Victor Canning

Writer

  • Born: June 11, 1911
  • Birthplace: Plymouth, Devonshire, England
  • Died: February 21, 1986
  • Place of death: Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England

Biography

Mystery novelist Victor Canning was born June 11, 1911, in Plymouth, Devonshire, England. He attended Plymouth Technical College, later enrolling at Oxford Central School. Canning enlisted in the British army in the mid-1930’s. By 1939, he was serving in the Royal Artillery during World War II. He fought for the duration of the war in North Africa and in Italy, achieving the rank of major. In 1934, Canning married Phyllis McEwen, and the couple had two daughters. Canning later remarried Adria Irving-Bell, in 1976.

Canning began writing in his twenties while working in a government office. In 1935, his first novel, Polycarp’s Progress, was published, but Canning was forced to put his up-and-coming writing career on hold for his military service in the war. Once he returned, he picked up his writing once again and went on to publish more than sixty novels over a prolific career that spanned five decades.

A writer of espionage and mystery novels, Canning quickly developed a well-deserved reputation as an excellent storyteller. A major strength of his storytelling was his vivid description of his novels’ settings, based largely on his personal travels and experiences. Interesting and ever-changing backgrounds, coupled with characters readers could easily identify based on their personality conflicts and natural dialogue, made Canning’s novels popular and long-lived. His characters face moral conflicts that highlight their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. In addition, a key feature in Canning’s novels that distinguishes his work from other espionage thrillers is his use of humor. Canning inserted into his work a dry, intelligent wit that has traditionally been lacking in the genre.

Many of Canning’s works—including The Whip Hand, Doubled in Diamonds, The Python Project, and The Melting Man—feature a spy turned private detective, Rex Carver. With Carver, Canning created the ultimate man of international espionage. Carver is his own boss, taking on work from private parties, mysterious employers, and the British government. He possesses tremendous intelligence and a quick wit, and he is an expert traveler who is comfortable wherever he finds himself.

Canning received the Crime Writers Association’s Silver Dagger Award for The Rainbird Pattern in 1972. In addition to writing mysteries and thrillers, he had a mildly successful screenwriting career, adapting some of his novels to the silver screen. Alfred Hitchcock adapted The Rainbird Pattern as Family Plot in 1976. Canning died February 21, 1986, in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England.