Possible Clues:

• Author of 'The Thirty-nine Steps'
• John --, novelist whose adventure stories include 'The Thirty-Nine Steps'
• Queen's man in Canada 1935 to1940
• Author of The Thirty-Nine Steps
• 'The 39 Steps' author John
• John --, author of 'The Thirty-Nine Steps'
• Author of 'The Thirty-Nine Steps'
• John's tea involved in such a fight?
• Concluding passage
• John --, author of 'Greenmantle'