George Bellairs

George Bellairs was the nom de plume of Harold Blundell (1902–1982), a crime writer and bank manager born in Heywood, near Rochdale, Lancashire. He began working for Martins Bank at the age of 15, and stayed there in escalating roles of seniority until his retirement. He then settled in the Isle of Man.

He wrote more than 50 books, most featuring the detective Inspector Thomas Littlejohn, and all with the same publisher. His radio comedy The Legacy was aired in 1951. He also wrote four novels under the alternative pseudonym Hilary Landon. His first novel, Littlejohn on Leave, was published in 1941 and his last one, An Old Man Dies, was published close to his death in 1982. He also contributed articles to the Manchester Guardian and to Manx publications such as Manx Life and received a short review in the print edition of The Spectator in 1958 for his book Corpse at the Carnival. Many of his books were also published by the Thriller Book Club, and several titles have recently been issued in the British Library Crime Classics series.

Harold Blundell served on the boards of The United Manchester Hospitals and Manchester Royal Infirmary. He married Gladys Mabel Roberts in 1930. She presented his personal papers to the John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester, England.

Blundell died on the Isle of Man in April 1982 just before his eightieth birthday after a protracted illness.