Edwy Searles Brooks


Edwy Searles Brooks was a British novelist who also wrote under the pen-names Berkeley Gray, Victor Gunn, Rex Madison, Reginald Browne, and Carlton Ross. Brooks was born in Hackney, London. He is believed to have written around 40 million words.

Life and work

Brooks was one of four sons of George Brooks, a Congregational minister and well-known political writer including for The Times.
When the family relocated to Norfolk, Brooks attended Banham Grammar School in that county. His first name was a Welsh form of "Edwin"; his second a grandmother's surname. Brooks published his first short story, "Mr Dorien's Missing £2000", in July 1907, when he was seventeen. His first major breakthrough came in 1910, when the paper The Gem gave him an assignment to publish a serial named "The Iron Island", the main character being Frank Kingston.
In 1912, he wrote his first Sexton Blake stories and in 1915 started writing Nelson Lee detective stories for The Nelson Lee Library, becoming the lead writer of the detective series after which the publication was named. In 1917, he started the St. Frank's series in that paper, the stories for which he is best remembered. Additional serial assignments followed, including those featuring Clive Derring and Sexton Blake. In 1918, he launched the character of Rupert Waldo, an early superhero.
In 1918, he married Frances, who became his assistant and collaborator through the years. The two took great pride in delivering clean manuscripts for publication throughout their careers. They became a cornerstone of the Amalgamated Press imprints. Their son, Lionel, wrote Conquest Calls The Tune with his mother, and 1969's Conquest in Ireland alone.
In the 1920s, Brooks created the character of Marko the Miracle Man
a scientist/inventor/adventurer who became one of Dixon Hawke's most popular foes. Debuting in The Glendale Lodge Mystery in The Dixon Hawke Library #116, he matched wits repeatedly with the detective over the next 14 years, until his final appearance in Adventure #1200.
The magazines that had published his stories started running into financial trouble in the 1930s, and Brooks started publishing hardcover novels for the adult market in 1938 with the first novel in the Norman Conquest series under pseudonyms. His serialised novels included the Norman Conquest and Ironsides Cromwell stories. Dare-Devil Conquest formed the basis for the 1954 movie Park Plaza 605 starring Tom Conway.

The Norman Conquest Novels (writing as Berkeley Gray)

  1. Mr Mortimer Gets the Jitters
  2. Vultures, Ltd.
  3. Conquest Marches On
  4. Leave It to Conquest
  5. Miss Dynamite
  6. Conquest Takes All
  7. Convict 1066
  8. Meet the Don
  9. Six to Kill
  10. Six Feet of Dynamite
  11. Thank You, Mr. Conquest
  12. The Gay Desperado
  13. Alias Norman Conquest
  14. Blonde For Danger
  15. The Conquest Touch
  16. The Spot Marked X
  17. Killer Conquest
  18. Dare-devil Conquest
  19. Duel Murder
  20. Seven Dawns to Death
  21. Conquest in Scotland
  22. Operation Conquest
  23. The Lady Is Poison
  24. The Half-Open Door
  25. Target for Conquest
  26. Conquest Goes West
  27. Follow the Lady
  28. Turn Left for Danger
  29. Conquest in Command
  30. The House of the Lost
  31. Conquest After Midnight
  32. Conquest Goes Home
  33. Conquest in California
  34. Death On the Hit Parade
  35. Mr. Ball of Fire
  36. The Big Brain
  37. Murder and Co
  38. Conquest On the Run
  39. Nightmare House
  40. Call Conquest for Danger
  41. Get Ready to Die
  42. Conquest in the Underworld
  43. Cavalier Conquest
  44. Count Down for Conquest
  45. Castle Conquest
  46. Conquest Overboard
  47. Calamity Conquest
  48. Conquest Likes It Hot
  49. Curtains for Conquest?
  50. Conquest Calls the Tune
  51. Conquest in Ireland

The "Ironsides" Cromwell Novels (writing as Victor Gunn)

  1. Footsteps of Death
  2. Ironsides of the Yard
  3. Ironsides Smashes Through
  4. Death's Doorway
  5. Ironsides' Lone Hand
  6. Mad Hatter's Rock
  7. Ironsides Sees Red
  8. The Dead Man Laughs
  9. Nice Day for a Murder
  10. Ironsides Smells Blood
  11. Death On Shivering Sand
  12. Three Dates with Death
  13. Ironsides On the Spot
  14. Dead Man's Warning
  15. Road to Murder
  16. Alias the Hangman
  17. The Borgia Head Mystery
  18. Murder On Ice
  19. The Body Vanishes
  20. Death Comes Laughing
  21. The Whistling Key
  22. The Crippled Canary
  23. The Crooked Staircase
  24. The Laughing Grave
  25. The Painted Dog
  26. Dead Men's Bells
  27. Castle Dangerous
  28. The Golden Monkey
  29. The 64 Thousand Murder
  30. The Treble Chance Murder
  31. Dead in a Ditch
  32. The Next One to Die
  33. Death at Traitors' Gate
  34. Death On Bodmin Moor
  35. Devil in the Maze
  36. Sweet Smelling Death
  37. All Change for Murder
  38. The Body in the Boot
  39. Murder with a Kiss
  40. Murder At the Motel
  41. The Black Cap Murder
  42. Murder on Whispering Sands
  43. The Petticoat Lane Murders

Selected bibliography

  • The Rotter of Whitelands. Published by: London, Gerald G. Swan, 1947
  • Fortescue of the Fourth.
  • The School in Space.