Edmund Crispin was the pseudonym of Robert Bruce Montgomery (sometimes credited as Bruce Montgomery) (October 2, 1921—September 15, 1978) an English crime writer and composer. A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ... October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for full calendar). ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... A crime writer (not a crime author) is an author of crime fiction. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ...

Life and work

Montgomery graduated from St John's College, Oxford, in 1943, with a BA in modern languages, having for two years been its organist and choirmaster. From 1943 to 1945 he taught at Shrewsbury School. He first became established under his own name as a composer of vocal and choral music, including An Oxford Requiem (1951), but later turned to film work, writing the scores for many British comedies of the 1950s, most notably the Carry On series. He composed six scores for Carry On producer Peter Rogers including the original Carry On theme subsequently adapted for later films by Eric Rogers. Montgomery was responsible for both the screenplay and score of Raising the Wind (1961). College name St Johns College Collegium Divi Joannis Baptistae Named after Saint John the Baptist Established 1555 Sister College Sidney Sussex College President Sir Michael Scholar KCB JCR President Rhys Jones Undergraduates 381 Graduates 184 Homepage Boatclub St Johns College is one of the constituent colleges of the... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... Bachelor of Arts (B.A., BA or A.B.), from the Latin Artium Baccalaureus is an undergraduate bachelors degree awarded for either a course or a program in the liberal arts or the sciences, or both. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... // Recovering from World War II and its aftermath, the economic miracle emerged in West Germany and Italy. ... The Carry On films were a long-running series of British popular low-budget comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. ... Peter Rogers (born 20 February 1914 in Rochester, Kent) is a British film producer. ... Eric Rogers (born: 25th September 1921, Died: 8th April 1981) was a British conductor and composer. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...

His novels feature the Oxford don Gervase Fen, who is professor of English language and literature at the university and fellow of St Christopher's College, a fictional institution that Crispin locates next to St John's College. Fen is an eccentric, sometimes absent-minded, character reportedly based on the Oxford professor W E Moore. The novels are written in a humorous, sometimes farcical style. The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... The term Don may refer to Donald, a Western name Don (honorific), a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian title, given as a mark of respect A crime boss Don, Nord, a commune of the Nord département in northern France Don (TN), a comune in the province of Trento, in northern...

Gareth Roberts has stated that the tone of his Doctor Who novel The Well-Mannered War was modelled upon Crispin's style. He also remarks (of The Moving Toyshop) that "It's more like Doctor Who than Doctor Who." ^[1] Gareth John Pritchard Roberts (born 1968) is a British television writer and novelist, best known for his work related to the science-fiction television series Doctor Who. ... The Well-Mannered War is a Virgin Missing Adventures original novel written by Gareth Roberts based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ...

Montgomery's output of music and fiction all but ceased after the 1950s, but he continued to write reviews of crime novels for the Sunday Times. Alcoholism was a factor in his early death from a heart attack. // Recovering from World War II and its aftermath, the economic miracle emerged in West Germany and Italy. ... The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International which is in turn owned by News Corporation. ... Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the drinkers normal personal, family, social, or work life, and may lead to physical or mental harm. ...

Books

• The Case of the Gilded Fly (1944)
• Holy Disorder (1945)
• The Moving Toyshop (1946) was dedicated to Crispin's great friend Philip Larkin.
• Swan Song (1947)
• Love Lies Bleeding (1948)
• Buried for Pleasure (1948)
• Frequent Hearses (1950)
• The Long Divorce (1952)
• Beware of the Trains (1953) (short story collection)
• Glimpses of the Moon (1977)
• Fen Country (1979) (short story collection, published posthumously)

Crispin also edited seven volumes entitled Best Science Fiction, which were published during the 1960s. Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist and jazz critic. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

Reference

David Whittle, "Montgomery, (Robert) Bruce [Edmund Crispin] (1921–1978)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31461, accessed 2 Nov 2005

External links

• Bibliography of 1st Editions
• Bruce Montgomery at the Internet Movie Database
• Edmund Crispin at the West Midlands Literary Heritage website