John Grant (born 1933), professionally known under

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Jonathan Gash, is an English doctor and writer, best known as the author of the ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

'' series that was adapted to television by

Ian La Frenais Ian La Frenais (born 7 January 1937) is a retired English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including '' The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ' ...

He has also written under the name Graham Gaunt.

Biography

Born in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Grant was educated at St Peter and St Paul's Primary School, then Thornleigh College, before studying medicine and qualifying as a doctor. He served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, attaining the rank of Major in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

, and has also worked as a

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

and as a

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

. Between 1971 and 1988 he was director of bacteriology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Grant won the John Creasey Award in 1977 for his first ''Lovejoy'' novel, '' The Judas Pair''. He is also the author of a series of medical thrillers featuring the character Dr Clare Burtonall, and a novel, ''The Incomer'', as Graham Gaunt. He has also published work in the periodical '' Postscripts''. Grant lives near

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, the setting for many of his novels.

Bibliography

His ''

'' novels, written as Jonathan Gash, include: *'' The Judas Pair'' (1977) *''Gold By Gemini'' (1978) *''The Grail Tree'' (1979) *''Spend Game'' (1980) *''The Vatican Rip'' (1981) *''Firefly Gadroon'' (1982) *''The Sleepers of Erin'' (1983) *''The Gondola Scam'' (1984) *''Pearlhanger'' (1985) *''The Tartan Ringers'' (1986) a.k.a. ''The Tartan Sell'' *''Moonspender'' (1986) *''Jade Woman'' (1988) *''The Very Last Gambado'' (1989) *''The Great California Game'' (1991) *''The Lies of Fair Ladies'' (1992) *''Paid and Loving Eyes'' (1993) *''The Sin Within Her Smile'' (1993) *''The Grace in Older Women'' (1995) *''The Possessions of a Lady'' (1995) *''The Rich and the Profane'' (1998) *''A Rag, a Bone and a Hank of Hair'' (1999) *''Every Last Cent'' (2001) *''Ten Word Game'' (2003) *''Faces in the Pool'' (2008) *''Lovejoy at Large'' (omnibus) (1991) *''Lovejoy at Large Again'' (omnibus) (1993) *''Lovejoy Omnibus'' (omnibus) (1997) His Dr. Clare Burtonall series, also written as Jonathan Gash, includes: *''Different Women Dancing'' (1997) *''Prey Dancing'' (1998) *''Die Dancing'' (2000) *''Bone Dancing'' (2002) *''Blood Dancing'' (2006) Other novels written as Jonathan Gash include: *''The Year of the Woman'' (2004) *''Finding Davey'' (2005) *''Bad Girl Magdalene'' (2007) *''Preddy Boy'' (2013) Novels written as Jonathan Grant include the Mehala of Sealandings series: * ''The Shores of Sealandings (1991)'' * ''Storms at Sealandings'' (1992) * ''Mehala Lady of Sealandings'' (1994) * ''Bring Flowers of the Fairest'' (2012) * ''Velvet Walks'' (2012) *

Sources

* ;Footnotes 1933 births Living people 20th-century British Army personnel 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers 20th-century English medical doctors 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English crime fiction writers English male novelists Military personnel from the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Royal Army Medical Corps officers Writers from Bolton {{UK-novelist-stub