Martin Austin Fido (18 October 1939 – 2 April 2019) was a university professor,

true crime 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 pe ...

writer and broadcaster. His many books include ''The Crimes, Detection and Death of Jack the Ripper'', ''The Official Encyclopedia of Scotland Yard'', ''Serial Killers'', and ''The Murder Guide to London''. He is also one of the authors of ''The complete Jack the Ripper A to Z''. After leaving

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 ...

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 ...

, in 1966, where he had been a junior research fellow in English, he went to the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

where he lectured in English until 1973. In 1971 he went to Michigan State University in the USA where he was a visiting associate professor for one year, and in 1973 he became a reader in English Literature and head of the English department at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus,

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

. In the West Indies he was active in theatre and educational broadcasting. In 1983 he returned to England and became a freelance writer and broadcaster, specialising in true crime. He broadcast a weekly radio programme called ''Murder After Midnight'' on London's

LBC Radio LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadcast ...

from 1987 to 2001, some of which were produced and released commercially on cassette and CD by his friend (and fellow LBC broadcaster) Paul Savory. Aside from his many true crime books he has also written illustrated biographies of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

William 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 ...

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

and Oscar Wilde, and books on Agatha Christie, and Sherlock Holmes. He translated Louis Cazamian's ''Le Roman Social en Angleterre'', and his play ''Let's Go Bajan!'' was performed successfully in Barbados and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. A number of ''Murder After Midnight'' stories are available on iTunes with additional titles planned for early 2013 release. In 2000 he settled in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, to help his third wife (Karen, née Sandel, died October 2013) nurse her parents through their terminal illnesses, and from 2001 until his death he taught writing and research at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

. Martin Fido died on 2 April 2019 of complications resulting from having suffered a fall.Obituary
from ''Cape Cod Times''. 2019

References

1939 births 2019 deaths People from Penzance Writers from Cornwall Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford University of the West Indies academics British non-fiction crime writers {{Cornwall-stub