Philip MacDonald
1899-1981
Pseudonyms: Oliver Fleming (with Ronald MacDonald) and Martin Porlock
 

Philip MacDonald was the son of Ronald MacDonald, novelist and playwright, and the grandson of George MacDonald, Scottish poet and novelist. His mother was a Shakespearean actress. After school, he joined the cavalry and served in Mesopotamia towards the end of the First World War. Together with his father, he wrote two books under the joint pseudonym 'Oliver Fleming'. Between 1930 and 1933, he wrote an average of five crime novels a year. He also wrote scripts for one of Hollywood's largest studios. Three crime novels were written under the pseudonym 'Martin Porlock'. In the US, these books were published under his own name. He is the creator of 'Colonel Anthony Ruthven Gethryn', an amateur detective who works closely with the police.

 

Titles and year of publication:  

 'Colonel Anthony Ruthven Gethryn' Novels
 1) The Rasp  1924
 2) The White Crow  1928
 3) The Noose  1930
 4) The Link  1930
 5) The Choice (US Title: The Polferry Riddle [1931]) (Also published as: The Polferry Mystery [1932])  1931
 6) The Wraith  1931
 7) The Crime Conductor  1931
 8) The Maze (US Title: Persons Unknown [1931])  1932
 9) Rope to Spare  1932
10) Death on My Left  1933
11) The Nursemaid Who Disappeared (US Title: Warrant for X [1938])  1938
12) The List of Adrian Messenger  1960
 Other Novels
 1) Rynox (US Title: The Rynox Murder Mystery [1931]) (Also published as: The Rynox Mystery [1933]; and as: The Rynox Murder [1968])  1930
 2) Murder Gone Mad  1931
 3) Harbour  1931
 4) R.I.P. (US Title: Menace [1933])  1933
 5) The Dark Wheel (Also published as: Sweet and Deadly [1959]) (with A. Boyd Correll)  1948
 6) Fingers of Fear (short stories) (US Title: Something to Hide [1952]) (Edgar Award)  1953
 7) Guest in the House (Also published as: No Time for Terror [1956])  1956
 8) The Man out of the Rain (short stories)  1957
 9) Death and Chicanery (short stories)  1962
As 'Oliver Fleming' (with Ronald MacDonald)
 1) Ambrotox and Limping Dick  1920
 2) The Spandau Quid  1923
As 'Martin Porlock'
 1) Mystery at Friar's Pardon  1931
 2) Mystery in Kensington Gore (US Title: Escape [1932])  1932
 3) X v. Rex (US Title: The Dead Police [1933]) (Also published as: The Mystery of Mr. X [1934])  1933

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