Wikipedia

Val McDermid

Val McDermid FRSE, FRSL (born the 4 Juin 1955) is a Scots crime writer, best kent fur her suspense novelles featurin Dr. Tony Hill.

Val McDermid
Born (1955-06-04) 4 Juin 1955 (age 69)
Kirkcaudy, Fife, Scotland
NaitionalityScots
GenreCrime fiction
Wabsteid
www.valmcdermid.com

Biographie

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McDermid wis born intae a wirkin-cless family in Fife. She studied Inglis at St. Hilda's College, Oxford,[1] whaur she wis the furst scholart tae come frae a Scots state schuil.[2]

Efter graduatin she becam a jurnalist an began her leeterar career as a dramatist. She furthset her furst novelle, Report for Murder: The First Lindsay Gordon Mystery in 1987.[3]

She wis gien an honorary doctorate frae the Varsity o Sunderland in 2011.[4] She cofoondit the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival an the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, pairt o the Harrogate International Festivals. In 2016 she led a team o St. Hilda's alumnae tae win the Christmas University Challenge.[5]

In 2017, McDermid wis electit as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh[6] an a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature forby.[7]

As o 2009, she sponsors the McDermid Stand in Stark's Pairk, the groonds o Raith Rovers in Kirkcaldy. This wis tae honour her faither that wis a scoot fur the club.[8] A year efterhaund, she jynt the bourd o the club, an in 2014 her wabsteid became the team's sark sponsor.[9]

Wirk

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McDermid's scrievins faas intae fower series: Lindsay Gordon, Kate Brannigan, Tony Hill an Carol Jordan, an Inspector Karen Pirie. The Mermaids Singing, the furst beuk o the Hill/Jordan series, wan the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger awaird fur Best Crime Novel of the Year. The Hill/Jordan series haes been adaptit intae a telly series, kent as Wire in the Blood. Her novelles, particularly the Tony Hill beuks, is kenned fur thair graphic depictions o violence an tortur.

McDermid haes sayed Jacko Vance, a TV celebrity wi a saicret cravin fur tortur, murther an unnerage quines, that appeart in Wire in the Blood an twa later beuks, is based on her ain experience o spierin Jimmy Saville.[10]

McDermid considers her wirk tae be pairt o the tartain noir subgenre o Scots crime fiction.[11] As weel as scrievin novelles, McDermid contributes tae a wheen o British newspapers an aften braidcasts on BBC Radio 4 an BBC Radio Scotland.[12]

Ink atteck

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On 6 December 2012 a wumman flang ink ower McDermid durin a event at the Varsity o Sunderland.[13] McDermid wis pittin her name tae beuks, an a wumman askit her tae pit her name tae a Top of the Pops annual wi Jimmy Saville on the cover. Tho laith, McDermid pit her name tae the annual, efter that the wumman pulled oot a bottle o ink an flang it at her afore rinnin frae the room.[13] Nanetheless, McDermid vowed tae haud gaun wi her witterins.[14]

Sandra Botham, a 64-year-auld wumman frae the Hedon area o Sunderland, wis arreistit on suspicion o assaut.[14][15] Botham wis chairged wi common assaut on the 10 Julie 2013, [16] gat a 12-month community sentence wi owerins an wis gart pey £50 assythment an a £60 victim surchairge.[17] She wis gien a restrainin order baurin her frae contactin McDermid fur a undefined time period.[18] The Northern Echo reportit that Botham actit acause o McDermid's 1994 non-fiction book, A Suitable Job for a Woman, that Botham claimed mirkit her an her faimily.[19]

Personal life

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In 2010 McDermid, that is gay, wis bidin atween Northumberland an Manchester wi furthsetter Kelly Smith,[20] that she haed entered a civil pairtnership wi in 2006.[21] She foregane bade in Stockport an Northumberland wi three cats[22] and a border terrier dug. Syne early 2014 she haes bade in Stockport and Edinburgh.[23][24]

On 23 October 2016, McDermid waddit Jo Sharp, a professor o geographie at the Varsity o Glesga an McDermid's pairtner o twa year.[25][26]

In 2016, McDermid led a team o crime writers on quiz shaw Eggheads, beatin the Eggheads an winnin £14,000.[27]

McDermid is a radical feminist an socialist.[28][29] She haes pitten feminism intae some o her novelles.[30]

Bibliographie

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Lindsay Gordon series

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  • Report for Murder (1987)
  • Common Murder (1989)
  • Final Edition (1991) US Titles: Open and Shut, Deadline for Murder
  • Union Jack (1993), US Title: Conferences Are Murder
  • Booked for Murder (1996)
  • Hostage to Murder (2003)

Kate Brannigan series

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  • Dead Beat (1992)
  • Kick Back (1993)
  • Crack Down (1994)
  • Clean Break (1995)
  • Blue Genes (1996)
  • Star Struck (1998) (awairded Grand Prix des Romans d’Aventure in 1998)[31]

Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series

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  • The Mermaids Singing (1995) (Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year in 1995)[32]
  • The Wire in the Blood (1997)
  • The Last Temptation (2002)
  • The Torment of Others (2004)
  • Beneath the Bleeding (2007)[33]
  • Fever of the Bone (2009)
  • The Retribution (2011)
  • Cross and Burn (2013)
  • Splinter the Silence (2015)
  • Insidious Intent (2017)
  • How the Dead Speak (2019)[34]

Inspector Karen Pirie series

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  • The Distant Echo (2003)
  • A Darker Domain (2008)
  • The Skeleton Road (2014)
  • Out of Bounds (2016)
  • Broken Ground (2018)
  • Still Life (2020)

