Kenneth Royce

Kenneth Royce Gandley (11 December 1920 — 15 August 1997) was an English author, who published 36 thriller novels between 1959 and 1997 under his own name (including The Third Arm, The Stalin Account, Fall-Out, 10,000 Days and Channel Assault), and three as Oliver Jacks.

His best-known work are his novels featuring semi-reformed cat burglar William 'Spider' Scott, an XYY man, whose extra 'Y' chromosome (in the then-erroneous-but-conventional wisdom) gave him a pre-disposition towards criminality. After attempting to 'go straight', he finds his talents are in demand not only from the criminal underworld, but also the secret service, and he is co-opted into dangerous undercover work (usually through blackmail, the temptations of money, or through his interest being piqued).

A television series of The XYY Man in 1976-77 (adapting the early books) created a popular appetite for the character, and also that of his nemesis, Detective Sergeant George Bulman, a relatively minor character in the original books, but brought to life on the screen by the memorable performance of Don Henderson. After the run of Spider Scott programmes, DS Bulman had further television adventures not based on Royce's work (the series Strangers, 1978–82, and Bulman, 1985-87). The popularity of these probably contributed to Royce choosing to make Scott and Bulman unlikely allies and joint leads from The Crypto Man through No Way Back, while he wrote more Bulman novels towards the end of his life, including The Judas Trail (1996) and Shadows (1996).

Royce was married and lived in Buckinghamshire, UK. He died in 1997.