John Grant (born 1933), professionally known under

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Jonathan Gash, is a British doctor and writer, best known as the author of the

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

series that was adapted to television by

Ian La Frenais Ian La Frenais (born 7 January 1937) is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ''Porridg ...

He has also written under the name of Graham Gaunt.

Biography

Born in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, Grant was educated at St Peter and St Paul's Primary School, then Thornleigh College, before studying medicine and qualifying as a doctor. He served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, attaining the rank of Major in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

, and has also worked as a general practitioner and as a

pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...

. Between 1971 and 1988 he was director of bacteriology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. Grant won the John Creasey Award in 1977 for his first Lovejoy novel, ''

The Judas Pair ''The Judas Pair'' is a crime novel by Jonathan Gash. It is the first book in the Lovejoy series. The story was first published in 1977 and won a John Creasey Award. The story was adapted by Ian La Frenais for the BBC television series ''Lovej ...

''. He is also the author of a series of medical thrillers featuring the character Dr Clare Burtonall, and a novel, ''The Incomer'', as Graham Gaunt. He has also published work in the periodical ''

Postscripts ''Postscripts'' was a quarterly British magazine of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and crime fiction, first published in June 2004.Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, the setting for many of his novels.

Bibliography

His

novels, written as Jonathan Gash, include: *''

'' (1977) *''Gold By Gemini'' (1978) *''The Grail Tree'' (1979) *''Spend Game'' (1980) *''The Vatican Rip'' (1981) *''Firefly Gadroon'' (1982) *''The Sleepers of Erin'' (1983) *''The Gondola Scam'' (1984) *''Pearlhanger'' (1985) *''The Tartan Ringers'' (1986) aka ''The Tartan Sell'' *''Moonspender'' (1986) *''Jade Woman'' (1988) *''The Very Last Gambado'' (1989) *''The Great California Game'' (1991) *''The Lies of Fair Ladies'' (1992) *''Paid and Loving Eyes'' (1993) *''The Sin Within Her Smile'' (1993) *''The Grace in Older Women'' (1995) *''The Possessions of a Lady'' (1995) *''The Rich and the Profane'' (1998) *''A Rag, a Bone and a Hank of Hair'' (1999) *''Every Last Cent'' (2001) *''Ten Word Game'' (2003) *''Faces in the Pool'' (2008) *''Lovejoy at Large'' (omnibus) (1991) *''Lovejoy at Large Again'' (omnibus) (1993) *''Lovejoy Omnibus'' (omnibus) (1997) His Dr. Clare Burtonall series, also written as Jonathan Gash, includes: *''Different Women Dancing'' (1997) *''Prey Dancing'' (1998) *''Die Dancing'' (2000) *''Bone Dancing'' (2002) *''Blood Dancing'' (2006) Other novels written as Jonathan Gash include: *''The Year of the Woman'' (2004) *''Finding Davey'' (2005) *''Bad Girl Magdalene'' (2007) *''Preddy Boy'' (2013) Novels written as Jonathan Grant include the Mehala of Sealandings series: * ''The Shores of Sealandings (1991)'' * ''Storms at Sealandings'' (1992) * ''Mehala Lady of Sealandings'' (1994) * ''Bring Flowers of the Fairest'' (2012) * ''Velvet Walks'' (2012) *

Sources

* ;Footnotes 1933 births Living people People from Bolton 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English crime fiction writers 20th-century English medical doctors Royal Army Medical Corps officers English male novelists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers 20th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Lancashire {{UK-novelist-stub