'Open a book; open a door'

 

“Writing a mystery is more difficult than other kinds of books because a mystery has a certain framework that must be superimposed over the story.” – Martha Grimes

Grimes was born in Pittsburgh, PA, on this date in 1931, a fact that sometimes shocks her readers – not that she was born in Pittsburgh, but that she was born in America.  That’s because many of her best-known mysteries feature Scotland Yard detective Richard Jury and most people think she is British.

Grimes spent much of her youth in Western Maryland -- where her mother owned a hotel -- and her "Emma Graham" novels are set in that very locale.  But it is her "Jury" novels that have earned her international acclaim.      Each Jury mystery is named after a pub, including one set in Maryland. 

“In Baltimore,” she said,  “I was walking with a friend who was playing at a pub he kept referring to as the Horse. But when I saw the sign 'The Horse You Came In On' - I thought, 'My God.'  I had no intention of ever setting a Jury novel in the U.S., but when I saw that, I thought, 'That's it.' The names are very important.”

 

Named “Grand Master” by the Mystery Writers of America, Grimes says she loves playing with words and the writing process in general.     “It really is like opening a door, isn’t it, to open a book," Grimes wrote.  "Books, words, stories are a kind of solace.”