John Barber was born in London at the height of the UK Post War baby boom. The Education Act of 1944 saw great changes in the way the nation was taught; the main one being that all children stayed at school until the age of 15 (later increased to 16). For the first time working class children were able to reach higher levels of academic study and the opportunity to gain further educational qualifications at University.
This explosion in education brought forth a new aspirational middle class; others remained true to their working class roots. The author belongs somewhere between the two. Many of the author's main characters have their genesis in this educational revolution. Their dialogue though idiosyncratic can normally be understood but like all working class speech it is liberally sprinkled with strange boyhood phrases and a passing nod to cockney rhyming slang.
John Barber's novels are set in fictional English towns where sexual intrigue and political in-fighting is rife beneath a pleasant, small town veneer of respectability.
They fall within the cozy, traditional British detective sections of mystery fiction.
He has been writing professionally since 1996 when he began to contribute articles to magazines on social and local history. His first published book in 2002 was a non-fiction work entitled The Camden Town Murder which investigated a famous murder mystery of 1907 and names the killer. This is still available in softback and as an ebook, although not available from Smashwords
John Barber had careers in Advertising, International Banking and the Wine Industry before becoming Town Centre Manager in his home town of Hertford. He is now retired and lives with his wife and two cats on an island in the middle of Hertford and spends his time between local community projects and writing further novels.
This is the true story of Paul Arthur Crafton who in 1983 was dubbed 'The Mystery Professor' by the media in the Eastern States of America. Although genuinely qualified with a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering he taught at three Universities at the same time under three assumed names. There were certainly more as his deception was found to have been continous since 1979 or earlier as the FBI investigation got under way. He was initially uncovered as lying about his name and qualifications following the chance discovery of an article written by his real namesake for an Australian University. He was arrested as Peter H Pearse at Millersville University and then as John B Hext at Shippensburg University. Unsure of his real identity his arrest was published in the media which led to more higher education authorities recognising him as having taught for them but under a different name. His professional duplicity was mirrored by his personal life when materials for identity theft were found in one of his many apartments and then his womanising was also uncovered. Those involved in the investigation asked themselves why such an educated man would assume the career of a white collar criminal adept at creating so many false identities. Why would anyone accept the burden of travel between States and cities and at the same time try and disguise his lack of deep knowedge in the subjects he taught. Crafton's defence was always that it was to pay for the medical treatment for his daughter who was severely disabled. What arises from this real detective story is a man dedicated to his family but also a man of so many talents that eventually led to the very public uncovering and dissection of his professional and private life. The police investigation was published in the national media and a long prison sentence was mitigated following a complicated plea bargain with the Office of the Attorney General.
Título : The Mystery Professor
EAN : 9781310108303
Editorial : John Barber
El libro electrónico The Mystery Professor está en formato ePub
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