George Bellairs is the pseudonym under which Harold Blundell (19021982) wrote police procedural thrillers in rural British settings. He was born in Lancashire, England, and worked as a bank manager in Manchester. After retiring, Bellairs moved to the Isle of Man, where several of his novels are set, to be with friends and family. In 1941 Bellairs wrote his first mystery, Littlejohn on Leave, during spare moments at his air raid warden's post. The title introduced Thomas Littlejohn, the detective who appears in fifty-seven of his novels. Bellairs was also a regular contributor to the Manchester Guardian and worked as a freelance writer for newspapers both local and national.