Martha Grimes (born May 2, 1931) is an American writer of
detective fiction
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...
. She is best known for a series featuring
Richard Jury, a
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
inspector, and
Melrose Plant
Melrose Plant is a fictional character in Martha Grimes' series of Richard Jury mystery novels. Superintendent Richard Jury is a Scotland Yard detective who frequently calls on Plant to assist him, unofficially, in his cases.
Character biography
...
, an aristocrat turned amateur sleuth.
Biography
Grimes was born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, to William Dermit Grimes, Pittsburgh's city solicitor, and June Dunnington, who owned the Mountain Lake Hotel in
Western Maryland
upright=1.2, An enlargeable map of Maryland's 23 counties and one independent city
Western Maryland, also known as the Maryland Panhandle, is the portion of the U.S. state of Maryland that typically consists of Washington, Allegany, and Garret ...
, where Martha and her brother spent much of their childhood.
["Martha Grimes Biography"]
encyclopedia.com, accessed October 12, 2019 Grimes earned her B.A. and M.A. at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
and did postgraduate work at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
. She has taught at the University of Iowa,
[ ]Frostburg State University
Frostburg State University (FSU) is a public university in Frostburg, Maryland. The university is the only four-year institution of the University System of Maryland west of the Baltimore-Washington passageway in the state's Appalachian highlan ...
, and Montgomery College
Montgomery College (MC) is a public community college in Montgomery County, Maryland. Founded officially in 1946 as Montgomery Junior College, its name comes from the county in which it is located. The earliest start date that can be contribute ...
(Takoma Park).
In 1983, Grimes received the Nero Wolfe Award The Nero Award is a literary award for excellence in the mystery genre presented by The Wolfe Pack, a society founded in 1978 to explore and celebrate the Nero Wolfe stories of Rex Stout
Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886 – October 27, ...
for best mystery of the year for ''The Anodyne Necklace''. In 2012, Grimes was named Grand Master by the Edgar Awards Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City.
The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday.
It presents the Edgar Award ...
.[Rasicot, Julie]
"Martha Grimes, Woman of Mystery"
''Bethesda Magazine'', May 31, 2013
Grimes initially became known for her series of novels featuring Richard Jury, an inspector with Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
, and his friend Melrose Plant
Melrose Plant is a fictional character in Martha Grimes' series of Richard Jury mystery novels. Superintendent Richard Jury is a Scotland Yard detective who frequently calls on Plant to assist him, unofficially, in his cases.
Character biography
...
, a British aristocrat
The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...
who has given up his titles. Each of the Jury mysteries is named after a pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
.[
Her Emma Graham quartet of novels beginning with ''Hotel Paradise'' is set in an atmospheric aging lake resort in western Maryland, and delves into mysteries of past secrets and human nature. The background of the series draws from the experiences that she enjoyed while spending summers at her mother's hotel in Mountain Lake Park, Maryland. One of the characters, Mr. Britten, is drawn on Britten Leo Martin Sr., who then ran Martin's Store, which he owned with his father and brother. Martin's Store is accessible by a short walkway from the Mountain Lake Hotel, the site of the former hotel, which was torn down in 1967.
The two Andi Oliver novels center on a young drifter with amnesia, making her way in the northern U.S. Midwest armed with a strong sense of right and wrong and great compassion. Grimes has donated a large portion of her profits from these novels to animal-protection organizations.
Grimes lives in Bethesda, Maryland.][ She is a ]vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism m ...
.
Works
Richard Jury series (with Melrose Plant
Melrose Plant is a fictional character in Martha Grimes' series of Richard Jury mystery novels. Superintendent Richard Jury is a Scotland Yard detective who frequently calls on Plant to assist him, unofficially, in his cases.
Character biography
...
