Val McDermid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Val McDermid | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | June 4, 1955 |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Genres | Crime fiction |
Val McDermid (born June 4, 1955) is a Scottish crime writer.
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[edit] Biography
McDermid comes from Kirkcaldy, Fife and was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she was the first student from a state school in Scotland (Kirkcaldy High School), and became President of the Junior Common Room. After graduation, she became a journalist, and had some success as a dramatist. However, her first success as a novelist, Report for Murder: The First Lindsay Gordon Mystery, did not appear until 1987.
[edit] Work
McDermid's notable characters are a lesbian journalist, Lindsay Gordon; a private investigator, Kate Brannigan; and a psychologist, Tony Hill, who suffers from sexual dysfunction. Her books mainly fall into three series: Lindsay Gordon, Kate Brannigan, and, beginning in 1997, the Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series, the first entry in which, The Mermaids Singing, won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year. The Hill/Jordan series has been adapted for television under the name Wire in the Blood, featuring Robson Green.
McDermid considers her work to be Tartan Noir.[1]
As well as her novels, McDermid contributes to several British newspapers and often broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland.[2]
[edit] Personal life
McDermid is a lesbian. She and her former partner share custody of their son Cameron (conceived to McDermid's former partner via donor insemination). [2][3] She lives in Manchester and Northumberland.[4]
[edit] Publications
[edit] Lindsay Gordon mysteries
- Report for Murder (1987)
- Common Murder (1989)
- Deadline for Murder (1991)
- Union Jack (1993) (US Title - Conferences are Murder)
- Booked for Murder (1996)
- Hostage to Murder (2003)
[edit] Kate Brannigan mysteries
- Dead Beat (1992)
- Kick Back (1993)
- Crack Down (1994)
- Clean Break (1995)
- Blue Genes (1996)
- Star Struck (1998)
- Half Life (TBA)
[edit] Tony Hill & Carol Jordan novels
- The Mermaids Singing (1995)
- The Wire in the Blood (1997)
- The Last Temptation (2002)
- The Torment of Others (2004)
- Beneath the Bleeding (2007)
[edit] Standalone novels
- A Place of Execution (1999)
- Killing the Shadows (2000)
- The Distant Echo (2003)
- Stranded: a collection of short fiction (2005)
- The Grave Tattoo (2005)
- A Darker Domain
[edit] References
- ^ Val McDermid - News & Events - Round the World. ValMcDermid.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ a b Val McDermid - Biography. ValMcDermid.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Mina, Denise. "Denise Mina talks to Val McDermid", Sunday Herald, February 2002. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Flockhart, Susan. "Murder In Mind", Sunday Herald, May 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
