Background
Elmore was born in Maidstone, Kent in 1901.
Elmore was born in Maidstone, Kent in 1901.
He wrote his crime novels under the pseudonym John Bude. In 1931 he is known to have been living in the nearby village of Loose, Kent. Writing as John Bude, Elmore published thirty crime novels, with Inspector William Meredith appearing in most of them.
The first two, both of which were published in 1935, were The Lake District Murder and The Cornish Coast Murder, followed the next year by The Sussex Downs Murder.
These three have since been reprinted by the British Library. Straddling the crime novels were several works of humorous fantasy written under his own name, the most well-known being: The Steel Grubs (1928), This Siren Song (1930) (which features some MacGuffins), and The Lumpton Gobbelings (1954) (about an invasion of naked little people who scandalize the local villagers).
Including the children"s book, Snuffly Snorty Dog (1946), Elmore wrote a total of seven books in his own name. Fellow British crime author Martin Edwards commented: "Bude writes both readably and entertainingly.
Elmore died in Hastings, Sussex on 8 November 1957.
Audio book versions of The Lake District Murder, The South Downs Murder (originally The Sussex Downs Murder, 1936), and The Cornish Coast Murder were produced by Soundings Audio Books and narrated by Gordon Griffin.