James William Mitchell (12 March 1926, in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

– 15 September 2002, in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

) was a British writer, principally of

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

and spy

thrillers Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Suc ...

Biography

The son of a shipyard worker, Mitchell also wrote under the pseudonyms James Munro and Patrick O. McGuire. He received BA & MA degrees from Oxford. After graduating he tried numerous jobs, including shipyard worker and civil servant before taking up teaching, in his own words he taught, "for some 15 years in almost every kind of institution from secondary modern school to college of art". In 1968 Mitchell moved to London to concentrate on writing. James Mitchell created the British television series ''

When the Boat Comes In ''When the Boat Comes In'' is a British television period drama produced by the BBC between 1976 and 1981. The series stars James Bolam as Jack Ford, a First World War veteran who returns to his poverty-stricken (fictional) town of Gallowshiel ...

'' (

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

) and ''

Callan Callan is a given name and surname of Irish and Scottish origin. It can derive from Ó Cathaláin, meaning ''descendant of Cathalán''. Callan can also be an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Allin or Mac Callin. Notable people with the name includ ...

'' (

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

), and wrote many other television scripts, including episodes of ''

The Troubleshooters ''The Troubleshooters'' (titled ''Mogul'' for the first series) is a British television series made by the BBC between 1965 and 1972, created by John Elliot. It recounted events in an international oil company – the "Mogul" of the title. Th ...

'', the legal drama ''

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

'' and ''

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''.

Personal life

He married twice. His son had two children, his daughter has two children, and 3 grandchildren.

Bibliography

Novels

*''Here's a Villain!'' (1957), US Title: ''The Lady is Waiting'' *''A Way Back'' (1959), also published as: ''The Way Back'' *''Steady, Boys, Steady'' (1960) *''Among Arabian Sands'' (1963) *''Ilion Like a Mist'' (1969), also published as: ''Venus in Plastic'' *''The Winners'' (1970) *''The Evil Ones'' (1982) *''Sometimes You Could Die'' (1985) *''Dead Ernest'' (1986) *''KGB Kill'' (1987) *''Dying Day'' (1988) *''A Woman to Be Loved'' (1990) *''An Impossible Woman'' (1992) *''Leading Lady'' (1993) *''So Far from Home'' (1995) *''Indian Summer'' (1996) *''Dance for Joy'' (1997)

''Callan''

*''A Magnum for Schneider'' (1969), US Title: ''A Red File for Callan'' *''Russian Roulette'' (1973) *''Death and Bright Water'' (1974) *''Smear Job'' (1975) *''Bonfire Night'' (2002) *''Callan Uncovered'' (2014) and ''Callan Uncovered 2'' (2015) - short story collections edited by

Mike Ripley Mike Ripley was born in 1952 and is the British author of the award-winning ‘Angel’ series of comedy thrillers as well as a critic and archaeologist. Life and work Ripley is the author of the ''Angel'' series of comedy thrillers set mainly in E ...

''When the Boat Comes In''

*''When the Boat Comes In'' *''When the Boat Comes In: The Hungry Years *''When the Boat Comes In: Upwards and Onwards

as Patrick O. McGuire

*''A Time for Murder'' (1955) *''Fiesta for Murder'' (1962)

as James Munro

*''The Man Who Sold Death'' (1964) *''Die Rich, Die Happy'' (1965) *''The Money That Money Can't Buy'' (1967) *''The Innocent Bystanders'' (1969) The hero in his ''Munro'' books is a British agent named John Craig, who works, mostly reluctantly, for Department K. Mitchell wrote the screenplay for the 1971

film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

of ''The Innocent Bystanders'' under his real name.

Death

Mitchell died in Newcastle upon Tyne on 15 September 2002. He was 76.

References

External links

* Platzer, David, 'The Man From Department K', ''

Slightly Foxed ''Slightly Foxed'' is a British quarterly literary magazine. Its primary focus is books and book culture. 2016 saw the publication of its fiftieth issue. Notable authors to have written for the magazine include Penelope Lively, Richard Mabey, Dia ...

'', Autumn 2008 * 1926 births 2002 deaths British thriller writers British spy fiction writers Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford People from South Shields Writers from Tyne and Wear 20th-century British novelists {{UK-novelist-stub