Margaret Beda Nicholson (née Larminie; 30 January 1924 – 17 November 2012), known professionally as Margaret Yorke, was an English
crime fiction
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...
writer.
Life and work
Margaret Larminie was born in
Compton, Surrey
Compton is a village and civil parish in the Guildford district of Surrey, England. It is between Godalming and Guildford. It has a medieval church and a close connection to fine art and pottery, being the later life home of artist George Fred ...
, near
Godalming
Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...
,
on 30 January 1924. She spent her childhood in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, moving to England in 1937. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
she worked as a hospital librarian, then at eighteen she joined the
WRNS as a driver.
She changed to the Yorke pen name to avoid readers' confusion with a similarly-named published family member. She published her first novel ''Summer Flight'' in 1957, and in ''Dead in the Morning'' invented an Oxford don sleuth, Patrick Grant, who shared her love of
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. Her last novels were ''A Case to Answer'' (2000) and ''Cause for Concern'' (2001). Her five Patrick Grant books were reissued as ebooks in 2018.
She was chairman of the
Crime Writers Association
The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors’ organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its Dagger awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. T ...
in 1979–80.
She lived in
Long Crendon
Long Crendon is a village and civil parish in west Buckinghamshire, England, about west of Haddenham and north-west of Thame in neighbouring Oxfordshire.
The village has been called Long Crendon only since the English Civil War.Birch, 197 ...
in
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
until her death
at the age of 88 on 17 November 2012. She was survived by a son and a daughter.
Awards
Yorke was awarded the 1999 CWA
Cartier Diamond Dagger
The Diamond Dagger is an award given by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom to authors who have made an outstanding lifetime's contribution to the genre.
Winners
* 1986 – Eric Ambler
* 1987 – P. D. James
* 1988 – John le Car ...
, and the 1982
Martin Beck Award The Martin Beck Award is an award given by the Swedish Crime Writers' Academy (''Svenska Deckarakademin'') for the best crime novel in translation. It is one of the most prestigious international crime-writing awards.
The Award is named after Martin ...
from the
Swedish Academy of Detection for ''The Scent of Fear.''
Patrick Grant novels
*''Dead in the Morning'' (1970)
*''Silent Witness'' (1972)
*''Grave Matters'' (1973)
*''Mortal Remains'' (1974)
*''Cast for Death'' (1976)
Other novels
*''Summer Flight'' (1957)
*''Pray, Love, Remember'' (1958)
*''Christopher'' (1959)
*''The China Doll'' (1961)
*''Once a Stranger'' (1962)
*''The Birthday'' (1963)
*''Full Circle'' (1965)
*''No Fury'' (1967)
*''The Apricot Bed'' (1968)
*''The Limbo Ladies'' (1969)
*''No Medals for the Major'' (1974)
*''The Small Hours of the Morning'' (1975)
*''The Cost of Silence'' (1977)
*''The Point of Murder'' (American title ''The Come-On'') (1978)
*''Death on Account'' (1979)
*''The Scent of Fear'' (1980)
*''The Hand of Death'' (1981)
*''Devil's Work'' (1982)
*''Find Me a Villain'' (1983)
*''The Smooth Face of Evil'' (1984)
*''Intimate Kill'' (1985)
*''Safely to the Grave'' (1986)
*''Evidence to Destroy'' (1987)
*''Speak for the Dead'' (1988)
*''Deceiving Mirror'' (1988)
*''Crime in Question'' (1989)
*''Admit to Murder'' (1990)
*''A Small Deceit'' (1991)
*''Criminal Damage'' (1992)
*''Dangerous to Know'' (1993)
*''Almost the Truth'' (1994)
*''Serious Intent'' (1995)
*''A Question of Belief'' (1996)
*''Act of Violence'' (1997)
*''False Pretenses'' (1998)
*''The Price of Guilt'' (1999)
*''A Case to Answer'' (2000)
*''Cause for Concern'' (2001)
References
Citations
Bibliography
Crime Writers AssociationThe Gumshoe SiteObituary - Telegraph
External links
Margaret Yorke at ''fantastic fiction''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yorke, Margaret
English crime fiction writers
English short story writers
Cartier Diamond Dagger winners
1924 births
2012 deaths
People educated at Prior's Field School
People from Surrey (before 1965)
20th-century English novelists
British women short story writers
English women novelists
20th-century English women writers
Women mystery writers
20th-century British short story writers
Pseudonymous women writers
English librarians
British women librarians
British women in World War II
20th-century pseudonymous writers