H. R. F. Keating
Encyclopedia
Henry Reymond Fitzwalter "Harry" Keating (31 October 1926 — 27 March 2011) was an English
crime fiction
writer most notable for his series of novels featuring Inspector Ghote
of the Bombay CID.
and typed out his first story at the age of eight. He was educated at Merchant Taylor's School
in London and later Trinity College, Dublin
. In 1956 he moved to London to work as a journalist on the Daily Telegraph newspaper. He was the crime books reviewer for The Times
newspaper for fifteen years. He was Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association
(CWA) (1970–71), Chairman of the Society of Authors
(1983–84) and President of the Detection Club
(1985–2000). He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
.
He received the George N. Dove Award in 1995. In 1996 the CWA awarded him the Cartier Diamond Dagger
for outstanding services to crime literature. He also wrote screenplays, was a reviewer and wrote a biography of Dame Agatha Christie
entitled Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime. He died on March 27 2011, aged 84.
with his wife, the actress Sheila Mitchell until his death in 2011, aged 84.
. With his fifth novel, Death of a Fat God (1963), he moved to Collins Crime Club
, with whom he stayed for the next twenty years.
(1964), which won a Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger
Award and was nominated for an Edgar Award
. It was later made into a film by Merchant Ivory. Keating intended Ghote's final appearance to be in the novel Breaking and Entering (2000), but brought the character back in Inspector Ghote's First Case (2008).
Keating did not visit India until ten years after he started writing about it.
to save his estranged wife.
In the 1990s Keating wrote several novels about UK police detectives whose human weaknesses adversely affect their work. The first of these was The Rich Detective (1993) in which Detective Inspector Bill Sylvester of South Mercia Police investigates an anonymous allegation that a local antiques dealer is murdering old ladies after persuading them to change their wills in his favour.
In A Bad Detective (1996) Detective Sergeant Jack Stallworthy is a corrupt police officer who is planning his retirement to Devon when a businessman offers him an entire tropical island in return for stealing an incriminating file from the Fraud Investigations Office at police headquarters.
In September 1999 Flambard Press published his verse novel Jack, the Lady Killer.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
crime fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
writer most notable for his series of novels featuring Inspector Ghote
Inspector Ghote
Inspector Ganesh V. Ghote is a fictional police officer who is the main character in H. R. F. Keating's detective novels. Ghote is an inspector in the police force of Bombay , India....
of the Bombay CID.
Life
Keating, known as "Harry" to friends and family, was born in St. Leonards-on-Sea, SussexSussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
and typed out his first story at the age of eight. He was educated at Merchant Taylor's School
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
in London and later Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
. In 1956 he moved to London to work as a journalist on the Daily Telegraph newspaper. He was the crime books reviewer for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper for fifteen years. He was Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association
Crime Writers' Association
The Crime Writers Association is a writers' association in the United Kingdom. Founded by John Creasey in 1953, it is currently chaired by Peter James and claims 450+ members....
(CWA) (1970–71), Chairman of the Society of Authors
Society of Authors
The Society of Authors is a trade union for professional writers that was founded in 1884 to protect the rights of writers and fight to retain those rights .It has counted amongst its members and presidents numerous notable writers and poets including Tennyson The Society of Authors (UK) is a...
(1983–84) and President of the Detection Club
Detection Club
The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Freeman Wills Crofts, Arthur Morrison, John Rhode, Jessie Rickard, Baroness Emma Orczy, R. Austin Freeman, G.D.H. Cole, Margaret Cole, E.C. Bentley, and H.C. Bailey. Anthony...
(1985–2000). He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
.
He received the George N. Dove Award in 1995. In 1996 the CWA awarded him the Cartier Diamond Dagger
Cartier Diamond Dagger
The Cartier Diamond Dagger is an award given by the Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain to authors who have made an outstanding lifetime's contribution to the genre. The 2011 winner is Lindsey Davis.-Winners:* 1986 - Eric Ambler* 1987 - P. D...
for outstanding services to crime literature. He also wrote screenplays, was a reviewer and wrote a biography of Dame Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
entitled Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime. He died on March 27 2011, aged 84.
Last years
On his 80th birthday in 2006, members of the Detection Club honored him with an anthology, Verdict of Us All. He lived in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with his wife, the actress Sheila Mitchell until his death in 2011, aged 84.
