The Undetective

“It was my own fault, of course. I realized

that when it was too late.”

Crime writer Iain Carter has recently married and is struggling to make a decent living as an author. His brother-in-law is a likeable but slightly indiscreet constable, and Iain decides to use his inside knowledge to write a satirical series featuring a pompous and dictatorial police superintendent. To protect his identity, Iain creates an elaborately designed pseudonym, John Ky. Lowell, that cannot be traced back to him. When the first book by Lowell, The Undetective, proves to be a huge success, Iain finds he must take increasingly convoluted steps to protect his secret from the press, the police and the taxman. But the real trouble begins when a local bookmaker is killed, and Iain finds his mysterious

alter ego is the prime suspect. Bruce Graeme (1900–1982) was a pseudonym of Graham Montague Jeffries, an author of more than 100 crime novels and a founding member of the Crime Writers’ Association. He created

a number of Golden Age detectives, including bookseller and accidental detective Theodore Terhune, whose first adventure, Seven Clues in Search of a Crime, will be republished by Moonstone Press in February 2021.