Grave Matters (3) (Dr. Patrick Grant)

Features of Grave Matters (3) (Dr. Patrick Grant)

Product Description Amelia Brinton a retired headmistress of a top girls school appears to have accidently fallen to her death in Greece Her friend a Miss Forest also meets her death having been pushed down stairs in the British Museum Dr Patrick Grant connects the two events and his investigations lead him to a quiet backwater village in Hampshire Yet more mysteries unfold a dog drowns in shallow water there is a case of food poisoning and finally a house appears to be haunted There is then another murder What connects these events and why was Amelia Brinton killed It takes Grants full powers of logic and deduction with a little help from the police to get to the bottom of what is a spine tingling mystery and ultimate crime story About the Author Born in Surrey England to John and Alison Larminie in 1924 Margaret Yorke Margaret Beda Nicholson grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937 where the family settled in Hampshire although she now lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire During World War II she saw service in the Womens Royal Naval Service as a driver In 1945 she married but it was only to last some ten years although there were two children a son and daughter Her childhood interest in literature was reenforced by five years living close to StratforduponAvon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church She is widely travelled and has a particular interest in both Greece and Russia Her first novel was published in 1957 but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr Patrick Grant an Oxford don and amateur sleuth who shares her own love of Shakespeare More crime and mystery was to follow and she has written some forty three books in all but the Grant novels were limited to five as in her own words authors using a series detective are trapped by their series It stops some of them from expanding as writers She is proud of the fact that many of her novels are essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening or simply horrific It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life Indeed she states that characters are far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing I dont manipulate the characters they manipulate me Critics have noted that she has a marvellous use of language and she has frequently been cited as an equal to PD James and Ruth Rendell She is a past chairman of the Crime Writers Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection