In Remembrance of Meek

Rather belatedly, the London Times carries an obituary today of Scottish-born novelist M.R.D. Meek, who penned 15 books about a disbarred solicitor turned private eye named Lennox Kemp, and passed away on November 27 of last year at age 91. That remembrance begins:

“Too busy to write until retirement, but a voracious reader of crime fiction since finding A Study in Scarlet at the age of 8,” M.R.D. Meek was 65 before she published her first mystery novel, With Flowers That Fell, in 1983. Her second, The Sitting Ducks, appeared the following year, and she produced 13 further novels in 20 years, signing off in 2004, at 86, with the appropriately titled Kemp’s Last Case.

The piece goes on to explain that M.R.D. Meek was the byline used by Margaret Reid Duncan Meek, who obtained a law degree after her first husband died of cancer in 1959. It characterizes her as “a voracious reader of books and newspapers and an avid solver of crosswords. Her prodigious memory made her a formidable adversary in debate. Her politics were loosely Liberal but she had an array of red and blue hats of varying hues depending on the company she was in. She enjoyed holding court and challenging listeners to voice their opinions. Her inquiring mind, love of humanity, and sense of fair play were the keys to her success in the law.”

You’ll find the full obituary here.