Beginning to read Henry McDonald, a seedy crime writer (7,8)

I believe the answer is:

raymond chandler

'crime writer' is the definition.
(I know that Raymond Chandler is a crime writer)

'beginning to read henry mcdonald a seedy' is the wordplay.
'beginning to' suggests taking the first letters.
'seedy' is an anagram indicator (I've seen this in other clues).
The first letter of 'read' is 'r'.
'henry'+'mcdonald'+'a'='henrymcdonalda'
'henrymcdonalda' with letters rearranged gives 'aymondchandler'.
'r'+'aymondchandler'='RAYMOND CHANDLER'

(Another definition for raymond chandler that I've seen is " writer".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.