M. J. Trow

Meirion James Trow (born 1949) is a writer who writes under the name M. J. Trow.

Warwick School

Trow was born in Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales. He went to Warwick School from 1961 to 1968. In 1968 he went to King's College London to read history. After graduation he spent a year at Jesus College, Cambridge. In 1973 he married and in 1976 moved to the Isle of Wight where he worked as a teacher of History and Politics at Ryde High School. Trow is a member of the Society of Authors and of the Crime Writers' Association. He has worked at Ryde High School for many years and is a well known teacher and historian, and his old classroom has been renamed the "Trow Suite" in honour of his teaching career at the school.

Trow is also known in some circles for his work in theatre and dramas, organising and participating in many performances.

Earlier in 2008 he appeared on the Channel 4 show Richard & Judy talking about his book Spartacus: The Myth and the Man.

Fiction

Trow has written over 25 fiction books, in three main series.

'Inspector Lestrade' books, based on the character from the Sherlock Holmes stories.

In order of publication:

1. The Adventures of Inspector Lestrade (set in 1891)
2. Brigade: Further Adventures of Inspector Lestrade (set in 1894)
3. Lestrade and the Hallowed House (set in 1901)
4. Lestrade and the Leviathan (set in 1910)
5. Lestrade and the Brother of Death (set in 1912)
6. Lestrade and the Ripper (set in 1888)
7. Lestrade and the Deadly Game (set in 1908)
8. Lestrade and the Guardian Angel (set in 1897)
9. Lestrade and the Gift of the Prince (set in 1903)
10. Lestrade and the Magpie (set in 1920)
11. Lestrade and the Dead Man's Hand (set in 1895)
12. Lestrade and the Sign of Nine (set in 1886)
13. Lestrade and the Sawdust Ring (set in 1879)
14. Lestrade and the Mirror of Murder (set in 1906)
15. Lestrade and the Kiss of Horus (set in 1923)
16. Lestrade and the Devil's Own (set in 1913)
17. Lestrade and the Giant Rat of Sumatra (set in 1905)

In order of chronological setting:

1. Lestrade and the Sawdust Ring (set in 1879)
2. Lestrade and the Sign of Nine (set in 1886)
3. Lestrade and the Ripper (set in 1888)
4. The Adventures of Inspector Lestrade (set in 1891)
5. Brigade: Further Adventures of Inspector Lestrade (set in 1894)
6. Lestrade and the Dead Man's Hand (set in 1895)
7. Lestrade and the Guardian Angel (set in 1897)
8. Lestrade and the Hallowed House (set in 1901)
9. Lestrade and the Gift of the Prince (set in 1903)
10. Lestrade and the Giant Rat of Sumatra (set in 1905)
11. Lestrade and the Mirror of Murder (set in 1906)
12. Lestrade and the Deadly Game (set in 1908)
13. Lestrade and the Leviathan (set in 1910)
14. Lestrade and the Brother of Death (set in 1912)
15. Lestrade and the Devil's Own (set in 1913)
16. Lestrade and the Magpie (set in 1920)
17. Lestrade and the Kiss of Horus (set in 1923)

'Peter Maxwell', featuring a teacher and amateur sleuth.

1. Maxwell's House (1994)
2. Maxwell's Flame (1995)
3. Maxwell's Movie (1997)
4. Maxwell's War (1999)
5. Maxwell's Ride (2000)
6. Maxwell's Curse (2000)
7. Maxwell's Reunion (2001)
8. Maxwell's Match (2002)
9. Maxwell's Inspection (2003)
10. Maxwell's Grave (2004)
11. Maxwell's Mask (2005)
12. Maxwell's Point (2007)
13. Maxwell's Chain (2008)
14. Maxwell's Revenge (2009)
15. Maxwell's Retirement (2010)
16. Maxwell's Island (2011)
17. Maxwell's Crossing (2012)
18. Maxwell's Return (2014)
19. Maxwell's Academy (2015)

'Kit Marlowe', featuring the playwright and poet as detective.

1. Dark Entry (2011)
2. Silent Court (2011)
3. Witch Hammer (2012)
4. Scorpions's Nest (2012)
5. Crimson Rose (2013)
6. Traitor's Storm (2014)
7. Secret World (2015)

The Kit Marlowe series is published by Severn House.

Other work

'Britannia' (co-written with Richard Denham), set in Sub-Roman Britain.

1. Part I: The Wall (2014)
2. Part II: The Watchmen (2014)
3. Part III: The Warlords (2016)
4. World of Britannia: Historical Companion to the Britannia Series (2016)

Non-fiction

• Let Him Have It, Chris (1990), on which the film Let Him Have It was based
• The Wigwam Murder, based on the August Sangret case. (1994, republished by T Squared Books in 2016)
• The Many Faces of Jack the Ripper (1997)
• Who Killed Kit Marlowe?: a Contract to Murder in Elizabethan England (2001)
• Vlad the Impaler: in Search of the Real Dracula (2003)
• Boudicca (2004)
• Cnut: Emperor of the North (2005)
• Spartacus: the Myth and the Man (2006)
• The Pocket Hercules (2006)
• El Cid: the Making of a Legend (2007)
• War Crimes: Underworld Britain in the Second World War (2008)
• A Brief History of Vampires (2010)
• Ripper Hunter: Abberline and the Whitechapel Murders (2012)
• A Brief History of Cleopatra (2013)