Mystery Author of the Month

Phyllis Dorothy James White, age 92,  is the author of twenty books. She spent thirty years in the British Civil Service, including the Police and Criminal Law Department. James began writing in the mid-1950s. Her first novel, Cover Her Face, featuring the investigator and poet Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard was published in 1962.  In 2011, her latest book was published - Death Comes to Pemberley, which begins six years after the close of Pride and Prejudice and Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are happily married and living at Pemberley. If you are interested in becoming a mystery writer, check out the “Mystery Writing Lessons” on her website.

Janet Evanovich began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall, but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey, who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet after losing her job. The 19 novels in this series consistently top the bestseller lists, most recently with Notorious Nineteen. Plum 20 is due out in November 2013. She has a fun website at www.evanovich.com with "Stuff for Fans" and a monthly contest for a chance to win a signed copy of one of her books.

John Grisham, Jr. is an American lawyer and author best known for his popular legal thrillers. He practiced law for about a decade and also won election as a Democrat in the Mississippi House of Representatives. His writing career began in 1984 when he was hanging around the court and overheard a 12-year-old girl telling the jury what had happened to her. Three years later, that was the seed for the plot of his first book, A Time to Kill. The book was rejected by 28 publishers. His second novel, The Firm, was published in 1989 and remained on the The New York Times' bestseller list for 47 weeks. His 23rd book, The Racketeer, was published in 2012. His website is jgrisham.com

And we’re off to the races!  Richard Stanley "Dick" Francis (1920-2010) was a British steeplechase jockey whose crime novels center around horse racing in England. Francis wrote more than 40 international best-sellers. He is the only three-time recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for Best Novel, winning for Forfeit (1970), Whip Hand (1981), and Come To Grief (1996). He collaborated extensively in his fiction with his wife until her death in 2000. Felix Francis, his youngest son, is following in his father's footsteps  with writing thrillers set in the English horse racing world. His most recent book, Dick Francis's Bloodline, was published in October, 2012. Read more about father and son at dickfrancis.com.

Elmore Leonard (born October 11, 1925) is a novelist and screenwriter. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were Westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures. Among his best known works are Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Rum Punch. In 2011 at age 86, he wrote his 45th novel. The National Book Foundation recently gave him its 2012 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in recognition of his outstanding achievement in fiction writing.

Michael Connelly was born in Philadelphia, PA but later moved with his family to Florida. He majored in journalism at the Univrsity of Florida and eventually landed a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times. In 1992, Connelly's first novel, The Black Echo, was published. It features LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch and is based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles. He went on to publish over 20 books, and his latest book, The Black Box, which focuses on Harry Bosch once again, will be released in November 2012. He lives in Florida and can sometimes be seen on the hit TV show Castle playing poker!

Tess Gerritsen is married to Jacob Gerritsen, who is also a physician. She has two sons. She enjoys gardening and playing the fiddle. They live in Camden, ME.

Her website is tessgerritsen.com

A graduate of Colby College and former reporter for the Waterville Sentinel, Gerry Boyle lives in central Maine and writes gripping mysteries with Maine settings. His first novel, Deadline, was published in 1993, followed by nine more books in the Jack McMorrow series: Bloodline (1995), Lifeline (1996), Potshot (1997), Borderline (1998), Cover Story (1999), Pretty Dead (2003), Home Body (2004) and Damaged Goods (2010). Port City Shakedown (2009) and Port City Black and White (2011) are his two Brandon Blake mysteries. Boyle makes frequent visits to libraries around the state. He was at the Liberty Library in 2011. Visit his Gerry Boyle website for a list of events where he will be speaking.

Leave behind Coben's New Jersey setting and travel to Venice with Donna Leon. Leon's love affair with Italy began in the mid-1960s when she visited for the first time. She returned frequently over the course of the next decade, while working as a teacher in such far-flung paces as Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, England, Iran, and China. She teaches English at the University of Maryland extension at a U.S. Air Force base near Venice Italy, where she has lived for over twenty years.

Leon's writing career began accidentally. One evening, following a performance at a Venice opera house, Leon and some friends were discussing a certain conductor they all disliked. Someone jokingly suggested killing him off; and when the conversation turned to how, where, and why, suddenly the idea for a dandy murder mystery took shape in Leon's mind. Published in 1992, Death at La Fenice introduced Commissario Guido Brunetti, the melancholy Venetian policeman who would go on to star in a series of witty, intelligently plotted, and critically acclaimed detective novels. The twenty-first in the series, Beastly Things, was published in April 2012.

Elegant writing, deft characterization, and lots of local color elevate the Brunetti novels above the run-of-the-mill mystery series. But although her books are international bestsellers, they have never been translated into Italian.

For more infomation and a list of her books, visit the Donna Leon website.

With 50 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben's last four consecutive novels, Live Wire, Caught, Long Lost and Hold Tight all debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and lists around the world.

Review for Stay Close, his newest book: “Coben excels in descriptions of his characters’ tortured, ruminative inner lives. He also can pull out of their psychological nosedives to deliver some of the most shocking action scenes in current crime fiction.” --Booklist, starred review

For more infomation and a list of his books, visit The Harlan Coben website.