Hugh Cecil Asterley (10 May 1902 - 1973) was a British writer and

colonial administrator Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

, who wrote crime and mystery stories and novels, usually with a south-east Asian setting, as H. C. Asterley.

Early life

Asterley was born in

Souldrop Souldrop is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Knotting and Souldrop, in the Bedford district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England, located near the border with Northamptonshire. Nearby places are, Sharnbrook, ...

, Bedfordshire.

Career

Asterley was a civil servant, who spent much of his career in Singapore. His first novel, ''Rowena Goes Too Far'' was published in 1931. A bestseller in the UK, it was banned in Australia due to customs belief that it “lacked sufficient claim to the literary to excuse the obscenity”.Marita Bullock and Nicole Moore: Banned In Australia, A Bibliography His 1961 novel, ''Escape to Berkshire'', was a change in style, being a post-nuclear war survival novel about the destruction of, and escape from, London.

Publications

* ''Rowena Goes Too Far'', London, Jarrolds, 1931 * ''A Tale of Two Murders'', London, Jarrolds, 1932 (published as ''Mortmain'' in the USA) * ''Land of Short Shadows'', 1932/33 * ''Jungle Leech'', 1935 * ''Escape to Berkshire'', 1961, London, Pall Mall Press

References

External links

H C Asterley's 1951 Colony of Singapore passport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asterley, H. C. 1902 births 1973 deaths British thriller writers Colonial Service officers People from the Borough of Bedford 20th-century British novelists British people in British Malaya