Martha Grimes


Martha Grimes is an American writer of detective fiction. She is best known for a series featuring Richard Jury, a Scotland Yard inspector, and Melrose Plant, an aristocrat turned amateur sleuth.
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Early life and education

Martha Grimes was born May 2, 1931 in Pittsburgh, to William Dermit Grimes, Pittsburgh's city solicitor, and June Dunnington, who owned the Mountain Lake Hotel in Western Maryland, where Martha and her brother spent much of their childhood.
She earned her B.A. and M.A. at the University of Maryland and did postgraduate work at the University of Iowa.

Career

Grimes has taught at the University of Iowa, Frostburg State University, and Montgomery College.
Grimes initially became known for her series of novels featuring Richard Jury, an inspector with Scotland Yard, and his friend Melrose Plant, a British aristocrat who has given up his titles. Each of the Jury mysteries is named after a pub.
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 her experiences during summers at her mother's hotel in Mountain Lake Park, Maryland. One of the characters, Mr. Britten, is patterned 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.
Biting the Moon was the first of two books featuring young teenagers who fight animal abuse.

Recognition

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.

Personal life

Grimes lives in Bethesda, Maryland. She is a vegetarian.
Grimes has donated two thirds of her royalties from Biting the Moon to animal-protection organizations.

Works

Richard Jury series
  1. The Man With a Load of Mischief
  2. The Old Fox Deceiv'd
  3. The Anodyne Necklace
  4. The Dirty Duck
  5. Jerusalem Inn
  6. Help the Poor Struggler
  7. The Deer Leap
  8. I Am the Only Running Footman
  9. The Five Bells and Bladebone
  10. The Old Silent
  11. The Old Contemptibles
  12. The Horse You Came In On
  13. Rainbow's End
  14. The Case Has Altered
  15. The Stargazey
  16. The Lamorna Wink
  17. The Blue Last
  18. The Grave Maurice
  19. The Winds of Change
  20. The Old Wine Shades
  21. Dust
  22. The Black Cat
  23. Vertigo 42
  24. The Knowledge
  25. The Old Success
  26. The Red Queen
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 and ORF under the title Der Tote im Pub, Mord im Nebel and Inspektor Jury spielt Katz und Maus . Fritz Karl as Jury, Götz Schubert as Plant and Katharina Thalbach as "Lady" Agatha Ardry.
Andi Oliver series
  1. Biting the Moon
  2. Dakota
featuring Maud Chadwick
  1. The End of the Pier
Emma Graham series
  1. Hotel Paradise
  2. Cold Flat Junction
  3. Belle Ruin
  4. Fadeaway Girl
Novels, Short Stories & Poetry
  1. Send Bygraves
  2. The Train Now Departing
  3. Foul Matter
  4. The Way of All Fish
Memoirs
  1. Double Double: A Memoir of Alcoholism'' with Ken Grimes