Complete Works of Peter Cheyney

by Peter Cheyney

Peter Cheyney is perhaps best known for his short stories and novels about agent/detective Lemmy Caution. Caution was first portrayed as a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, and in later stories as a private detective.
Another popular creation was the private detective Slim Callaghan who also appeared in a series of novels and subsequent film adaptations. He was constructed as a British response to the more hardboiled detectives of American fiction such as Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.
A meticulous researcher, Cheyney kept a massive set of files on criminal activity in London, but these were destroyed during the Blitz in 1941; he however, soon began to replace his collection of clippings. He dictated his work. Typically he would "act out" his stories for his secretary, Miss Sprauge, who would copy them down in shorthand and type them up later…

Lemmy Caution Books
This Man Is Dangerous
Poison Ivy
Dames Don't Care
Can Ladies Kill?
Don't Get Me Wrong
You'd Be Surprised
Your Deal, My Lovely
Never A Dull Moment
You Can Always Duck
Slim Callaghan Books
The Urgent Hangman
Dangerous Curves
You Can't Keep The Change
It Couldn't Matter Less
Sorry You've Been Troubled
Calling Mr. Callaghan
Dark Novels
Dark Duet
The Stars Are Dark
The Dark Street
Dark Hero
Dark Bahama
Lost Novels
Death Chair
The Gold Kimono
The Sign On The Roof
The Vengeance Of Hop Fi
Other Novels
Ladies Won't Wait
The Curiosity Of Etienne Macgregor
The Deadly Fresco
Dressed To Kill
Short Fiction
The Alonzo Mactavish Omnibus
Lemmy Caution Stories
Slim Callaghan Stories
Other Stories 

6180 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 12, 2022

About the author

Born Reginald Evelyn Peter Southouse Cheyney, he trained as a lawyer before getting tired of legal office work and joining the Army. He fought at the second Battle of the Somme in World War I and was wounded but when he returned to England he wrote songs, poems and short stories for various newspapers and magazines and used many pseudonyms.

He also turned his hand to journalism, was a newspaper editor and also owned a detective agency, Cheyney Research Investigations.

His first published novel was This Man Is Dangerous and this began his prolific novel writing career. Thereafter he averaged two mystery novels a year with his best known characters being Slim Callaghan and Lemmy Caution and he became one of the best known and most successful of British crime novelists. His success also brought with it financial rewards and he was recognised as one of the richest authors of the time.

There have been many film versions of his works, which helped spread his popularity, particularly to the United States.

His life-style, one of hard-living, much like his characters, and hard work eventually took their toll and he died at age 55. He was buried at Putney Vale Cemetery.

Michael Harrison published a biography in 1954 entitled Peter Cheyney Prince of Hokum and there have been a number of biographical essays over the years.

Gerry Wolstenholme
December 2010