Maureen Jennings (born 23 April 1939) is a British Canadian writer best known for the Detective Murdoch series, which formed the basis for the television show Murdoch Mysteries. She is credited as a creative consultant and occasionally writer for the show.

Biography

Maureen Jennings was born and grew up in Birmingham, England. She attended Saltley Grammar School. Jennings grew up knowing little of her father, who was killed in action during World War II. Jennings emigrated to Canada with her mother when she was seventeen. She earned a BA in psychology and philosophy at the University of Windsor and an MA in English literature at the University of Toronto. Jennings initially taught in the English department at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute and later practiced as a psychotherapist. Her first successful writing was stage plays. Jennings is best known as the author of the Detective Murdoch Series, which has been turned into a television series. As of 2019, her most recent novel, Heat Wave, introduces Murdoch's son as a police detective in 1936. The television drama Bomb Girls was based on a concept Jennings developed. Jennings was awarded the Grant Allen Award in 2011 as a pioneer in crime fiction. She lives in Toronto.

Fiction

Detective Murdoch Series

John Wilson Murray, who was appointed as Ontario's first government detective in 1875, "was an important inspiration" for Jennings and led to the development of the character William Murdoch.

Christine Morris Series

Detective Inspector Tom Tyler Series

Paradise Café Series

Non-fiction