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