Arthur Leonard Bell Thompson (1 December 1917 – 24 August 1975), known by the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of Francis Clifford, was a British writer of

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

and thriller novels.

Biography

Thompson was born on 1 December 1917 in Bristol, England. Prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he worked as a Commercial Assistant in the rice trade, starting in London in 1935 and later in Burma from 1938–9. During the war he was commissioned into the

Burma Rifles The Burma Rifles were a British colonial regiment raised in Burma. Founded in 1917 as a regiment of the British Indian Army, the regiment re-used the name of an unrelated earlier unit, the 10th Regiment (1st Burma Rifles) Madras Infantry, which evol ...

and served with the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

, serving first in India and then in London. After returning to civilian life he worked as a journalist in the steel industry, and took up writing in his spare time.Jan Broberg, "Clifford, Francis" in ''Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers'', edited by John M. Reilly. St. Martin’s Press, 1980. (pp. 316-318). In 1959 he left his position and started writing full-time. Thompson was married twice, first to Marjorie Bennett in 1944 and then, in 1955, following the dissolution of his first marriage, to Josephine Devereux. He had two sons. From the late 1950s until his death in Weybridge in 1975, Thompson wrote 18 novels under the name Francis Clifford. His earlier novels were set in Southeast Asia and drew heavily on his experiences there during the Second World War.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Honour the Shrine'' (1953) * ''The Trembling Earth'' (1955) * ''Overdue'' (1957) * ''Something to Love'' (1958) * ''Act of Mercy'' (1960); US title: ''

Guns of Darkness ''Guns of Darkness'' is a 1962 British drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring David Niven, Leslie Caron and James Robertson Justice. It is based on the 1960 novel ''Act of Mercy'' by Francis Clifford, which was retitled ''Guns of D ...

'' * ''A Battle is Fought to Be Won'' (1960) * ''Time is an Ambush'' (1962) * ''The Green Fields of Eden'' (1963) * ''The Hunting-Ground'' (1964) * ''The Third Side of the Coin'' (1965) * ''The Naked Runner'' (1966) * ''All Men Are Lonely Now'' (1967) * ''Another Way of Dying'' (1968); Silver Dagger Award * ''The Blind Side'' (1971) * ''A Wild Justice'' (1972) * ''Amigo, Amigo'' (1973); shortlisted for

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

* ''The Grosvenor Square Goodbye'' (1974); US title: ''Good-Bye and Amen''; Silver Dagger Award, shortlisted for

* ''Drummer in the Dark'' (1976) * ''Desperate Journey'' (1979)

Short story collections

* ''Ten Minutes on a June Morning'' (1977)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clifford, Francis 1917 births 1975 deaths Writers from Bristol English crime fiction writers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Booker authors' division 20th-century English novelists Special Operations Executive personnel Burmese military personnel of World War II