Killing Us Softly

Mysteries are more popular than ever. More than 600 series mysteries were published last year, about two-thirds of all new mystery novels. A number of these, as well as individual mysteries, true crime novels and suspense thrillers, were painstakingly constructed on the computers, typewriters and long yellow legal pads of writers living in cities all across Illinois.

While the works of literary lights, such as Scott Turow and Sara Paretsky, have created international interest in the Illinois-Mystery link, hundreds of other local writers have strewn bodies from the cornfields of southern Illinois to the horsy paddocks lining the Illinois-Wisconsin border. We thought you'd like to meet a few of these dedicated and talented writers whose greatest joy is to keep us awake, frightened, laughing, wondering and, most of all, reading into the wee hours.

Mark Zubro

It's entirely possible Mark Zubro has more hours in the day than the rest of us. A full time 8th grade English teacher at Summit Hill District #161, Frankfort, IL and long time union president of the Summit Hill Council of Teachers, he still manages to regularly turn out books for two successful mystery series: Tom Mason mysteries (English teacher as amateur sleuth), and Paul Turner mysteries (police procedurals featuring a Chicago detective).

"Writing is a lot of discipline," says Zubro. "You really have to work on it every single day. Every night, for me. When I'm revising, I need large chunks of time and try to schedule that over school vacations. The trick is to keep at it. Even if you write only one or two hours—one or two pages a day—at the end of the year you will have written hundreds of pages."

Zubro credits childhood trips to the library for setting him on the road to (literary) crime. Originally from Racine, Wisconsin, Zubro says "Growing up and going to libraries was very important to me. My brothers and I used to go to the children's department. That was the place to go. What got me started writing was Racine Public Library books by Walter R. Brooks."

Zubro moved to Mokena 22 years ago. "The Joliet library was a tremendous help when I was looking at poisons," he says. "And the Mokena library is fabulous. Last year, when the Illinois Library for the Blind and Handicapped was doing a publicity tour around state, we were part of the program."

A member of the Mystery Writers of America Midwest chapter, Zubro says he comes into Chicago to attend the monthly meetings, which run September to June, and has developed his network of writer friends from that group. "MWA members were just so kind and generous to me at the beginning and they still are."

Zubro's next book (St. Martin's Press 1999) is tentatively titled Drop Dead.

Barbara D'Amato

"I was an avid mystery reader for years and years," says D'Amato who figures she read about 300 mysteries a year. "It seemed natural. Go to work, come home, read a mystery. I got to the point where I thought I'd like to write one." Until then she'd been writing short stories "which did not sell." Her first book, The Hands of Healing Murders (1980), was a locked-room murder. She has since published 14 more mysteries.

D'Amato prefers to do primary research whenever possible. Hard Case, for example, is set in a level one trauma unit, and she spent many hours shadowing the people who work there. Sometimes, however, she needs the sort of esoteric information that research librarians seem able to find. For example, while working on her Cat Marsala PI series, D'Amato set a scene in which Cat makes dinner for a trauma surgeon. When the surgeon sees Cat toss a bone to the neighbor's dog, he tells her to call the police. He has recognized the bone, bought at a butcher shop, as human. D'Amato needed to research the butcher industry. "I got to a

* Susan Sussman, Chicago, is the author of 16 books, fiction and non-fiction, for adults and children. Her new mystery, Audition for Murder (with Sarajane Avidon), will be available in spring 1999 in hardcover from St. Martin's Press.

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point," she says, "that even though I'd gone to meat and supermarkets, I needed to know how much meat they could cut in a day." At first she couldn't find the information. Then she remembered meeting a couple of Crete librarians at "Of Dark and Stormy Nights" (see sidebar) who have a company called Data Diggers. She called and they came up with the information that the average supermarket cuts a ton of meat a day. "That seemed huge," says D'Amato, "until I figured out a ton of meat is only about eight 250-pound human beings. Not so huge after all." Ah, the mind of a mystery writer.

D'Amato, an active and supportive leader of the Illinois mystery writing community, was one of the early members of Sisters in Crime. "It was Sara Paretsky's idea," she says. "Women weren't being nominated for the various mystery awards. Also, they were seriously under-reviewed in many publications. Even though they produced 35-40 percent of mystery titles, their works averaged only 15 percent of the reviews. Sara put together a group of people to discuss this concern, which gave birth to Sisters in Crime. Its real purpose was to bring the reviewing/award imbalance to people's attention. Now women write about 50 percent of the books and get 35-40 percent of the reviews."

