Meet Martha Grimes
“Her wit sparkles, her plots intrigue, and her characters are absolutely unforgettable.” Thus the literary critic of the Denver Post summed up the works of novelist Martha Grimes, one of the best known, most respected creators of British mystery stories -- despite the fact that she’s as American as the 4th of July.
Born in Pittsburgh where her father was City Solicitor, she grew up there and in Western Maryland, where her mother owned and operated a hotel. Later, she earned both her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Maryland.
How did an American author end up writing British murder mysteries that are often compared favorably with those of genre giants Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and the like?
To begin with, she’s an unabashed Anglophile. To boot, she’s an avid collector of unusual British pub names, with which she’s titled her more-than 20 murder mysteries. (One of those pubs/titles is “The Old Contemptibles.” Guess what her "official" fan club calls itself?) Finally, she’s spent large segments of her time in England, becoming comfortable with “Britishisms” – those many differences in word spellings, meanings and usages that separate us from our linguistic first cousins.
Not only has Martha Grimes mastered the language, but she’s successfully plumbed the British character as well. The Brits love eccentricity, and Ms. Grimes has created an ongoing cast of delightfully quirky characters – usually found gathered in a pub -- who provide vivid contrast to the darker side of her tales. Chief among these oddballs is Melrose Plant, a wealthy hereditary earl, who has relinquished his several titles because he got bored sitting in the House of Lords.
The central figure in all of Ms. Grimes’ mysteries is Richard Jury of Scotland Yard, a tall, handsome chief superintendent who, despite his lofty title, usually finds himself involved in the nuts-and-bolts of solving cases, frequently when he’s supposedly “on holiday.” His warm smile tends to set the female characters’ knees a-wobbling – even including, on occasion, the perpetrators’.
Early on in the series, Jury strikes up an unlikely friendship with the aristocratic Plant, who helps him – sometimes reluctantly – to solve a number of his always-intriguing cases. The former Lord Ardry (although his longtime butler insists on calling him "m'lord") would rather be with his friends at the pub, or sitting in front of the fire in his great house, a glass of port in one hand and a book of French poetry in the other, with his dog – perhaps the world’s laziest – curled up at his feet.
Many readers have come to agree with the Chicago Tribune’s literary critic, who said, “Read one of (Martha Grimes’) novels and you’ll want to read them all.” Yours Truly has, indeed, read them all – at least twice. They’re that entertaining.
- Allan Dash
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