Julian Gustave Symons

Julian Gustave Symons (1912–1995), British author, best known for his crime novels, who also worked as a critic, editor, poet, essayist, biographer, and historian.

Symons became deeply involved in anarchist and literary circles in London, writing poetry and editing the influential poetry magazine The Twentieth Century. His first detective novel, The Immaterial Murder Case (1945), was a spoof in which he introduced many literary figures of the period. By the time he wrote his second, The Thirty First of February (1950), he had begun to use his writing to investigate the psychology of relationships and to comment upon the structure of society. His novels include The End of Solomon Grundy (1964), The Man Who Lost His Wife (1970), and The Blackheath Poisonings (1978), one of several works with a Victorian setting. Some of his best crime-novel writing is contained in Bloody Murder (1972).

Among his many other works are biographies of Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Thomas Carlyle, and Dashiell Hammett (a favorite author). He also wrote social histories, such as The General Strike (1957) and The Thirties (1960), and a brief autobiography, Notes from Another Country (1972). As a critic and editor, he encouraged several generations of young writers.