Edmund Crispin

Edmund Crispin's real name was (Robert) Bruce Montgomery. He was born in 1921 to an Irish-Scottish family and studied Modern Languages at Merchant Taylors' School and St John's College, Oxford. His first detective novel and his first musical composition were well-received by the public while Crispin was still a student. For two years, he worked as a substitute teacher at a public school and later gained recognition as a composer, particularly of film music, as well as church music. He signed his musical compositions with his real name. In earlier editions of his books, Crispin listed his favorite activities: swimming, excessive smoking, Shakespeare, the operas of Wagner and Strauss, idleness, and cats. He was always a heavy drinker, and for a period, he stopped writing due to alcohol-related issues. He wrote nine detective novels and two volumes of short stories. He also worked as a crime fiction book reviewer for the "Sunday Times" from 1967 until September 1978, when he passed away (from alcohol-related causes). Two years before his death, he married his secretary, Ann.