News

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BBC Mastermind Quiz: I took part in a round of this quiz on 13th November 2009, taking "The Birdcage books of Victor Canning" as my specialist subject. Click on the chair to see the questions that were set. (I only managed the first sixteen in the two minutes and scored 12 points. See if you could have done better.)

20 November 2009

USA: A new edition of Victor Canning stories selected and edited by John Higgins was released in February 2009. This comprises the five Minerva Club stories, the seven Department of Patterns stories, and twelve very short stories about the mysterious Dr. Kang. The publisher is Virginia-based Crippen and Landru, well known for publishing 'Lost Classics' by famous crime and thriller writers. (3 March 2009)

France: Following visits to France, I have added pictures to the entry for The Limbo Line (28 June 2008), The Melting Man (15 September 2008) and The boy on Platform One (25 October 2008)

Italy: On a recent trip to southern Italy in search of places mentioned in Canning's stories, I went to Number 4, Piazza Ebalia in Taranto, Puglia. This was an address scribbled on the back flap of Canning's officer's identity card in 1945, not in his handwriting. Click on the address to see a photograph. Was it a flat where he was billeted? a friend's home? an office he had to visit? Now it is just a block of flats, the only older structure in a square of modern buildings. If anyone reading this knows about the area or has any suggestions, please get in touch. (18 April 2008)

Following a visit to the British Library Newspaper Division at Colindale, I have tracked down four new stories or articles, including Canning's first attributable story (published anonymously in a children's magazine but mentioned by title and date in a letter) and the second story he published for adults, a charming story called "The Lion Tamer". I have updated that section of the bibliography. (24 February 2008)

I have just been to the Isle of Wight, the location of Parkhurst Prison where the 1956 novel The Hidden Face begins. Canning usually researched his plots carefully. Have a look at the entry for photographs of some of the island locations he mentions.
(12 February 2008)

I have visited Chilbolton, the village in which Miss Grace Rainbird lives and calls in Blanche Tyler for seances, so I have added photographs to the entry for The Rainbird Pattern.
(15 August 2007)

I have visited Dunster and Porlock, the setting of Birds of a Feather, and have added photographs to the entry for that book.
(5 August 2007)

The first new edition of an Alan Gould novel for 67 years. Victor Canning used the pen-name Alan Gould for six novels written between 1935 and 1940. They were never reprinted and have now vanished almost entirely. But I now have permission from the Victor Canning estate to republish them, starting with The Viaduct, using the print-on-demand service, Lulu.com. Click here to order a paperback or hardback copy.
(15 July 2007)

John Higgins