Writer Knipscheer; Known to Fans as James M. Fox

A Netherlands native who began writing mystery novels in Dutch as a teen-ager and later crafted a series of them in English using the pseudonyms James M. Fox and Grant Holmes, died Thursday at home in Palm Springs. James M. W. Knipscheer, known primarily to mystery fans as James M. Fox, was 81 and had recently suffered a heart attack.

He was a practicing commercial lawyer in Europe and later in New York, and once served as legal adviser to the minister of war of the Netherlands during that nation’s government in exile during World War II.

After the war he settled in Los Angeles and wrote a series of mystery novels featuring Johny and Suzy Marshall, an insurance investigator and his wife. His novels in English ranged from “The Lady Regrets” in 1947 to “Operation Dancing Dog” in 1974.

His other works include “The Iron Virgin,” “The Exiles,” based on his own wartime experiences, and “White Mischief,” a tale of a royal slaying in the 1940s.

Survivors include his wife, Pauline, and a daughter.