Robert Barnard (23 November 1936 – 19 September 2013) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

crime writer True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

and

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

. In addition to over 40 books published under his own name, he also published four books under the pseudonym Bernard Bastable.

Life and work

Robert Barnard was born on 23 November 1936 at Burnham-on-Crouch,

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 ...

. He was educated at the

Colchester Royal Grammar School Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS) is a state-funded grammar school in Colchester, Essex. It was founded in 1128 and was later granted two royal charters - by Henry VIII in 1539 and by Elizabeth I in 1584.Trevor J. Hearn, ''Vitae Corona Fide ...

and at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He spent five years (1961-1965) as an academic in the English Department at the University of New England, at

Armidale, New South Wales Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

, in Australia. His first

crime novel 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, ...

, ''Death of an Old Goat'', was published in 1974. The novel was written while he was a lecturer at

University of Tromsø The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway (Norwegian: ''Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet''; Northern Sami: ''Romssa universitehta – Norgga árktalaš universitehta'') is a state university in Norway an ...

in Norway. He went on to write more than 40 other books and numerous short stories. As "Bernard Bastable", he published two standalone novels and two

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

books, featuring

Wolfgang Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

– who had here survived to old age – as a detective. Barnard was awarded the

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 ...

in 2003 by 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 ...

for a lifetime of achievement. He said that his favourite

was

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

. In 1980 he published a critique of her work titled ''A Talent to Deceive: An Appreciation of Agatha Christie''. Barnard died on 19 September 2013. He and his wife Louise lived in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

Bibliography

Mystery novels

* ''Death of an Old Goat'' (1974) * ''A Little Local Murder'' (1976) * ''Death on the High Cs'' (1977) * ''Blood Brotherhood'' (1977) * ''Unruly Son'' (1978) a.k.a. ''Death of a Mystery Writer'' * ''Posthumous Papers'' (1979) a.k.a. ''Death of a Literary Widow'' * ''Death in a Cold Climate'' (1980) * ''Mother's Boys'' (1981) a.k.a. ''Death of a Perfect Mother'' * ''Little Victims'' (1983) a.k.a. ''School for Murder'' * ''Out of the Blackout'' (1984) * ''A Corpse in a Gilded Cage'' (1984) * ''Disposal of the Living'' (1985) a.k.a. ''Fete Fatale'' * ''Political Suicide'' (1986) * ''The Skeleton in the Grass'' (1987) * ''At Death's Door'' (1988) * ''A City of Strangers'' (1990) * ''

A Scandal in Belgravia "A Scandal in Belgravia" is the first episode of the second series of the BBC crime drama series '' Sherlock'', which follows the modern-day adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and was first broadcast by BBC One on 1 January 2012. It was written by ...

'' (1991) * ''Masters of the House'' (1994) * ''Touched by the Dead'' (1999) a.k.a. ''A Murder in Mayfair'' * ''Unholy Dying'' (2000) a.k.a. ''Turbulent Priest'' * ''The Mistress of Alderley'' (2002) * ''A Cry From The Dark'' (2003) * ''The Graveyard Position'' (2004) * ''Dying Flames'' (2005) * ''Last Post'' (2008) * ''Stranger in the Family'' (2010)

Charlie Peace novels

* ''Death and the Chaste Apprentice'' (1989) * ''A Fatal Attachment'' (1992) * ''A Hovering of Vultures'' (1993) * ''The Bad Samaritan'' (1995) * ''No Place of Safety'' (1997) * ''The Corpse at the Haworth Tandoori'' (1998) * ''The Bones in the Attic'' (2001) * ''A Fall from Grace'' (2006) * ''The Killings on Jubilee Terrace'' (2009) * ''A Charitable Body'' (2012)

Perry Trethowan novels

* ''

Death by Sheer Torture ''Death by Sheer Torture'' (1981), also known simply as ''Sheer Torture'', is a mystery novel by English writer Robert Barnard, the first of five novels, penned in the 1980s, featuring his recurring detective character Perry Trethowan. Synopsis ...

'' (1981) * ''Death and the Princess'' (1982) * ''The Missing Bronte'' (1983) * ''Bodies'' (1986) * ''Death in Purple Prose'' (1987) a.k.a. ''The Cherry Blossom Corpse''

Short story collections

* ''Death of a Salesperson and Other Untimely Exits'' (1989) * ''The Habit of Widowhood'' (1996) * ''Rogue's Gallery'' (2011)

Novels written as Bernard Bastable

* ''To Die Like a Gentleman'' (1993) * ''Dead, Mr. Mozart'' (1995) * ''Mansion and its Murder'' (1998) * ''Too Many Notes, Mr. Mozart'' (1998)

Non-fiction

* ''Imagery and Theme in the Novels of Dickens'' (1974) * ''A Talent to Deceive: An Appreciation of Agatha Christie'' (1980) * ''A Short History of English Literature'' (1984) * ''Emily Brontë'' (British Library Writers' lives series) (2000) * ''A Brontë Encyclopedia'' (with Louise Barnard) (2007)

Notes

References

* Ford, Susan Allen. "Stately Homes of England: Robert Barnard's Country House Mysteries" in ''CLUES: A Journal of Detection'' 23.4 (Summer 2005): 3–14.

External links

Internet Book List

1984 interview with Robert Barnard
by Don Swaim at Wired for Books * 200
audio interview
with Robert Barnard by Elizabeth Foxwell {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnard, Robert 1936 births 2013 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford English crime fiction writers English mystery writers People educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School University of Tromsø faculty Cartier Diamond Dagger winners Agatha Award winners Nero Award winners Anthony Award winners Macavity Award winners Barry Award winners Writers from Essex 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English male short story writers English short story writers English male novelists 20th-century British short story writers 21st-century British short story writers 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers People from Burnham-on-Crouch 20th-century pseudonymous writers