Arthur J. Rees

Arthur John Rees (1872–29 November 1942)[1], was an Australian-born journalist and mystery writer.

Born in St Kilda, Melbourne,[1] he married Mary Mane Gilbert in Ballarat in 1901.[2] He was for a short time on the staff of the Melbourne Age before moving to New Zealand, where he joined the staff of the New Zealand Herald.[3] In April 1910 he was appointed editor of the NZ Truth,[4] but returned to Australia in August 1910.[5] He then moved to England, where he worked for The Times.[6]

His first novel, The Merry Marauders, was set in New Zealand.[7][8][9] This was followed by The Hampstead Mystery, in collaboration with Australian mystery writer John Reay Watson.[10] By the time of his fifth novel, he had relocated permanently to England,[11] where he lived in Worthing, Sussex.[1] He was a friend of writer Thomas Hardy and one of the founders of PEN International.[1] He focused on writing detective fiction, with a strong element of local folklore.[3] His proficiency as a writer of crime-mystery stories is attested by Dorothy Sayers in the introduction to Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror, 1928. Two of his stories were included in an American world-anthology of detective stories.[3] Some of his works were translated into French and German.

He returned to Australia briefly in 1935 for health reasons, where he criticised Australia's censorship regime.[12] While in Australia his wife divorced him for desertion.[13] He resumed journalistic work for the Melbourne Herald, with a series of articles on "authors I have known";[14] he continued to contribute articles to the Melbourne Herald from London until his death in 1942.[15]

Bibliography

Inspector Crewe novels

  • The Hampstead Mystery (1916) [with John Reay Watson]
  • The Mystery of the Downs (1918) [with John Reay Watson]

Grant Colwyn novels

  • The Shrieking Pit (1919)
  • The Hand in the Dark (1920)

Colwin Grey novels

  • The Threshold of Fear (1925)
  • Simon of Hangletree (1926)
  • Greymarsh (1927)
  • The Investigations of Colwin Grey (1932)

Chief Inspector Luckraft novels

  • The Island of Destiny (1923)
  • Simon of Hangletree (1926)
  • The Pavilion by the Lake (1930)
  • The Tragedy of Twelvetrees (1931)
  • The River Mystery (1932)
  • Aldringham's Last Chance (1933)
  • The Single Clue (1940)

Others

  • The Merry Marauders (1913)
  • The Moon Rock (1922)
  • The Cup of Silence (1924)
  • Love Me Anise (1928)
  • Old Sussex and Her Diarists (1929)
  • The Brink (1931)
  • Peak House (1933)
  • The Flying Argosy (1934)

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Death of Mr. A. J. Rees, Australian Author". The Sun News-Pictorial. 18 December 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ Victorian Marriage Index (Australia) 1901-1902. Marriage certificate 1901/03455.
  3. ^ a b c E. Morris Miller (1973). Australian literature from its beginnings to 1935: a descriptive and bibliographical survey of books by Australian authors in poetry, drama, fiction, criticism and anthology with subsidiary entries to 1938. Vol. 2. Sydney University Press. pp. 529–531.
  4. ^ ""TRUTH "ASKS FOR NEW TRIAL". NZ Truth. 23 April 1910. p. 5. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via Papers Past.
  5. ^ "Personal". NZ Truth. 20 August 1910. p. 1. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via Papers Past.
  6. ^ Peter Morton (2011). Lusting for London: Australian Expatriate Writers at the Hub of Empire, 1870-1950. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 7.
  7. ^ "A NEW ZEALAND AUTHOR". Colonist. 17 February 1914. p. 2. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via Papers Past.
  8. ^ "AUSTRALIAN NOVELIST. JOURNALIST'S FIRST VENTURE". The Sun. 15 September 1913. p. 6. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ ""THE MERRY MARAUDERS."". NZ Truth. 18 April 1914. p. 4. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via Papers Past.
  10. ^ ""THE HAMPSTEAD MYSTERY."". Bendigo Advertiser. 11 January 1917. p. 5. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "AN AUSTRALIAN WRITER OF THE DETECTIVE STORY". Advocate. 5 May 1921. p. 3. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "BOOK CENSORSHIP. AUSTRALIA TOO SEVERE". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 September 1935. p. 16. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "DIVORCE DECREES GRANTED". The Herald. 9 September 1935. p. 5. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "AUTHORS I HAVE KNOWN: No. 2. -JOSEPH CONRAD". Herald. 2 November 1935. p. 35. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "Personal". The Herald. 17 December 1942. p. 5. Retrieved 30 December 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
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