June Thomson: R.I.P.

Sad news from Martin Edwards. Mystery author June Thomson has passed away.  I had the pleasure of meeting June in England many years ago at a CWA meeting in St. Albans and again at Bouchercon in London. She was very amiable, and I enjoyed chatting with her. She will be missed, but her books live on. If you haven't read her before, start now. Check out Stop You're Killing Me for a complete list of her works.

From Martin Edwards on his blog: 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'

June was a former teacher who made a radical but effective change of course during her writing career. She established a considerable reputation with a long series of well-written novels featuring Chief Inspector Jack Finch (who was re-named Rudd in the US, to avoid confusion with another series detective called Finch). Her early books drew comparisons with P.D. James, whose style resembled hers in some ways, and she seemed destined to become an equally prominent figure in the genre. Despite her great success, that never quite happened, and only three more Finch books appeared after 1991, as she began to concentrate her energies more on stories of a very different kind - about Sherlock Holmes. There are countless Holmes pastiches, but June's stories were truly outstanding. 

Having admired her work for a long time (her first novel was published way back in 1971) I was thrilled when June wrote a couple of original short stories - 'Deus Ex Machina' and 'Coming Home' - for anthologies I was editing. To publish her work was both a pleasure and a privilege. She also wrote a terrific biography, Holmes and Watson. I treasure my inscribed copies of her books and I shall miss her.