Lionel Davidson

Lionel Davidson was born in Hull, Yorkshire on March 31, 1922. He left school early and worked as office boy at the Spectator magazine, which published his first short story when he was 15. At 17, he was writing syndicated features for the Morley Adams Group. During World War II, he served as a telegraphist with the Royal Navy's submarine service in the Pacific. After the war, he joined the Keystone Press Agency as a freelance reporter. His first novel, The Night of Wenceslas, was published in 1960 and won the Crime Writers' Association's Gold Dagger Award and the Author's Club First Novel Award. It was adapted into a film entitled Hot Enough for June starring Dirk Bogarde in 1964. His other works include The Rose of Tibet and Kolymsky Heights. He also won the CWA's Gold Dagger Award for A Long Way to Shiloh in 1966 and The Chelsea Murders in 1978. In 2001, he was awarded the CWA's Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He also wrote children's books under the pen name David Line. He died on October 21, 2009 at the age of 87.