1. Valarie McDermid was born on 4 June 1955 and is a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of novels featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and his collaborators in the police department.
18 Facts About Val McDermid
1. 2.
Val McDermid's work is considered to be part of a sub-genre known as Tartan Noir.
3.
Val McDermid had a second series, known as Karen Pirie, adapted from her several books featuring that character.
4.
Val McDermid studied English at St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she was the first student to be admitted from a Scottish state school.
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Val McDermid was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Sunderland in 2011.
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Val McDermid is co-founder of the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival and the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, part of the Harrogate International Festivals.
7.
In 2017, Val McDermid was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
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Jimmy Savile 8.
Val McDermid has said that her character of Jacko Vance, a TV celebrity with a secret lust for torture, murder and under-age girls, who she featured in Wire in the Blood and two later books, is based on her direct personal experience of interviewing Jimmy Savile.
9.
In 2010, Val McDermid received the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers' Association for "outstanding achievement in the field of crime writing".
10.
Val McDermid considers her work to be part of the "Tartan Noir" Scottish crime fiction genre.
11.
Val McDermid was a lifelong fan of Raith Rovers football club, her father having worked as a scout for the club.
12.
In 2010, she sponsored the Val McDermid Stand at Stark's Park, the club's ground in Kirkcaldy, in honour of her father.
13.
Val McDermid was signing books, and a woman asked her to autograph a Top of the Pops annual which contained a picture of the disgraced late TV presenter Jimmy Savile.
14.
Val McDermid said the incident would not stop her from doing signings.
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Val McDermid was given a restraining order forbidding her from contacting McDermid for an undefined period of time.
16.
Val McDermid formerly lived in both Stockport and near Alnmouth in Northumberland with three cats and a border terrier dog.
17.
On 23 October 2016 Val McDermid married her partner of two years, Jo Sharp, at the time a Professor of Geography at the University of Glasgow.
18.
Val McDermid has incorporated feminism into some of her novels.