Quintin Jardine
Scottish writer
Quintin Jardine (born 1945) is a Scottish author of three series of crime novels, featuring the fictional characters Bob Skinner, Oz Blackstone, and Primavera Blackstone.
Biography
Jardine was born in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, and educated at the High School of Glasgow and Glasgow University, where he studied law but did not graduate. Returning home, he began working life as a trainee journalist for the Motherwell Times in 1964, before joining the Government Information Service at the Scottish Office seven years later. He later moved to the Office's Publicity Unit, organising media coverage of Royal visits. In 1980, Jardine became a press officer for the Scottish Conservative Party, but left that role after six years to set up his own media consultancy. He settled upon being a writer in 1993 after publishing his first novel, Skinner's Rules.
Jardine supports his hometown football club, Motherwell F.C. Having been a member of the Conservatives for many years, his support for a 'maximalist' position on Scottish devolution estranged him from the majority of the party, especially after he wrote a paper (together with Michael Fry, Brian Meek and Struan Stevenson) calling for the establishment of a 114-seat Scottish Parliament with tax-raising powers. At around the time of the 1997 general election he abandoned them for the Scottish National Party (SNP), standing unsuccessfully in his new colours for Aberlady, Gullane and Dirleton ward at the 1999 East Lothian Council election. He later gave up on the SNP, finding it "too left wing" for his taste. He now divides his time between Gullane and Spain.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Quintin Jardine” is scottish writer. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Quintin, Jardine and Scottish, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “scottish writer” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7272446. VIAF identifies the subject as 85472074. The Library of Congress control number is n94002345. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1945, 1964, 1980 and 1993.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Quintin Jardine”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Quintin Jardine primary sources, Quintin Jardine archive and Quintin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Quintin Jardine”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Quintin Jardine” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.