MysteryReaderCafe.com

Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on September 15, 1890 and died January 12, 1976. Also known as Agatha Christie, she became a world renowned crime story writer and played a huge part in the development of that writing style. Ms. Christie wrote such intriguing novels that it is said that only the Bible has sold more copies collectively.

Ms. Christie wrote her first novel in 1920 shortly before ending a tumultuous relationship with her husband. In 1926, she learned that her husband was having an affair and, oddly, her first book was titled “A Mysterious Affair at Styles”. It was during this time that it is thought she staged her own disappearance in order to punish her ex husband for his infidelity. Some attribute her tough marriage life to her fantastic writing ability because of the emotion she may have put into the novels, short stories, and plays she wrote. In 1930, she suffered another failed marriage. She married Sir Max Mallowan at which point Ms. Christie acquire the title Lady Mallowan. Although her time with him was spent with rumors of extramarital affairs and such, that marriage endured for some years. It was unknown the length of time but it is said that the ex-husband married his mistress a year after Christie died. The years with Sir Mallowan were years well spent because some of her best novels came from the hotels and houses they stayed in.

Christie wrote many novels based on the “whodunit” idea. Her novels included several twists and were somewhat interactive. Ms. Christie wrote them in such a way where the reader was given a chance to solve the crime themselves which made for some very exciting reading.

Sue Grafton is a mystery writer, best known as the author of the Alphabet Mysteries. These stories follow the exploits of her main character, a private detective named Kinsey Millhone. Each title uses a letter of the alphabet like A is for Alibi or B is for Burglar. Kinsey is a single, 32 year old woman, twice-divorced, bad at relationships, but with an uncanny ability to solve homicides.

Sue Grafton has also been divorced twice, but the similarity with her character seems to end there. She has been married for the last twenty years to Stephen F. Humphrey has three children (Leslie, Jay and Jamie) from her former marriages, and four grandchildren (Erin, Kinsey, Taylor and Addison).

Grafton maintains two residences, one in Santa Barbara, CA, which is Santa Theresa in her books, and one in Louisville, KY, where she was born and raised. She graduated from the University of Louisville in 1961 with a degree in English Literature. She worked in the medical field as an admissions clerk, cashier and hospital secretary. She worked as a screenwriter for 10 years in Hollywood, before becoming a full time novelist. She now works at home, but dresses every day to go to her office. She says she writes every day of the year.

She often states that she never intended to write 26 novels based on one character, but that as Kinsey and her novels gained popularity, she felt she had to finish the project to satisfy her readers. Early on she decided that the time line in the novels would progress much more slowly than in real life. Her first Kinsey Millhone novel was written in 1982, and the early eighties is where the series has stayed. Kinsey uses neither computers nor cell phones. She has no idea what a laptop, DVD, or CD is. She drives an ancient Volkswagen and writes her reports on a typewriter.

Sue Grafton has stated that her last Kinsey Millhone novel will be Z is for Zero and is tentatively set in 1989. Her latest book is T is for Trespass, which takes place in 1987.

Margaret Falk is a mystery writer, although not many people know that. She writes under the name J. Carson Black. She was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona where she had a pony named Cookie. She began writing as a child, but got distracted in high school because she had a talent for singing. She was encouraged to study opera at the University of Arizona. She eventually gave it up because she didn’t find much joy in it.

After giving up her singing career, Margaret began writing again. Her first attempt was a horror novel. It didn’t meet with much success, but her fans are glad she kept up the craft. She turned her attention to writing mystery novels and had much more success. Two of her more well-known works are “Darkness On the Edge of Town” and “Dark Side of the Moon”. In these novels, Margaret created a character called Laura Cardinal. Margaret was interviewed and admitted that Laura’s character has many similar characteristics to her author. These similarities include where they were born and raised and both having a horse.

Margaret also used the description of a car that chased her when she was 14 in one of her novels. It was an orange and white 1955 Chevy Bel Air. In her novel, this car was used in the murder of Julie Marr.

Margaret writes a blog under the name J. Carson Black on various subjects. One blog in particular would interest those who want to try writing novels. She gives advice about the subject, which makes a lot of sense.

Margaret is married but currently does not have any children, unless you count her cats.

Encouraging children to read is a challenge. In our world of electronic gadgets this is especially difficult. Parents must lead by example and spend time reading and sharing books with their children. There is nothing better on a rainy day than spending the day as a family reading a great mystery book aloud.

Some of the best mystery books for children grades 3 and up still include the Hardy Boy and Nancy Drew series. These are realistic mysteries. The Box Car Children Series and Encyclopedia Brown are also realistic mysteries appropriate for first through fourth graders. The Goosebumps series interests children but is very gory and uses fantasy creatures.

If you are die hard for Sherlock Homes, the Baker Street Mysteries by Jake Thoene and Luke Thoene, published by Tyndale House Publishers is a new twist on the classic. Girls have come to adore the adventure mystery series of with the heroine named Mandie published by Baker Book House. For the younger ones, the Eye Spy books create a sense of hunting and adventure without using words. Puzzle books are another creative way to involve little ones in putting the pages back together to keep them involved with a book and the sense of wonder that mystery stories present.

Finding a good mystery that is timeless and appropriate for many generations is worth the hunt. Children need examples of hard work and most of the realistic mysteries show that the main characters stick with their hunt until they succeed. As parents we need to stick with the hunt to find mysteries that will engage our children and develop a love of reading.

Ellery Queen was created in 1928 when Daniel Nathan (Frederic Dannay) and Manford Lepofsky (Manfred Bennington Lee), cousins, collaborated to enter a writing competition sponsored by McClure’s Magazine. The contest was to find the best first mystery novel, and, of course, with their hero Ellery Queen, they won the competition. The name Ellery Queen was used as the detective hero of the story as well as the author.

Queen is portrayed as a snobbish Harvard graduate who lives in an apartment in New York with his son. They solve mysteries because they are intrigued by them. He is independently wealthy, supposedly born of a rich aristocratic New York family.

In some of the original novels, Queen is married and has a son, but, after the ninth book, this fades into the background and isn’t mentioned again. However, sometime later, Queen lives with his son and they have a houseboy named Djuna, who appears as a jack-of-trades in most of the novels, but especially the children’s books. He appears to be ageless.

The cousins turned out Ellery Queen novels for 42 years. No one is sure just how they wrote the books. Did they collaborate together line for line, or did one produce the idea and the other one write? Most of the history states that Dannay was the idea man and Lee penned the words that brought the stories together.

However they did it, they were extremely successful as Ellery Queen lives on today as one of America's cultural icons.

MysteryReaderCafe.com

Who Is Agatha Christie?

Author of the Alphabet Mysteries: Sue Grafton

Margaret Falk

Mystery Books for Kids

Ellery Queen