Gwendoline Butler

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Gwendoline Butler, née Williams (19 August 1922 – 5 January 2013), was a British writer known for her mystery fiction and romance novels. She began her writing career in 1956 and also wrote under the pseudonym Jennie Melville. Credited with inventing the "woman's police procedural," Butler gained recognition for her works, especially the Inspector John Coffin series penned under her own name, and the Charmian Daniels series published under the Jennie Melville pseudonym.

Gwendoline Williams was born on 19 August 1922 in South London, England, the daughter of Alice (Lee) and Alfred Edward Williams.^[2][3] She pursued her education at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she studied History and later became a lecturer.

On 16 October 1949, she married Lionel Harry Butler^[2] (1923–1981), a professor of medieval history at the University of St Andrews, and a historian who held fellowships at All Souls and was principal of Royal Holloway College. They had one daughter.

In 1956, she began publishing her John Coffin series of novels under her married name, Gwendoline Butler. Later, in 1962, she adopted her grandmother's name, Jennie Melville, as a pseudonym for her Charmian Daniels novels.^[3] Besides her mystery series, she also authored romantic novels. Notably, in 1981, her book "The Red Staircase" earned her the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.^[4]

Gwendoline Butler is regarded as one of the most versatile female crime novelists. Her works encompass a wide range of genres, including modern detective stories, Victorian mysteries, Gothic tales, and romantic novels. In 1973, the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) honored her with the Silver Dagger for her novel "A Coffin for Pandora." A former member of the CWA's Committee and a member of the Detection Club, her background in historical research ensured the utmost accuracy in every book she wrote.

She died on 5 January 2013.^[5]

Source:^[6]

The series originally featured Inspector Winter as the main detective in the first three stories. He also appeared in the fourth story, "The Dull Dead" (1958). However, the young John Coffin, described as "mercurial," made his debut, becoming the ongoing protagonist in Gwendoline Butler's subsequent works.

In 1989, there was a significant shift for John Coffin. The book "Coffin in the Black Museum" marked a change as his creator relocated him from South London to East London, specifically an imaginary district with similarities to Docklands.

The books in the series include:

1. Receipt for Murder (1956)
2. Dead in a Row (1957)
3. The Murdering Kind (1958)
4. The Dull Dead (1958)
5. The Interloper (1959)
6. Death Lives Next Door (1960) also known as "Dine and Be Dead"
7. Make Me a Murderer (1961)
8. Coffin in Oxford (1962)
9. A Coffin for Baby (1963)
10. Coffin Waiting (1964)
11. Coffin in Malta (1964)
12. A Nameless Coffin (1966)
13. Coffin Following (1968)
14. Coffin's Dark Number (1969)
15. A Coffin from the Past (1970)
16. A Coffin for Pandora (1973)
17. A Coffin for the Canary (1974)
18. Coffin On the Water (1986)
19. Coffin in Fashion (1987)
20. Coffin Underground (1988)
21. Coffin in the Museum of Crime (1989) also known as "Coffin in the Black Museum"
22. Coffin and the Paper Man (1990)
23. Coffin on Murder Street (1991)
24. Cracking Open a Coffin (1992)
25. A Coffin For Charley (1993)
26. The Coffin Tree (1994)
27. A Dark Coffin (1995)
28. A Double Coffin (1996)
29. Coffin's Game (1997)
30. A Grave Coffin (1998)
31. Coffin's Ghost (1999)
32. A Cold Coffin (2000)
33. A Coffin for Christmas (2000)
34. Coffin Knows the Answer (2002)

1. The King Cried Murder (1999)
2. Dread Murder (2006)

• Sarsen Place (1974)
• Olivia (1975)
• The Vesey Inheritance (1975)
• The Brides of Friedberg (1977) also known as "Meadowsweet"
• The Red Staircase (1979)
• Albion Walk (1982)
• Butterfly (1996)
• Let There Be Love (1997)

Source:^[7]

1. Come Home and Be Killed (1962)
2. Burning Is a Substitute for Loving (1963)
3. Murderers' Houses (1964)
4. There Lies Your Love (1965)
5. Nell Alone (1966)
6. A Different Kind of Summer (1967)
7. A New Kind of Killer, an Old Kind of Death (1970) also known as "A New Kind of Killer" (US title)
8. Murder Has a Pretty Face (1981)
9. Death in the Garden (1987) also known as "Murder in the Garden" (US title)
10. Windsor Red (1988)
11. A Cure for Dying (1989) also known as "Making Good Blood" (US title)
12. Witching Murder (1990)
13. Footsteps in the Blood (1990)
14. Dead Set (1992)
15. Whoever Has the Heart (1993)
16. Baby Drop (1994) also known as "A Death in the Family" (US title)
17. The Morbid Kitchen (1995)
18. The Woman Who Was Not There (1996)
19. Revengeful Death (1998)
20. Stone Dead (1998)
21. Dead Again (2000)
22. Loving Murder (2001)

• Hunter in the Shadows (1969)
• The Summer Assassin (1971)
• Ironwood (1972)
• Nun's Castle (1973)
• Raven's Forge (1975)
• Dragon's Eye (1976)
• Axwater (1978) a.k.a. Tarot's Tower (US title)
• Painted Castle (1982)
• Hand of Glass (1983)
• Listen to the Children (1986)
• Complicity (2000)

• Binyon, T. J. (1989). Murder Will Out: The Detective in Fiction. Oxford. p. 119. ISBN 0-19-219223-X.
• Craig, Patricia; Cadogan, Mary (1986). The Lady Investigates: Women Detectives and Spies in Fiction. Oxford University Press. pp. 228–232. ISBN 0-19-281938-0.
• Melling, John Kennedy (1987). Foreward. In G. Butler, A Coffin from the Past. Chivers Press edition.

• Gwendoline Butler at Fantastic Fiction
• Bibliography at Classic Crime Fiction
• Interview by John Kennedy Melling at Crime Time
• Inspector Winter, Gwendoline Butler’s First Detective (April 2011)
• Tribute to Gwendoline Butler (February 2014)