Douglas Rutherford Biography and List of Works

British mystery writer. Rutherford began writing as a relaxation and change from academic life. Several of his novels depict motorcycle or auto racing, a relatively unexplored area in the modern crime novels.

Rutherford was born in Kilkenny, Ireland. He went to high school in Yorkshire and studied at Clare College, Cambridge from 1934 to 1937, receiving his M.A. from University of Reading. During WW II he served in the British Army Intelligence Corps in North Africa and Italy. These years provided background material for his plans to write about the war in Italy. From 1946 to 1973 he worked as a modern language teacher at Eton College, until his retirement in 1973.

Under his own name, James McConnell, he wrote popular books of language instruction and some volumes about Eton. For the students he wrote three textbooks, LEARN ITALIAN QUICKLY (1960), LEARN SPANISH QUICKLY (1961), and LEARN FRENCH QUICKLY (1966). Rutherford's first crime novel, COMES THE BLIND FURY, appeared in 1950. He continued to publish crime novels regularly from the 1950s to 1980s. He also collaborated with Francis Durbridge on two novels about Paul Temple, THE TYLER MYSTERY (1957) and EAST OF ALGIERS (1959).

Among Rutherford's best motor racing books are MEET A BODY (1951), his second novel, and THE LONG ECHO (1957). SKIN FOR SKIN (1968) is about a perfect robbery, planned by a bitter war veteran Crispin. The plan fails. Crispin kidnaps with Jerry, his young helpmate, a girl, Linda Campbell, because she has seen too much. Jerry falls in love with Linda. An unexpected turn in the story is that Crispin loves also Jerry. THE GILT-EDGED COCKPIT (1969) focuses on rivalling stables of racing cars, the battle on the courses and behind the scenes. The technical depiction of Formula 1 car, Lotus, Ferrari, and others, shows Rutherford's familiarity with the subject. The story ends in Germany, Nürburgring, where the small English Mascot Motors Company wins all Alfa Romeos, Porsches, and Ferraris. CLEAR THE FAST LINE (1971) mixed terrorism, Middle East politics and a race against time from London to Saloniki with a super car AC 428.

Rutherford wrote his thrillers during weekends and school holidays. His studies of the real life international crime and all kinds of fast vehicles, sports cars, motorbikes, long-distance lorries, and planes, gave reliability and authenticity to his narrative. The technology of race cars and the whole motor world have been under constant and profound changes since Rutherford started to publish his works, but although the details in the novels might be old-fashioned, his fast-moving stories still offer an example of suspense and skilful writing. When the contemporary Formula 1 drivers, Mika Häkkinen and Michael Schumacher, are portrayed by the media as superheroes, Rutherford's protagonists are more complex than the real-life figures.

COMES THE BLIND FURY, (1950)