)
# ''The Man With a Load of Mischief'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1981)
# ''The Old Fox Deceiv'd'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1982)
# ''The Anodyne Necklace'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1983)
# ''The Dirty Duck'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1984)
# ''Jerusalem Inn'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1984)
# ''Help the Poor Struggler'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1985)
# ''The Deer Leap'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1985)
# ''I Am the Only Running Footman'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1986)
# ''The Five Bells and Bladebone'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1987)
# ''The Old Silent'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1989)
# ''The Old Contemptibles'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1991)
# ''The Horse You Came In On'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993)
# ''Rainbow's End'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995)
# ''The Case Has Altered'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997)
# ''The Stargazey'' (New York: Holt, 1998)
# ''The Lamorna Wink'' (New York: Viking/Penguin, 1999)
# ''The Blue Last'' (New York: Viking/Penguin, 2001)
# ''The Grave Maurice'' (New York: Viking Penguin, 2002)
# ''The Winds of Change'' (New York: Viking/Penguin, 2004)
# ''The Old Wine Shades'' (New York: Viking/Penguin, 2006)
# ''Dust'' (New York: Viking/Penguin, 2007)
# ''The Black Cat'' (New York: Viking/Penguin, 2010)
# ''Vertigo 42'' (New York: Scribner, 2014)
# ''The Knowledge'' (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2018)
# ''The Old Success'' (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2019)
''The Man With a Load of Mischief'', ''Help the Poor Struggler'' and ''The Deer Leap'' were filmed on behalf of the German and Austrian broadcasters ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
and ORF
ORF or Orf may refer to:
* Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF
* Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute
* One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel
* Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
under the title ''Der Tote im Pub (The Dead Man in the Pub'') (2013), ''Mord im Nebel (Murder in the Fog'') (2015) and ''Inspektor Jury spielt Katz und Maus (Inspector Jury plays Cat-and-Mouse'') (2017). Fritz Karl
Fritz Karl (born 21 December 1967) is an Austrian film, television and stage actor born in Gmunden, Upper Austria. He is one of the busiest Austrian actors.
Private life
Karl lives in both Munich and Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code ...
as Jury, Götz Schubert Götz or Goetz () is a German name, in origin a hypocorism of '' Gottfried''. It remains in use as a short form of ''Gottfried'', but it has also become a surname.
Surnames
;Goetz
* Alphonse Goetz (1865-1934), French chess master
* Arturo Goetz, ...
as Plant and Katharina Thalbach
Katharina Thalbach (; actually ''Katharina Joachim genannt Thalbach''; born 19 January 1954) is a German actress and stage director. She played theatre at the Berliner Ensemble and at the Volksbühne Berlin, and was actress in the film ''The T ...
as "Lady" Agatha Ardry.
Andi Oliver series
# ''Biting the Moon'' (New York: Holt, 1999)
# ''Dakota'' (New York: Viking/Penguin, 2008)
featuring Maud Chadwick (who is also a character in the Emma Graham Series)
# ''The End of the Pier'' (Ballantine Books, 1993)
Emma Graham series
# ''Hotel Paradise'' (Knopf, 1996)
# ''Cold Flat Junction'' (2000)
# ''Belle Ruin'' (2005)
# ''Fadeaway Girl'' (2011)
Novels, Short Stories & Poetry
# ''Send Bygraves'' (Putnam, 1990)
# ''The Train Now Departing'' (New York: Viking/Penguin, 2001)
# ''Foul Matter'' (New York: Viking/Penguin, 2003)
# ''The Way of All Fish'' (Simon and Schuster, 2014)
Memoirs
# ''Double Double: A Memoir of Alcoholism'' with Ken Grimes (Scribner, 2016)
References
Source: Contemporary Authors Online, Thomson Gale, 2006.
External links
Martha Grimes' official Web site
*
*Ryan, Ellen.
, ''Washingtonian'', August 1, 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimes, Martha
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American mystery writers
American women novelists
Writers from Pittsburgh
Living people
1931 births
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Nero Award winners
Edgar Award winners
University of Iowa faculty
Frostburg State University faculty
Women mystery writers
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
Novelists from Pennsylvania
Novelists from Iowa
American women academics