Charles West, British crime novelist, is a former actor. He studied acting at RADA and singing at Dartington Hall Music School. He was a member of the Old Vic Theatre Company 1958-1962 and subsequently performed in 9 West End musicals in London, including Daddy Warbucks in Annie at Victoria Palace beginning in the 1970s and Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha at the Martin Beck Theater on Broadway. He wrote his first novel "Destruction Man", while acting in Australia. His Australian detective Paul Crook features in "Stonefish", "Stage Fright", "Little Ripper", and "The Long Hook". Married to actress Julia West, he lives in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. 

1927 in