An American author of detective fiction, she wrote a series of novels featuring Richard Jury, a Scotland Yard inspector.
She taught at the University of Iowa, Frostburg State University, and Montgomery College.
She received the Nero Wolfe Award for Best Mystery of the Year for her 1983 novel The Anodyne Necklace.
She and her brother--the children of william and June Grimes-- grew up in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
She and Gaston Leroux both wrote detective fiction.
