Pieces of Justice - Hardcover

Margaret Yorke

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0708935834 ISBN 13: 9780708935835

Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd, 1996

Synopsis

In this collection of crime stories, readers will be delighted to find Dr. Patrick Grant making a welcome re-appearance. Also included are stories about a long held grudge and a wrongdoing with unforeseen later consequences, and others, all on a par with Margaret Yorke’s much admired full length works.

About this title

About the Author:

Born in Surrey, England, to John and Alison Larminie in 1924, Margaret Yorke (Margaret Beda Nicholson) grew up in Dublin before moving back to England in 1937, where the family settled in Hampshire, although she later lived in a small village in Buckinghamshire. During World War II she saw service in the Women's Royal Naval Service as a driver. In 1945, she married, but it was only to last some ten years, although there were two children; a son and daughter. Her childhood interest in literature was re-enforced by five years living close to Stratford-upon-Avon and she also worked variously as a bookseller and as a librarian in two Oxford Colleges, being the first woman ever to work in that of Christ Church. She was widely travelled and had a particular interest in both Greece and Russia. Her first novel was published in 1957, but it was not until 1970 that she turned her hand to crime writing. There followed a series of five novels featuring Dr. Patrick Grant, an Oxford don and amateur sleuth, who shared her own love of Shakespeare. More crime and mystery was to follow, and she wrote some forty three books in all, but the Grant novels were limited to five as, in her own words, 'authors using a series detective are trapped by their series. It stops some of them from expanding as writers'. She was proud of the fact that many of her novels were essentially about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations which may threatening, or simply horrific. It is this facet of her writing that ensures a loyal following amongst readers who inevitably identify with some of the characters and recognise conflicts that may occur in everyday life. Indeed, she stated that characters are far more important to her than intricate plots and that when writing 'I don’t manipulate the characters, they manipulate me'. Critics have noted that she has a 'marvellous use of language' and she has frequently been cited as an equal to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and in 1999 was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger, having already been honoured with the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection. Margaret Yorke died in 2012.

From AudioFile:

Margaret Yorke's short story collection, PIECES OF JUSTICE, is not for the easily depressed. The chilling bits of irony and homegrown justice found in each tale send shivers down the spine while the everyday horrors linger in the memory longer than one might find agreeable. Maureen O'Brien is perfection in her narration, maintaining the perfect note of British normalcy and upright civility as a counterpoint to utter insanity, weariness, and contempt. Author and reader are well matched in this audio. But, listener, beware, even your nearest and dearest may seem a tad too close for comfort from this moment on. P.H.M. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0708935834
• ISBN 13: 9780708935835
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 560