British Mystery Writers?
Martha Grimes, Elizabeth George and Deborah Crombie Born in the USA
Not all authors who write about Great Britain are actually British. These three "Great Pretenders" would fool even the most discerning reader.
The British have long been known for their mysteries. There is something about the English countryside-- a picturesque little village and quaint old pub that makes it the perfect setting for a tea cozy or other kind of mystery. But some well-known series authors whose well-researched books are set in England are actually American.
Elizabeth George
Elizabeth George is best known for her Inspector Lynley Mysteries, which feature Thomas Lynley, a Scotland Yard inspector of noble birth. He works closely with his assistant, Barbara Havers, who is from the working class. His romantic interest is Lady Helen Clyde. Her novel A Great Deliverance won several awards and was nominated for the Edgar. Eleven of the Lynley Mysteries have been adapted for television by the BBC, and have been shown on PBS in the United States.
Many readers, even British readers, are amazed to find out that Elizabeth George is really an American. She was born Susan Elizabeth George in Warren, Ohio, in 1949, but grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She began her professional career as a teacher.
Elizabeth George currently lives in Seattle, Washington, but she does spend time in London to research her novels.
Biography and list of Books: Elizabeth George
Martha Grimes
Martha Grimes is the author of a series in which the detective is Richard Jury, a Scotland Yard inspector. His friend, Melrose Plant, a nobleman who has given up his titles, also appears in these books. It is interesting to note that each of her mysteries in this series is named after a pub. The Old Silent and The Old Contemptables were New York Times bestsellers.
Grimes started out writing poetry before trying her hand at mystery novels. Her first book was published in 1981, and she has published at least one book every year for the past 25 years. Like Elizabeth George, she has often been praised for her ability to write authentic British mysteries.
She received the Nero Wolfe award in 1983 for bets mystery of the year for The Anodyne Necklace.
Grimes often visits England, and in The Horse You Came in On, her character Richard Jury visited America. The Horse You Came in On is a pub in Baltimore, Maryland. In another subsequent book, The Rainbow’s End, Jury made a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Though her series is set in England, Grimes was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She splits her time between Washington, D.C. and Santa Fe, New Mexico, though she does make many trips to England.
Learn more about Martha Grimes
Deborah Crombie
Deborah Crombie is the author of a long-running series featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Duncan Kincaid and his partner, Seargeant Gemma James. She was inspired to write her first novel, A Share in Death, A Share in Death, after living abroad in both England and Scotland. Her fifth novel in the series, Dreaming of the Bones was nominated for an Edgar for Best Novel in 1998.
Crombie was born in Texas, where she still resides. Like Elizabeth George and Martha Grimes, she is no stranger to England, traveling there several times a year to research her novels.
