Naomi Annie Hocking Messer (1889 – 17 March 1966), known as Anne Hocking and nicknamed "Mona," was an English

crime writer True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

, best remembered for her detective stories featuring Chief Superintendent William Austen.

Life and career

The daughter of

Joseph Hocking Joseph Hocking (7 November 1860 – 4 March 1937) was a Cornish people, Cornish novelist and United Methodist Free Churches, United Methodist Free Church minister. Life Hocking was born at St Stephen-in-Brannel, Cornwall, to James Hocking, ...

, niece of

Silas Hocking Silas Kitto Hocking (24 March 1850 – 15 September 1935) was a British novelist and Methodist preacher. He is known for his novel for youth called ''Her Benny'' (1879), which was a best-seller. Biography Hocking was born at St Stephen-in-Bra ...

and Salome Hocking and sister of Elizabeth Nisot and Joan Shill, all writers, Anne Hocking was a prolific mystery writer, author of more than 40 genre novels between 1930 and 1962. One of them (1940's '' The Wicked Flee'') was made into a British crime film in 1957. She was married first, in 1910, to Frederick William Dunlop, who died in August 1914 in Buckinghamshire.''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995'' She married secondly, in 1918, to Henry R. Messer.''England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915'' She died at

Battle Hospital Battle Hospital was a National Health Service hospital in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The hospital was located on a large site between Oxford Road and Portman Road, in West Reading. History Battle Hospital began it ...

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

in 1966.

Bibliography

''Chief Superintendent William Austen'' Series

* '' Old Mrs. Fitzgerald'' (1939). Serialised Weekly, Sunday Post (1939) * '' The Wicked Flee'' (1940) * '' Miss Milverton'' (1941) AKA ''Poison is a Bitter Brew'' (Doubleday 1942) * ''One Shall Be Taken'' (1942) * ''Nile Green'' AKA ''Death Loves a Shining Mark'' (1943) * ''Six Green Bottles'' (1943) * ''The Vultures Gather'' (1945) * ''Death at the Wedding'' (1946) * ''The Finishing Touch'' (1947) AKA ''Prussian Blue'' (Geoffrey Bles 1947) * ''At "The Cedars"'' (1949) * ''Death Disturbs Mr. Jefferson'' (1950) * ''Mediterranean Murder'' AKA ''Killing Kin'' (1951) * ''The Best Laid Plans'' (1952) (Doubleday 1950) * ''There's Death in the Cup'' (1952) * ''Death Among The Tulips'' (1953) * ''The Evil That Men Do'' (1953) * ''And No One Wept'' (1954) * ''Poison in Paradise'' (1955) * ''A Reason for Murder'' (1955) * ''Murder at Mid-Day'' (1956) * ''Relative Murder'' (1957) * ''The Simple Way of Poison'' (1957) * ''Epitaph for a Nurse'' AKA ''A Victim Must Be Found'' (1958) * ''Poisoned Chalice'' (1959) * ''To Cease Upon the Midnight'' (1959) * ''The Thin-Spun Life'' (1960) * ''Candidates for Murder'' (1961) * ''He Had to Die'' (1962) * ''Murder Cries Out'' (1968) (Finished by

Evelyn Healey Evelyn may refer to: Places * Evelyn, London *Evelyn Gardens, a garden square in London * Evelyn, Ontario, Canada * Evelyn, Michigan, United States * Evelyn, Texas, United States * Evelyn, Wirt County, West Virginia, United States * Evelyn ...

)

Other Crime Novels

* ''Cat's Paw'' (1933) * ''Death Duel'' (1933) * ''Walk Into My Parlour'' (1934) * ''The Hunt is Up'' (1934) * ''Without the Option'' (1935) * ''Stranglehold'' (1936) * ''The House of En-dor'' (1936) * ''As I Was Going to St. Ives'' (1937) * ''What a Tangled Web'' (1937) * ''Ill Deeds Done'' (1938) * ''The Little Victims Play'' (1938) * ''So Many Doors'' (1939) * ''Deadly is the Evil Tongue'' (1940) * ''Night's Candles'' (1941)

Crime Novels, signed by "Mona Messer"

* ''A Castle for Sale'' (1930) * ''Mouse Trap'' (1931)

Non Crime Novels, signed by "Mona Messer"

* ''Eternal Compromise'' (1932) * ''A Dinner of Herbs'' (1933) * ''The End of the Lane'' (1933) * ''Playing Providence'' (1934) * ''Wife of Richard'' (1934) * ''Cuckoo’s Brood'' (1935) * ''Life Owes Me Something'' (1936) * ''Tomorrow Also'' (1937) * ''Marriage is Like That'' (1938) * ''Stranger’s Vineyard'' (1939) * ''The Gift of a Daughter'' (1940)

References

* John M. Reilly, ''Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers'', 2^e édition, New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2007, p. 460-461. * Jacques Baudou et Jean-Jacques Schleret, ''Le Vrai Visage du Masque'', Volume 1, Paris,

Futuropolis ''Futuropolis'' is a 1984 American short animated/stop motion science fiction film written and directed by Steve Segal and Phil Trumbo. The film introduces Tom Campagnoli, Mike Cody, Stan Garth, Catherine Schultz and Cassandra Cossitt in lead rol ...

, 1984, p. 243. * Anne Martinetti, ''Le Masque. Histoire d'une collection'', Paris, Éditions Encrage, 1997, p. 77. *

Alan M. Kent Alan M. Kent (1967 – 20 July 2022) was a Cornish poet, dramatist, novelist, editor, academic and teacher. He was the author of a number of works on Cornish and Anglo-Cornish literature. Kent was born in 1967 in St Austell, Cornwall and died ...

, ''Pulp Methodism: The Lives & Literature of Silas, Joseph & Salome Hocking'', Cornwall, Cornish Hillside Publications, 2002, chapter 6.

Notes

External links

* * http://www.philsp.com/homeville/CrFi/i0001.htm * http://www.classiccrimefiction.com/anne-hocking.htm * http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/H_Authors/Hocking_Anne.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Hocking, Anne 1889 births 1966 deaths English crime fiction writers English mystery writers Women mystery writers English women novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers Writers from London Date of birth missing People from Thornton Heath