't Hurt Much (ss) (1942)
  Sweet Conga (ss) (1942)
  You Can Always Duck (ss) (1942)
  Souvenir (ss) (1942)
  Sinister Errand (1945)
  Dark Wanton (1948)
  Dark Bahama (1950)
 
Michael Kane Dark Duet (1942)
  It Doesn't Hurt Much (ss) (1942)
  Sweet Conga (ss) (1942)
  You Can Always Duck (ss) (1942)
  Souvenir (ss) (1942)
 
Michael Kells Sinister Errand (1945)
  Ladies Won't Wait (1951)
 
Shaun O'Mara The Dark Street (1944)
  Dark Interlude (1947)
 
Peter Quayle Dark Duet (1942)
  The Stars Are Dark (1943)
  The Dark Street (1944)
  Sinister Errand (1945)
  Dark Interlude (1946)
  Dark Wanton (1948)
  Dark Bahama (1950)
  Ladies Won't Wait (1951)
 
Other This Man Is Dangerous [Lemmy Caution] (1936)
  Poison Ivy [Lemmy Caution] (1937)
  Dames Don’t Care [Lemmy Caution] (1937)
  You Can’t Hit a Woman and other stories (1937)
  Can Ladies Kill? [Lemmy Caution] (1938)
  The Urgent Hangman [Slim Callaghan] (1938)
  Dangerous Curves aka Callaghan [Slim Callaghan] (1939)
  Don’t Get Me Wrong [Lemmy Caution] (1939)
  Knave Takes Queen (1939)
  You Can’t Keep the Change [Slim Callaghan] (1940)
  Another Little Drink aka A Trap for Bellamy aka Premeditated Murder (1940)
  Your Deal, My Lovely [Lemmy Caution] (1941)
  It Couldn’t Matter Less aka The Unscrupulous Mr. Callaghan aka Set-Up for Murder [Slim Callaghan] (1941)
  Sorry You’ve Been Troubled aka Farewell to the Admiral [Slim Callaghan] (1942)
  Never a Dull Moment [Lemmy Caution and Slim Callaghan] (1942)
  The Adventures of Alonzo MacTavish [Alonzo MacTavish] (1943)
  Calling Mr. Callaghan [Slim Callaghan] (1943)
  Love with a Gun and other stories (1943)
  Alonzo MacTavish Again [Alonzo MacTavish] (1943)
  The Murder of Alonzo [Alonzo MacTavish] (1943)
  You Can Always Duck [Lemmy Caution] (1943)
  Account Rendered [Slim Callaghan] (1944)
  Making Crime Pay (1944)
  They Never Say When [Slim Callaghan] (1944)
  You Can’t Trust Duchesses and other stories (1945)
  I’ll Say She Does! [Lemmy Caution] (1945)
  A Tough Spot for Cupid and other stories (1945)
  Dance Without Music [Slim Callaghan] (1945)
  The Man with Two Wives and other stories [Slim Callaghan] (1946)
  Time for Caution [Lemmy Caution] (1946)
  Vengeance with a Twist and other stories [Slim Callaghan] (1946)
  A Spot of Murder and other stories [Slim Callaghan] (1946)
  Uneasy Terms aka British National [Slim Callaghan] (1946)
  Date After Dark and other stories [Slim Callaghan] (1946)
  G Man at the Yard [Lemmy Caution] (1946)
  He Walked in Her Sleep and other stories aka MacTavish [Alonzo MacTavish] (1946)
  A Matter of Luck and other stories [Alonzo MacTavish] (1947)
  The Curiosity of Etienne MacGregor aka The Sweetheart of the Razors [Etienne MacGregor] (1947)
  Dance Without Music (1947)
  Lady in Green and other stories [Alonzo MacTavish] (1947)
  Try Anything Twice aka Undressed to Kill (1948)
  Cocktail for Cupid and other stories (1948)
  Cocktail Party and other stories (1948)
  Fast Work and other stories (1948)
  Information Received and other stories (1948)
  The Lady in Tears and other stories (1948)
  No Ordinary Cheyney (1948)
  The Unhappy Lady and other stories [Alonzo MacTavish] (1948)
  The Man Nobody Saw aka You Can Call It a Day (1949)
  Lady, Behave! aka Lady Beware [Johnny Vallon] (1950)
  Mistress Murder aka One of Those Things (1951)
  Velvet Johnnie and other stories (1952)
  Dressed to Kill aka Night Club (1952)
  The Mystery Blues and other stories aka Fast Work (1954)
  The Adventures of Julia and two other spy stories aka Killing Game aka You’d Be Surprised (1954)
  Cocktails and the Killer aka Ladies Won’t Wait [Michael Kells] (1957)