James H. McClure

Who was James H. McClure?

James Howe McClure was a British author and journalist best known for his Kramer and Zondi mysteries set in South Africa.

James McClure was born and raised in South Africa and educated in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, at Scottsville School, Cowan House, and Maritzburg College. He worked first as a commercial photographer with Tom Sharpe, who later wrote a series of celebrated comic novels, and then as a teacher of English and art at Cowan House in 1959–63, before becoming a crime reporter and photographer for the Natal Witness in his home town of Pietermaritzburg.

His journalistic career saw him headhunted first by the Natal Mercury and then by the Natal Daily News. After the birth of his first son, he moved to Britain with his family in 1965, where he joined the Scottish Daily Mail as a sub-editor. From there, he moved to the Oxford Mail and then to the Oxford Times.

His first crime novel, The Steam Pig, won the CWA Gold Dagger in 1971. He resigned as deputy editor in 1974 to write full-time.