Caroline Graham (writer)

Not to be confused with Carolyn Graham or Caroline Graham Hansen.

Caroline Graham
Born (1931-07-17) 17 July 1931 (age 93)
Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England
OccupationNovelist
EducationMA, Writing for the Theatre[1]
Alma materUniversity of Birmingham, Open University
GenreMystery
Notable worksChief Inspector Barnaby series
Children1

Caroline Graham (born 17 July 1931) is an English playwright, screenwriter and novelist.

Early life and education

Graham was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire to a working-class family,[2] and attended Nuneaton High School for Girls where her English teacher encouraged her to write.[2][3] Graham's mother died when she was six and her father remarried when she was 13.[3] At the age of 14, she left school and went to work in Courtaulds Mill as a wefter.[2]

She served in the Women's Royal Naval Service from 1953 to 1955 but eventually ran away because she hated it.[3][4][5] She met up with her airforce penpal, Graham Cameron, whom she later married.[2] The couple moved to France, living in a mews house at Versailles where Cameron was stationed as part of his work for the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe.[2] She had attended ballet school for three years during their stay in France.[3][4] After some time, they relocated to Lincoln, England where Graham spent three days a week in London at drama school.[2][3] They later split up, with Graham moving to London.[2] There, she met a new partner and became pregnant with her son, David.[2]

She studied with the Open University, and in 1991 received a master's degree in theatre studies from the University of Birmingham at the age of 60.[3][5]

Career

Her first published book was Fire Dance (1982), a romance novel. She is best known as the writer of the Chief Inspector Barnaby series, dramatised for television as Midsomer Murders. The first Inspector Barnaby novel, The Killings at Badger's Drift, was published in 1987. The novel was well received by the mystery community and was named by the Crime Writers' Association as one of "The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time".[6] It also won the 1989 Macavity Award for "Best First Novel" and was nominated for the same honour at the 1989 Anthony Awards and the 1988 Agatha Awards.[7][8][9]

Since The Killings at Badger's Drift, Graham has written six more Inspector Barnaby novels; the last, A Ghost in the Machine, was published in 2004.[3] The first five Inspector Barnaby novels formed the basis of the first five episodes of Midsomer Murders. She has also written for the soap opera Crossroads. She has appeared in a series on detective writers titled Super Sleuths (2006),[10] appeared in one episode of The People's Detective (2010),[11] as well as appearing in episode 3 of Midsomer Murders. As of 2011, she was writing a novel set in the 1890s.[3]

Selected works

Chief Inspector Barnaby series

Others

  • Fire Dance (1982)
  • The Envy of the Stranger (1984)
  • Murder at Madingley Grange (1990)

References

  1. ^ "Caroline Graham". Midsomer Murders. 9 July 2004. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Weekend: The Saturday Interview - Caroline Graham - Dissatisfaction must be guaranteed". The Birmingham Post. The Free Library. 20 December 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Oliver, Gill (9 June 2011). "Author of Midsomer Murders stories". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b "'FROM CROSSROADS TO MIDSOMER MURDERS' CAROLINE GRAHAM IN CONVERSATION WITH RUSSELL JAMES AT THE NFT IN LONDON". 9 July 2004.
  5. ^ a b "Caroline Graham". British Council – Literature.
  6. ^ The Hatchards Crime Companion. 100 Top Crime Novels Selected by the Crime Writers' Association, ed. Susan Moody (London, 1990) (ISBN 0-904030-02-4).
  7. ^ "Mystery Readers International's Macavity Awards". Mysteryreaders.org. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  8. ^ "Bouchercon World Mystery Convention : Anthony Awards Nominees". Bouchercon.info. 2 October 2003. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  9. ^ "Malice Domestic Convention - Bethesda, MD". Malicedomestic.org. 23 August 1988. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  10. ^ "Super Sleuths". 3 October 2006 – via IMDb.
  11. ^ "The People's Detective". 31 August 2010 – via IMDb.