The Austen Project

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  • Northanger Abbey (2014)

Ither books

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  • The Writing on the Wall (1997); short stories, limited edition o 200 copies
  • A Place of Execution (1999)
  • Killing the Shadows (2000)
  • Stranded (2005); short stories
  • Cleanskin (2006)
  • The Grave Tattoo (2006)
  • Trick of the Dark (2010) dedicated tae Mary Bennett (1913-2003) & Kathy Vaughan Wilkes (1946-2003)
  • The Vanishing Point (2012)

Bairns's buiks

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  • My Granny is a Pirate (2012)[35]
  • The High Heid Yin's New Claes furthsetten in The Itchy Coo Book o Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales in Scots (2020)

Non-fiction

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  • A Suitable Job for a Woman (1995)
  • Bodies of Evidence (2014)
  • Forensics – The Anatomy of Crime (2014)[36]
  • Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime (2015)

References

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  1. ↑ "Dr Val McDermid – English, 1972". St Hilda's College, Oxford. Archived frae the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 22 Mairch 2017.
  2. ↑ Nicholas Wroe. "Val McDermid: a life in writing", The Guardian, 12 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "I never spook myself, says top Scots crime writer Val McDermid". Daily Record. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "Queen of crime in stadium thriller". University of Sunderland News and Events. 14 Julie 2011. Archived frae the original on 4 Mairch 2016. Retrieved 15 Julie 2013.
  5. ↑ "Congratulations to St Hilda's Alumnae Team on their Christmas University Challenge Victory". St Hilda's College, Oxford. Archived frae the original on 23 Mairch 2017. Retrieved 22 Mairch 2017.
  6. ↑ "RSE Welcomes 60 New Fellows" (Press release). Royal Society of Edinburgh. 15 Februar 2017. Archived frae the original on 6 Mairch 2017. Retrieved 28 Mairch 2017.
  7. ↑ Natasha Onwuemezi, "Rankin, McDermid and Levy named new RSL fellows", The Bookseller, 7 June 2017.
  8. ↑ "Dining In The Streets Of Raith". valmcdermid.com. Archived frae the original on 4 Januar 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  9. ↑ Burnside, Anna (2 September 2016). "Straight-talking Val McDermid lifts lid on her latest novel and why she's the badass woman of the week". Daily Record. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "I based psycho on Jimmy Savile, says writer Val McDermid". The Daily Record. 28 October 2012.
  11. ↑ "Val McDermid – News & Events – Round the World". ValMcDermid.com. Archived frae the original on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 9 Julie 2007. Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "Val McDermid – Biography". ValMcDermid.com. Archived frae the original on 5 Julie 2007. Retrieved 9 Julie 2007. Archived 2012-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ a b "Author Val McDermid to carry on signings after attack". Journal Live. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  14. ↑ a b "Author Val McDermid assaulted at Sunderland book signing". Journal Live. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 11 Januar 2012.
  15. ↑ "Woman denies attack on crime writer at Sunderland talk". Sunderland Echo. 11 Apryle 2013. Archived frae the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 15 Apryle 2013.
  16. ↑ Liz Bury, "Reader convicted for Val McDermid ink assault", The Guardian, 10 July 2013.
  17. ↑ "Widow who attacked Scottish author Val McDermid with ink is given a restraining order". Daily Record. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 29 Mairch 2014.
  18. ↑ "Val McDermid ink attacker given restraining order". BBC News. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 29 Mairch 2014.
  19. ↑ "Pensioner in court over vendetta with crime writer Val McDermid", The Northern Echo, 9 July 2013, Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  20. ↑ Totaro, P. (2010) "Death becomes her". The Sydney Morning Herald (August 21, 2010). Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  21. ↑ Wroe, N. (2011) "Val McDermid: a life in writing". The Guardian (13/08/20111) Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  22. ↑ Flockhart, Susan (Mey 2004). "Murder In Mind". Sunday Herald. Archived frae the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 18 Julie 2007.
  23. ↑ "Welcome to Val McDermid's website..." Val McDermid official website.
  24. ↑ Val McDermid (5 Apryle 2016). "Scotland is now a place where you can be glad to be gay". The Guardian.
  25. ↑ Stuart Macdonald, "Author Val McDermid gets married to long-term partner Jo Sharp", Daily Record, 25 October 2016.
  26. ↑ "Val McDermid marries partner in Edinburgh", Edinburgh News, 24 October 2016.
  27. ↑ Doug Johnstone (27 Mey 2016). "We Beat the Eggheads!".
  28. ↑ "Val McDermid - Crime and reason". 2008. Archived frae the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  29. ↑ "Interview: It can be murder, but Val McDermid's love of Raith is no mystery". 2010. Archived frae the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  30. ↑ Sally Rowena Munt (1994). Murder by the Book: Feminism and the Crime Novel. Routledge. p. 67. ISBN 0415109191.
  31. ↑ Val McDermid: British Council Literature. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  32. ↑ St. Hilda;s College: Dr Val McDermid - English, 1972. Archived 2019-09-24 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  33. ↑ "Shortlist for Theakston's Crime Novel of the year Award 2009". digyorkshire.com. 2 Juin 2009. Archived frae the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 17 Juin 2009.
  34. ↑ "How the Dead Speak". David Higham Associates (in Inglis). Retrieved 19 Januar 2019.
  35. ↑ Orchard Books. ISBN 978-1-40830-927-8.
  36. ↑ "Forensics – The Anatomy of Crime". Val McDermid official website.
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