Max Dalman

Max Dalman is the pseudonym of Max Dalman Binns (1905-1951). He was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK and was an author, journalist, and publisher. Married in 1932, he had two sons and a daughter. His father, Ottwell Binns (1878-1935), was a Unitarian minister and prolific British novelist who published many of his novels under the name Ben Bolt. Like his son, the UK publisher Ward, Lock and Co., published virtually all of his output. Ward, Lock is fondly remembered as the publisher of the first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet.

There is little known about Max. In addition to his 15 novels, he wrote feature articles for newspapers. A civil registry in 1939 had him living at East Retford, Nottinghamshire: “married novelist and journalist. Training for ARP service.” ARP was the Air Raid Patrol. His books were regularly reviewed in provincial papers. It does not appear they were ever reissued; his sudden death at 46, leaving his wife with three children mostly under age 10, seems to have undercut his fame. His death was registered at Plymouth (the south-western tip of the UK). For the last ten years of his life he appears to have lived in the region, leaving traces in Lelant, Tauton and Plymouth, in both Devon and Cornwall counties.

Bibliography:
Three Strangers (1937)
The Hidden Light (1937)
Vampire Abroad (1938)
Death on May Morning (1938)
Poison Unknown (1939)
The Missing Grave (1939)
The Burnt Bones Mystery (1940)
Mask for Murder (1940)
Doctor Disappears (1941)
Third Alibi (1942)
Death Before Day (1942)
Herald of Death (1943)
Death Disposes (1945)
Buried Once (1946)
The Elusive Nephew (1948)