About Me

Thanks to my beloved Grammy, I started reading mysteries at about 7 years old–of course,  you guessed it–Nancy Drew. Grammy would find old copies in her local used book store in Brooklyn and either mail them to me or bring them on visits. Once a year we would visit her in Brooklyn; I have strong memories of sitting on the floor of the narrow store, searching the stacks for books in the series I hadn’t yet read.  I had a friend who lived up the street from me at that time and we would swap Nancy Drews with each other so we could read the full series.

Grammy graduated me to Agatha Christie when I was about 10 years old and after that there was no stopping me; I had found my genre. It took me about 10 years to read every Agatha Christie book, play and short story!  By then I had also branched out to Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy Sayers.

When I moved to Seattle in 1990 there were three (three!) independent, mystery fiction book stores to enjoy.   They helped feed my growing addiction, turning me on to authors and series.  Those stores are long gone; first replaced by a huge Barnes and Noble and eventually by Amazon.

My love of mystery fiction helped me connect to others when forming our Book Group.

Mystery fiction saw me through cancer. When I didn’t have the energy to do much of anything, I could pick up a simple cozy and for a little while forget about my fear.

Mystery fiction connects me to my Mom, a voracious reader.  Our tastes are worlds apart–except for this one genre.  I get such pleasure when I can introduce her to a new author, or when I discover we both share a love of a series.

When done well, mystery fiction is not just escapism, but an entry into the world of great literature.  I will be forever grateful to those writers who spend countless time honing their craft.