Early novels
Keating's first four novels were published by GollanczVictor Gollancz Ltd
Victor Gollancz Ltd was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century. It was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz and specialised in the publication of high quality literature, nonfiction and popular fiction, including science fiction. Upon Gollancz's death in 1967, ownership...
. With his fifth novel, Death of a Fat God (1963), he moved to Collins Crime Club
Collins Crime Club
The Collins Crime Club was an imprint of UK book publishers William Collins & Co Ltd and ran from May 6, 1930 to April 1994. Customers registered their name and address with the club and were sent a newsletter every three months which advised them of the latest books which had been or were to be...
, with whom he stayed for the next twenty years.
Inspector Ghote
Inspector Ganesh Ghote is an inspector in the Mumbai Police who appeared in twenty-six novels. The first was The Perfect MurderThe Perfect Murder
The Perfect Murder is a 1988 English language Indian film directed by Zafar Hai and produced by Merchant-Ivory. The film is based on the 1964 novel The Perfect Murder by British crime fiction writer HRF Keating and stars Naseeruddin Shah as Inspector Ghote, the leading character in Keating's novels...
(1964), which won a Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger
Gold Dagger
The Gold Dagger Award was an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association for the best crime novel of the year.For its first five years, the organization's top honor was known as the Crossed Red Herring Award....
Award and was nominated for an Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
. It was later made into a film by Merchant Ivory. Keating intended Ghote's final appearance to be in the novel Breaking and Entering (2000), but brought the character back in Inspector Ghote's First Case (2008).
Keating did not visit India until ten years after he started writing about it.
Evelyn Hervey
In the mid-eighties Keating published three novels with Weidenfeld under the pseudonym Evelyn Hervey.DCI Harriet Martens
Harriet Martens is a Detective Chief Inspector who earns the nickname "The Hard Detective" because of the tough image that she adopts to survive in the masculine world of UK policing. This toughness inspired her to start a "Stop the Rot" campaign that successfully reduced local crime but angered some violent criminals to the extent that they start murdering her officers. In the second book she falls in love with a fellow officer while investigating the murder of the UK's top tennis player. With her job under threat she fights to prove her worth in the third book.Other novels
In 1978 Keating published A Long Walk to Wimbledon, a science-fiction novel about a man trekking across a ruined LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to save his estranged wife.
In the 1990s Keating wrote several novels about UK police detectives whose human weaknesses adversely affect their work. The first of these was The Rich Detective (1993) in which Detective Inspector Bill Sylvester of South Mercia Police investigates an anonymous allegation that a local antiques dealer is murdering old ladies after persuading them to change their wills in his favour.
In A Bad Detective (1996) Detective Sergeant Jack Stallworthy is a corrupt police officer who is planning his retirement to Devon when a businessman offers him an entire tropical island in return for stealing an incriminating file from the Fraud Investigations Office at police headquarters.
In September 1999 Flambard Press published his verse novel Jack, the Lady Killer.
Non-fiction
His guide to Writing Crime Fiction (1986) was based on his analysis of the development of the genre from the 1920s to the 1990s. It includes guidance on fictional structure, the plot and its characters, and on submitting a script to publishers.Inspector Ghote
- The Perfect MurderThe Perfect MurderThe Perfect Murder is a 1988 English language Indian film directed by Zafar Hai and produced by Merchant-Ivory. The film is based on the 1964 novel The Perfect Murder by British crime fiction writer HRF Keating and stars Naseeruddin Shah as Inspector Ghote, the leading character in Keating's novels...
(1964) - Inspector Ghote's Good CrusadeInspector Ghote's Good CrusadeInspector Ghote's Good Crusade is a crime novel by H. R. F. Keating. It is the second book in the Inspector Ghote series.-Plot introduction:...
(1966) - Inspector Ghote Caught in Meshes (1967)
- Inspector Ghote Hunts the PeacockInspector Ghote Hunts the Peacock-Plot introduction:An injury to Inspector Ghote's commanding officer prevents him from attending an international police conference on drug smuggling that is to be held in London...
(1968) - Inspector Ghote Plays a JokerInspector Ghote Plays a JokerInspector Ghote Plays A Joker is a crime novel by H. R. F. Keating. It is the fifth novel in the Inspector Ghote series.-Plot introduction:...
(1969) - Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg (1970)
- Inspector Ghote Goes by TrainInspector Ghote Goes by Train (novel)Inspector Ghote Goes By Train is a crime novel by H. R. F. Keating. It is the seventh novel in the Inspector Ghote series.-Plot introduction:...
