Chapter 2
633 Words
John Thomas McIntyre (1871–1951) was an American mystery writer and playwright. Today, his best-known works are probably the Ashton-Kirk scientific detective mysteries (which are relatively common on the used book market and still in print today from various publishers) and his crime novel Steps Going Down (1936).
Steps Going DownMcIntyre was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Irish immigrants, Sarah Walker (1848–1885) and Patrick McIntyre (circa 1842–1871). His father died the month after he was born. John grew up in the Kensington neighborhood and left school after 8th grade, when his mother died. He was taken in by an aunt and was working full-time by the age of fourteen.
He showed a talent both for writing and the theatre, and eventually became employed by the stock company of the South Street Standard Theatre, where he wrote a new play each week based on sensational posters produced for the theater"s entrance. He also worked as a freelance journalist for various Philadelphia newspapers, including the Philadelphia Press.
Philadelphia PressHis ambitions increased as he gained experience, and in 1898, he started writing his first novel, a political drama titled The Ragged Edge. The only copy of the manuscript was stolen, and it took him nearly a year to rewrite it from memory. The book was ultimately published by McClure, Phillips in 1902.
The Ragged EdgeUnfortunately, though he published a few other serious novels and had several more plays produced, success for serious literature eluded him. He fell back on writing short stories, detective mysteries and juvenile fiction to make a living. He invented Ashton-Kirk, a scientific-minded criminologist, and published several books featuring his cases. He also wrote serials for newspapers about a freelance detective named Jerry Mooney. Maxwell Perkins took an interest in McIntyre and helped edit his novel of Philadelphia gangsters, Slag, which was published by Scribners in 1926, but it met limited success, too.
SlagMcIntyre"s big break came in 1936, when his novel, Steps Going Down, which was selected as the United States entry in the All-Nations Prize Novel Competition. Steps Going Down tells the story of two men trying to evade the police and others as they move through a series of cheap lodgings in the poorer neighborhoods around Philadelphia, encountering a variety of crooks, prostitutes, addicts, zealots, and other characters. Although it did not win, McIntyre received an award of $4,000 in cash and gained prominent notices for the book in most of the major literary magazines. Warner Brothers, which had sponsored the competition, considered filming Slag, but ultimately passed.
Steps Going DownSteps Going DownSlagMcIntyre tried to build upon this new success with Ferment (1937), about union corruption, and then Signing Off (1938), about Italian-American gangsters, but again his career fizzled. He had to fall back on his newspaper and magazine writing. He placed fewer and fewer pieces as the 1940s wore on and he was forced to sell off his book collection (he was an expert on the dime novel genre and had many rare titles) and rely upon the charity of his friends in the last years before his death.
Ferment Signing OffKeep an eye out for his best genre mysteries:
Ashton-Kirk Investigator (1910)
Ashton-Kirk InvestigatorAshton-Kirk Secret Agent (1912)
Ashton-Kirk Secret AgentAshton-Kirk Special Detective (1914)
Ashton-Kirk Special DetectiveAshton-Kirk Criminologist (1918)
Ashton-Kirk CriminologistThe Museum Murder (1929)
The Museum MurderMooney Moves Around (1939)
Mooney Moves AroundDeath at Dakar (1942)
Death at DakarNinth Floor: Middle City Tower. A Jerry Mooney Story (1943)
Ninth Floor: Middle City Tower. A Jerry Mooney StoryDeath Strikes at Heron House. A Jerry Mooney Story (1944)
Death Strikes at Heron House. A Jerry Mooney Story
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