Thursday, July 11, 2013

The author, an 18-year grudge... and an ink attack at a book signing

-  over claim she described a woman as 'like a Michelin Man' in a book

  • Val McDermid attacked at book signing by Sandra Botham
  • Botham claimed McDermid had written about her in a 1995 book
  • Botham said A Suitable Job For A Woman criticised her and her family
By Eleanor Harding


It could nearly pass as a plotline from one of her spine-chilling books.
Bestselling crime writer Val McDermid found herself the subject of an 18-year grudge which resulted in her being attacked at a book signing.

Her woman assailant disguised herself before covering the author’s face with ink, shouting obscenities at her and bizarrely likening her to Jimmy Savile.
Sandra Botham told a court she attacked The Wire In The Blood author because of a book she wrote in 1995.

Sandra Botham who threw ink at famed author Val McDermid
Author Val Mcdermid, who had ink thrown at her by Sandra Botham during a book signing in December last year
Revenge attack: Sandra Botham (right) threw ink at best-selling author Val McDermid (left) after holding a 28-year vendetta over a paragraph in one of her books which she thought had likened her to a Michelin man

A Suitable Job For A Woman explores the lives of real-life female private eyes in the US and the UK, which Botham, 64, said was critical of herself and her family.
Sunderland magistrates’ court heard how Botham thought one of the case histories, which mentioned a woman called Sandra who was shaped ‘like a Michelin Man’, was referring to her.
The claim has been denied by the author’s agent, who says the two women never even met before the incident.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2358754/Pensioner-hurled-ink-face-author-thought-referred-like-Michelin-man-book-wrote-28-years-ago.html#ixzz2YfjvhlSR 

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