(1971) - Inspector Ghote Trusts the Heart (1972)
- Bats Fly Up for Inspector Ghote (1974)
- Filmi, Filmi, Inspector Ghote (1976)
- Inspector Ghote Draws a Line (1979)
- The Murder of the Maharajah (1980)
- Go West Inspector Ghote (1981)
- The Sheriff of Bombay (1984)
- Under a Monsoon CloudUnder a Monsoon CloudUnder A Monsoon Cloud is a crime novel by H. R. F. Keating. It is the fifteenth book in the Inspector Ghote series.-Plot introduction:Inspector Ghote is assigned to Vigatpour hill station, which is due for inspection by Additional Deputy Inspector General "Tiger" Kelkar...
(1986) - The Body in the Billiard Room (1987)
- Dead on Time (1988)
- The Iciest SinThe Iciest SinThe Iciest Sin is a crime novel by H. R. F. Keating. It is the eighteenth novel in the Inspector Ghote series but the nineteenth book to be published as an anthology of short stories was released the year before.-Plot introduction:...
(1990) - Inspector Ghote, His Life and Crimes (1989); short story collection
- Cheating Death (1992)
- Doing Wrong (1993)
- Asking QuestionsAsking QuestionsAsking Questions is a crime novel by H. R. F. Keating. It is the twentieth novel in the Inspector Ghote series and the twenty-second book, due to the publication of two short story collections.-Plot introduction:...
(1996) - Bribery, Corruption Also (1999)
- Breaking and EnteringBreaking and Entering (novel)Breaking and Entering is a crime novel by H.R.F. Keating. It is the twenty-fourth novel in the Inspector Ghote series.-Plot introduction:...
(2000) - Inspector Ghote's First CaseInspector Ghote's First CaseInspector Ghote's First Case is a crime novel by H. R. F. Keating.-Plot introduction:Inspector Ghote has just been promoted to inspector and is on leave before taking up his post in Bombay Criminal Investigation Department. This he hopes will allow him to spend time with his heavily pregnant wife,...
(2008) - A Small Case for Inspector Ghote? (2009)
Harriet Martens
- The Hard Detective (2000)
- A Detective in Love (2001)
- A Detective Under Fire (2002)
- The Dreaming Detective (2003)
- A Detective at Death's Door (2004)
- One Man and His Bomb (2006)
- Rules, Regs and Rotten Eggs (2007)
Other novels
- Death and the Visiting Firemen (1959)
- Zen There Was Murder (1960)
- A Rush On the Ultimate (1961)
- The Dog It Was That Died (1962)
- Death of a Fat God (1963)
- Is Skin-Deep, Is Fatal (1965)
- The Strong Man (1971)
- The Underside (1974)
- A Remarkable Case of Burglary (1975)
- Murder by Death (1976); novelization of Murder by DeathMurder by DeathMurder by Death is a 1976 comedy film with a cast featuring Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, James Coco, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Nancy Walker, and Estelle Winwood, written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.The plot is a spoof of...
(screenplay by Neil SimonNeil SimonNeil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
) - A Long Walk to Wimbledon (1978); science-fiction novel
- The Governess (1983); writing as Evelyn Hervey
- Mrs. Craggs: Crimes Cleaned Up (1985); short story collection
- The Man of Gold (1985); writing as Evelyn Hervey
- Into the Valley of Death (1986); writing as Evelyn Hervey
- The Rich Detective (1993)
- The Good Detective (1995)
- The Soft Detective (1997)
- In Kensington Gardens Once... (1997); short story collection
- The Bad Detective (1999)
- Jack the Lady Killer (1999); novel in verse
Non-fiction books
- Murder Must Appetize (1975)
- Sherlock Holmes, the Man and His World (1979)
- Great Crimes (1982)
- Writing Crime Fiction (1986; 2nd ed. 1994)
- Crime and Mystery: the 100 Best Books (1987)
- The Bedside Companion to Crime (1989)
External links
- Official website
- An Appreciation by Mike Ripley in SHOTS Crime & Thriller Ezine When Harry Met Ripley
- Portrait photograph taken by Nichola Kurtz in January 2002
- Article on HRF Keating
- H.R.F. Keating obituary at the Telegraph
- H.R.F. Keating obituary at the Guardian