Seamark

Austin James Small (25 July 1894 – 15 January 1929) was an English writer of thriller, detective, science fiction, adventure, romance, and western novels and short stories. Most of Small's titles appeared in Britain under the pen name Seamark, while his American publisher preferred using the name Austin J. Small. Several film plots were based on his stories.

Biography Small was born Austin Major Small in Luton, Bedfordshire on 25 July 1894. He later changed his name to Arthur James Small. He ran away to sea as a boy and travelled the world, serving in the Royal Navy during the First World War, where he was a champion heavyweight boxer. He met and was inspired to write by Jack London, and adopted the pen name “Seamark” to comply with Admiralty regulations. He went on to write half a dozen detective novels, another science fiction novel, and many short stories.

He was found dead in Kensington, London, on 15 January 1929, from suicide by gas inhalation. based on a novel The Perfect Crime (1925), based on a short story Down River (1931), based on the 1931 novel “Query”