Quentin jardine biography

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He went on to study law at the University of Glasgow, briefly and without enthusiasm, before stepping cautiously in 1964 into a career which began in journalism, as a trainee on his local newspaper The Motherwell Times.

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Crime writer Quintin Jardine was born in Motherwell in 1945, and studied law at Glasgow University.

He supports Motherwell Football Club and plays golf.

As the series stands today Skinner has been married twice, to Myra (deceased), by whom he has one daughter, Alexis, currently an associate in an Edinburgh law firm, and to an American pathologist, Dr Sarah Grace, by whom he has two children, James Andrew (aka Jazz) and Seonaid, and with whom he adopted the orphaned Mark McGrath.

That marriage ended in divorce, with custody of the children being shared. She and Tom, the son she had with Oz, have settled in the village of St. Marti d' Empuries, in Catalunya, Spain.

Novels featuring Primavera Blackstone:

  1. Inhuman Remains (2009)
  2. Blood Red (2010)

Audio adaptations of most of these titles have been read by Joe Dunlop.

Other projects

Quintin Jardine has often aired the possibility of writing a political story.

References

Persondata
NameJardine, Quintin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth29 June 1945
Place of birthMotherwell
Date of death
Place of death
Categories:
  • 1945 births
  • People from Motherwell
  • Living people
  • Scottish mystery writers
  • Scottish crime fiction writers
  • Scottish novelists
  • Alumni of the University of Glasgow

Quintin Jardine

Skinner's Rules (Bob Skinner, #1)
3.85 avg rating — 1,257 ratings — published 1993 — 19 editions
Skinner's Festival (Bob Skinner, #2)
3.92 avg rating — 768 ratings — published 1994 — 19 editions
Private Investigations (Bob Skinner, #26)
4.32 avg rating — 625 ratings — published 2016 — 15 editions
State Secrets (Bob Skinner, #28)
4.28 avg rating — 615 ratings — published 2017 — 8 editions
Last Resort (Bob Skinner, #25)
4.26 avg rating — 611 ratings — published 2015 — 12 editions
Game Over (Bob Skinner, #27)
4.27 avg rating — 609 ratings — published 2017 — 11 editions
Hour of Darkness (Bob Skinner, #24)
4.05 avg rating — 612 ratings — published 2014 — 16 editions
Open Season
4.48 avg rating — 537 ratings — 4 editions
Skinner's Trail (Bob Skinner, #3)
3.99 avg rating — 597 ratings — published 1994 — 15 editions
Deadlock (Bob Skinner Book 33)
4.24 avg rating — 559 ratings — 5 editions

Quintin Jardine is the author of three much-acclaimed and best-selling series of detective novels, as Eddie Bell and Paul Moreton, his agents, can be heard proclaiming to anyone who is listening, at book festivals around the world.

QJ is a crusty but urbane Scot, in his prime, and done with disclosing his age.

His exploits began with ‘Blackstone’s Pursuits’ and continue through eight more novels to the much-praised ‘For the Death of Me’. He was educated at Knowetop Primary School, Motherwell, and at the High School of Glasgow. The author has said that this is a deliberate contrivance to ensure that Skinner and Blackstone can never meet on the page.

Novels featuring Oz Blackstone.

  1. Blackstone's Pursuits (1996)
  2. A Coffin for Two (1997)
  3. Wearing Purple (1999)
  4. Screen Savers (2000)
  5. On Honeymoon with Death (2001)
  6. Poisoned Cherries (2002)
  7. Unnatural Justice (2003)
  8. Alarm Call (2004)
  9. For the Death of Me (2005)

Primavera Blackstone

When Inhuman Remains was published in January 2009, it was revealed that Oz Blackstone had died, off-stage from an inherited heart condition.

She died in 1997 after a short illness. He gradually turned to novel writing, and his first book, Skinner’s Rules, was published in 1993.

The Bob Skinner novels are set in Edinburgh, and feature deputy chief constable Bon Skinner, marketed as “Britain’s toughest cop”. His second series of novels feature private detective turned Hollywood actor Oz Blackstone.

The first of these novels was written under the pen name of Matthew Reid, but subsequent books used the Jardine name. As a member of the Conservative Party's professional staff he was involved during the 1980s in several key by-election campaigns, including Hillhead, 1982, Darlington, 1983 and West Derbyshire, 1986.

quentin jardine biography

He has appeared at Writers' Festivals and other events around the world, in cities including Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Vancouver, Toronto, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.

In 1966 he married Irene King, of Baillieston, Lanarkshire, and together they had a son and daughter.

He has featured in nine novels since 1996.

One of Blackstone's occasional acting roles is in fictional adaptations of Jardine's Bob Skinner series. The 36th Skinner, the title of which is still the subject of debate, can be ordered in advance of publication in November 2024.

The Oz Blackstone mystery series is written in the first person and follows the narrator’s hapless career as an unwilling detective, with an uncanny resemblance to Keanu Reeves, as he rises to international celebrity status by a quite unexpected and unplanned route, until Keanu Reeves is seen as having an uncanny resemblance to him.

(Actually he was originally labelled ‘Scotland’s toughest cop’, until QJ pointed out that he hoped to sell south of the border, as well as north.) There are thirty-five Skinner books in publication, from the fledgling ‘Skinner’s Rules’, nominated in 1993 for the John Creasey Award for best first crime novel of the year, to the latest best-seller, ‘The Cage’, which has not been nominated as yet for anything, but which damn well should be, in the opinion of the author’s wife.

Other characters include Andy Martin, currently head SCDEA (Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency ), Skinner's closest friend, and former fiance of Alexis, Chief Superintendents Margaret Rose Steele and Mario McGuire, and Detective Superintendent Neil McIlhenney.

Novels featuring Bob Skinner:

  1. Skinner's Rules (1993)
  2. Skinner's Festival (1994)
  3. Skinner's Trail (1994)
  4. Skinner's Round (1995)
  5. Skinner's Ordeal (1996)
  6. Skinner's Mission (1997)
  7. Skinner's Ghosts (1998)
  8. Murmuring the Judges (1998)
  9. Gallery Whispers (1999)
  10. Thursday Legends (2000)
  11. Autographs in the Rain (2001)
  12. Head Shot (2002)
  13. Fallen Gods (2003)
  14. Stay of Execution (2004)
  15. Lethal Intent (2005)
  16. Dead and Buried (2006)
  17. Death's Door (2007)
  18. Aftershock (2008)
  19. Fatal Last Words (2009)
  20. A Rush of Blood (2010)
  21. Grievous Angel (2011)

Bob Skinner audio books have been recorded by James Bryce and Robbie McNab.

Oz Blackstone

Oz Blackstone is the hero of Jardine's second series of books, the first of which appeared in hardback under the pseudonym Matthew Reid, although the mass-market edition also bears his real name.

Like his creator Skinner lives in Gullane, East Lothian and has a second home L'Escala, Catalunya in Spain.

At the beginning of Jardine's first novel, Skinner is a Detective Chief Superintendent; he rises through the ranks as the series progresses. ‘Mathew’s Tale’ a radical departure from the QJ norm, made its first-format appearance in 2014.

All QJ books are published by Headline, part of the Hachette Group (or Hatchet, as it was pronounced by a chairperson at the Melbourne Book Festival), in mass markets throughout the English-speaking world, including the USA.

They can be found in all good book stores, (that is to say, those that are left). He is married to his second wife Eileen, and has four grown-up children.