Grimes’s fascination with Scotland Yard began with a chance encounter you only read about in books. Photograph by Michael Ventura.
Readers of Martha Grimes’s mystery series starring Inspector Richard Jury of Scotland Yard wouldn’t be blamed for thinking she’s British, instead of an American with deep ties to Maryland. Now in her early eighties, Grimes says her new Jury book, Vertigo 42, out this month, is “the hardest one I’ve ever written,” but she’s still experimenting. She recently spoke to us from her Bethesda home.
Vertigo 42 is unusual for you in that the mysterious death has already occurred at the start of the book.
The book is based on a suicide, and I wanted to make that character so interesting that her death could carry the book—but I couldn’t do it. I wound up with three murders instead.
Jury novels always seem to be named for English pubs—this one is a Champagne bar. How did the tradition come about?
I’m enamored of names and all they stand for—and conceal. My favorite is The Old Silent, the first chapter of which takes place in complete silence. I always have the name before I write. You have to start with something concrete—a touchstone, if you will. I’m a very slow writer, so having that keeps me moving.
That explains the pub names. But why England?
I went to England because of a man. That relationship didn’t work out, but the one with England did. I go over once or twice a year, first to pick a pub, then to get its environs right.
Last week, I was going over some old notebooks and found a story about the time I got to go inside Scotland Yard. I was in London, and a man came up to me on the street and asked where it was. He said, “I’ve got to get there because I’m being poisoned!” I was so intrigued by his story—he said his relatives were slowly poisoning him to gain control of his antiques business—that I thought nothing of following him to his car and driving up to New Scotland Yard so he could entertain a constable with his tale of woe.
Last year, you published a joint memoir with your son called Double Double, about both of your battles with alcoholism. Is there any irony that people associate you with pubs?
I was what’s called a “maintenance drinker,” who never gives the appearance of being drunk. Even my psychiatrist didn’t believe me when I said I was an alcoholic. But I gradually realized something was in control of me, and I couldn’t have that. I couldn’t stop by myself, so I went to a clinic. Allowing my characters to indulge in cocktails, wine, or sherry is purely vicarious enjoyment on my part.
This article appears in the June 2014 issue of Washingtonian.
At Home Abroad: The Mystery of Author Martha Grimes
The longtime Washingtonian on why she sets her famous mystery series in England.
Readers of Martha Grimes’s mystery series starring Inspector Richard Jury of Scotland Yard wouldn’t be blamed for thinking she’s British, instead of an American with deep ties to Maryland. Now in her early eighties, Grimes says her new Jury book, Vertigo 42, out this month, is “the hardest one I’ve ever written,” but she’s still experimenting. She recently spoke to us from her Bethesda home.
Vertigo 42 is unusual for you in that the mysterious death has already occurred at the start of the book.
The book is based on a suicide, and I wanted to make that character so interesting that her death could carry the book—but I couldn’t do it. I wound up with three murders instead.
Jury novels always seem to be named for English pubs—this one is a Champagne bar. How did the tradition come about?
I’m enamored of names and all they stand for—and conceal. My favorite is The Old Silent, the first chapter of which takes place in complete silence. I always have the name before I write. You have to start with something concrete—a touchstone, if you will. I’m a very slow writer, so having that keeps me moving.
That explains the pub names. But why England?
I went to England because of a man. That relationship didn’t work out, but the one with England did. I go over once or twice a year, first to pick a pub, then to get its environs right.
Last week, I was going over some old notebooks and found a story about the time I got to go inside Scotland Yard. I was in London, and a man came up to me on the street and asked where it was. He said, “I’ve got to get there because I’m being poisoned!” I was so intrigued by his story—he said his relatives were slowly poisoning him to gain control of his antiques business—that I thought nothing of following him to his car and driving up to New Scotland Yard so he could entertain a constable with his tale of woe.
Last year, you published a joint memoir with your son called Double Double, about both of your battles with alcoholism. Is there any irony that people associate you with pubs?
I was what’s called a “maintenance drinker,” who never gives the appearance of being drunk. Even my psychiatrist didn’t believe me when I said I was an alcoholic. But I gradually realized something was in control of me, and I couldn’t have that. I couldn’t stop by myself, so I went to a clinic. Allowing my characters to indulge in cocktails, wine, or sherry is purely vicarious enjoyment on my part.
This article appears in the June 2014 issue of Washingtonian.
Most Popular in News & Politics
Rock Creek Isn’t Safe to Swim In. RFK Jr. Did It Anyway.
Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2025
Meet the Duck Whisperer of DC
Humorless Scolds Fret About Trump’s Free Plane From Qatar, RFK Jr. Swam in Rock Creek, and We’ve Got 20 New Restaurants for You to Get Excited About
The Devastating Story of Washington’s Peeping-Tom Rabbi
Washingtonian Magazine
May Issue: 52 Perfect Saturdays
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
A Vending Machine for DC Books Has Arrived in Western Market
DC Might Be Getting a Watergate Museum
DC-Area Universities Are Offering Trump Classes This Fall
Viral DC-Area Food Truck Flavor Hive Has It in the Bag
More from News & Politics
A Vending Machine for DC Books Has Arrived in Western Market
A Non-Speaking Autistic Artist’s Paintings Are Getting a DC Gallery Show
Kristi Noem Wants a New Plane and a Reality Show, Kennedy Center Staff Plans to Unionize, and Trump’s Birthday Parade Could Cost $45 Million
Ed Martin Asks Judge to Investigate Lawyer Investigating Him, RFK Jr. Couldn’t Identify Office Named for His Aunt, and We Found Some Terrific Dominican Food
Federal Agents Arrest 189 in DC Immigration Crackdown
Five New Galleries Are Opening at DC’s National Air and Space Museum in July
DOGE’s Geniuses Are Bad at Math, Ed Martin’s New Job Is to “Shame” People, and the Commanders Will Play in Spain
A New Book About Joe Biden Has Washington Chattering, the Library Wars Continue, and the Wizards Lost Out in the Draft