Dunnett, Dorothy (1923–2001)

Scottish novelist and portrait painter. Name variations: Dorothy Halliday, Lady Dunnett. Born Dorothy Halliday, Aug 25, 1923, in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland; died Nov 9, 2001, in Edinburgh, Scotland; only child of mining engineer; attended Edinburgh College of Art and Glasgow School of Art; m. Alastair MacTavish Dunnett (journalist, editor of newspaper Record and The Scotsman, and chair of Thomson North Sea Oil), 1946 (died 1998); children: Ninian and Mungo Dunnett.

Prolific writer of more than 20 historical novels and accomplished portrait painter, attended James Gillespie's School for Girls along with novelist Muriel Spark; began career with civil service as press secretary in Edinburgh (1940–55); traveled widely with husband; earned acclaim as portrait painter, exhibiting at Royal Academy, joining Scottish Society of Women Artists (1950s), and rendering portraits of many prominent public figures in Scotland; wrote The Lymond Chronicles, a series of 6 historical romance novels, featuring the fictional Scottish mercenary Francis Crawford of Lymond and including Game of Kings (1961) and Checkmate (1975); beginning with Dolly and the Song Bird (1968), published a series of detective novels under maiden name with enigmatic hero Johnson Johnson; published epic novel about Macbeth, King Hereafter (1982); embarked on 2nd historical set, the House of Niccoló series, with Niccoló Rising (1986); also wrote Caprice and Rondo (1976), Disorderly Knights (1976), Moroccan Traffic (1986) and Gemini (2000), among others. Awarded Officer of British Empire (OBE, 1992); became Lady Dunnett when husband was knighted (1995).