Hill Rag
August 2001
Hill Writers
first in a series
By Karen Lyon
Are there more writers per square foot on Capitol Hill than anywhere else? We're not
sure, but sometimes it seems our neighborhood boasts a disproportionate number of
talented and prolific scribes. We are pleased, therefore, to introduce Hill Writers, a new
series featuring a local writer each month discussing literary life on the Hill.
Mystery Maven: Martha Grimes
Martha Grimes isn't exactly looking for a local spot to commit murder. But the well-
known mystery author and part-time denizen of Capitol Hill is keeping her eyes open. "I
probably have seen a place (since I'm always seeing them) that would be swell for a
murder," she recently told the Hill Rag quickly adding, "I can't bring anything
immediately to mind, though."
Born in Pittsburgh, Ms. Grimes spent childhood summers at her mother's hotel in
Western Maryland. She now splits her time evenly between homes on the Hill and in
Santa Fe, New Mexico. She finds both locations equally inspiring or uninspiring. "The
writing goes on in my head, not in my patio," she said.
Pub names inspire titles
Ms. Grimes' head is fertile territory indeed. Author of more than 20 books, her most
famous novels take place largely in England. With titles inspired by that country's
colorfully-named pubs "The Lamorna Wink" (1999), "The Old Contemptibles" (1991),
"The Stargazey" (1998) the mystery series, which debuted in 1981, features Scotland
Yard Superintendent Richard Jury. He anchors a recurring cast of characters who can
often be found hoisting a pint of Old Peculier at the Jack and Hammer pub in Long
Piddleton.
While English pubs provide the focal point of Ms. Grimes' witty mysteries, her affinity
does not extend to their American cousins. "I've been in some of the restaurants in D.C.
which purport to be pubs'," she said. "But they aren't. One big difference is that Brits
often use pubs to entertain their guests. A pub over there is really an extension of
homelife."
In fact, Ms. Grimes has used only one American pub for a title to date. "The Horse You
Came in On" (1993) was inspired by a sign she saw while walking around Fells Point.
She doubts she'll ever set a book in D.C. "The only reason [Jury and company] wound up
in Baltimore was because I was enamored of the pub name," said Grimes. "D.C. would
certainly need a more magnetic name than the Hawk n' Dove."
And how does an American author succeed in portraying English characters so
convincingly, British slang and all? "It seems to come rather naturally," she replied, "or,
perhaps, there's an empathy with Britain. At any rate, I got it by hanging around there
listening to people talk. It's really osmosis, I guess, since I don't do anything consciously
to maintain the voice."
New book due in September
The prolific author just completed her seventeenth Jury mystery, "The Blue Last," which
will be published in mid-September. "Much of the content is centered on the Second
World War and the London blitz," Grimes reported. "This, of course, is only background.
The actual story takes place in 1995."
Ms. Grimes has also written a three-book series featuring Emma Graham, a self-
possessed 12-year-old who investigates strange goings-on in and around her mother's
hotel in Western Maryland. Apart from the lack of murders to solve, Ms. Grimes
acknowledges that "Hotel Paradise" (1996), the second book in the series, closely reflects
her own life. Her favorite memories of those summers include her mother's cooking and
her brother's theatrical productions. William Grimes is still active in regional theatre and
owns and operates an antiques store in Olney, Maryland.
Advantages to Hill life
Ms. Grimes cites proximity to remaining family, as well as access to the Library of
Congress and living near a Metro stop, as the pluses of living in D.C. "Although I
certainly love different places [on the Hill]," she admits to having no special spots that
fuel her creative juices. These, she claims "flow in exact accordance with putting pen to
paper. You've got to jump-start your own car; you can't hang around all day waiting for
AAA to do it.
True to her word, Ms. Grimes has embarked on yet a third series. "Biting the Moon"
(1999) deals with animal cruelty, and she said subsequent books will address various
forms of animal and environmental abuse. "I shudder to think what's going to happen to
the environment with Bush at the helm," she said. "I think his big push to fund the
Florida Everglades really funny. Of course, he's willing to do that; no one wants to drill
for oil there."
She is unsure, however, whether her next project will continue the abuse theme or take
off in another direction. Whichever tack she takes, the result will likely be a mystery or
treated as one. While critics don't necessarily dismiss the genre, Grimes said, "they don't
want to let me out of it." She points out that "The Train Now Departing" (2000), a book
of two novellas in which not a single dead body turns up, "was reviewed in the
Washington Post in the mystery column."
Waxing poetic about mystery writers
The lonely middle-aged narrator of "Train" ruminates at one point about mystery writers:
"Were they all, in part, despicable? Yes, probably. Perfectly nice people in the main, but
there was that one cringing place in their souls that provoked them toward this sort of
writing, writing that hated to show its hand and would only go in directions where the
rules were firmly established."
"Do I share her opinion of this kind of fiction?" Ms. Grimes considered the question.
"Sure. I think we're a trifle contemptible for writing a type of fiction which demands the
superimposing of framework. That's much safer, isn't it?"
Safer, perhaps. But in the hands of Martha Grimes in whom "the spirit of Christie,
Allingham, and Sayers lives on" ("The Los Angeles Times") also impeccably written
and deliciously entertaining.
Selected Readings:
Richard Jury Mysteries
"The Blue Last" (September, 2001)
"The Stargazey" (1998)
A glamorous blonde on a bus catches Jury's eye and winds up dead or does she?
"The Case Has Altered" (1997)
A double murder on the Lincolnshire fens implicates Jury's longtime lady friend.
"Rainbow's End" (1995)
Jury follows a trail of murder from London to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Other Books
"Cold Flat Junction" (2000)
Young sleuth Emma Graham probes old secrets in this sequel to "Hotel Paradise."
These and other titles by Martha Grimes are available at Trover Books.
