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 specul ...

. 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' ...

inspector, and Melrose Plant, 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 Garr ...

, 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 Mar ...

and did postgraduate work at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a 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 organized into 12 coll ...

. 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 highland ...

, 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 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

, and his friend Melrose Plant, 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 R ...

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 wa ...

. 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) # ''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 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 as Jury, Götz Schubert as Plant and Katharina Thalbach 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