Aside from her Cat Marsala PI series, D'Amato works on a series for Forge about two Chicago patrol cops. These books are techno-thrillers set in and around the Chicago Police Department.

Phillip Jose Farmer

How does one of the greatest science fiction writers of our time—one who's produced a steady stream of impeccable crafted short stories and books, including the solid-gold classic River World Saga—happen to write a mystery? "I read a lot of sci-fi when I was a child," says Farmer. "I also read a lot of mysteries along the way, starting with Sherlock Holmes. In later years, I've actually read more mysteries and thought I'd like to write one."

It was while thumbing through the Encyclopaedia Britannica that he came across this phrase in the Grammatica Theologica: Nothing burns in hell except self will. "I thought. There's a perfect title.' I didn't have a contract for the book. Glad I didn't because it took a lot of time to write." Three years later Farmer finished Nothing Burns in Hell, which features a private investigator who is married to a Wiccan. Although several publishers were interested, "they said it was a "hard sell" because, for one thing, it was sort of a regional novel, set in and around my home town of Peoria."

He finally sold it to Tor, a division of St. Martin's Press. "They did a great job on the cover, like a 1950s dust jacket illustration for a pulp novel. The book is mainly humorous and satirical. I have a sequel in mind. I lean heavily on character portrayal in the novel, and my hero went through a pretty hard time." Although not nearly as hard as the sequel Farmer has in mind. "I plan to have him crucified on the first page."

Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, Farmer moved to Peoria at age four via Mexico, Missouri. He spent 17 years traveling as a technical writer for the space industry, then moved back to Peoria around 1970. "Because I was a local writer, Maggie Nelson at the library picked me to write the first chapter of Naked Came the Farmer (a round-robin book written by many local writers to raise money for the Peoria Library.)

"Besides Sherlock Holmes, my main influences have been Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet and contemporary mystery humorist Carl Hiaasen. I also highly recommend the New York Trilogy by Paul Auster."

David Walker

Although he grew up in the country "...at least, Mundelein was considered country back then," David Walker sets his two mystery series in Chicago. The Malachy Foley series features a disbarred Chicago attomey-tumed-PI.

"In two books now I've had Mal Foley go to one of the Chicago branch libraries. In Applaud the Hollow Ghost, Foley wants to find out what kind of books his client took out of the library. He runs smack into the Librarians Code of Ethics, which prohibits giving out that information. "The librarian in the book comes off as a great person," says Walker.

When he began his new Wild Onion Ltd. series, "I wanted to write a dark thriller, but the characters got smart-mouthed with each other." Not quite as light as The Thin Man series. Wild Onion features a private investigator wife and her attorney husband whom she drags into her cases.

"As a teen I was reading mystery-type things," says Walker, who divides his time between his writing ("in the morning when I'm freshest") and practicing law. "I'm really working toward writing full time."

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Stella Pevsner

Pevsner's 18 books for young people (ages 9-16) have won many top awards, including the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award; Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Award; and the Carl Sandburg Award.

Jon, Flora and the Odd-Eyed Cat, Pevsner's only mystery, had its own mysterious beginning. "I saw a little statuette of an odd-eyed cat in a store," says Pevsner, "and I was so intrigued that I bought it and set it on my computer." The odd-eyed cat—one eye blue, one amber—was very tiny and made of clay. "After a long time the story of the cat just evolved," Pevsner says. "I felt that the cat itself should be mysterious, the way it comes and goes in this boy's room at night. The mystery was the cat, at first, and then it involved the girl who owned the cat and why she only appeared at night."

One of her books, A Smart Kid Like You, was made into an ABC After School Special, "Me and Dad's New Wife." Other well known books include The Night the Whole Class Slept Over, How Could You do it, Diane?, Would My Fortune Cookie Lie? and Sing for Your Father, Su Phan. "I think every book is a mystery, in a sense, wondering what is going to happen to these people."

Michael Raleigh

Born and raised two blocks from the old Riverview Amusement park, it seemed natural for Michael Raleigh to set his mysteries in landmark places such as Riverview, Uptown, Belmont Harbor and Maxwell Street.

A literature teacher at Truman College, Raleigh originally wrote short stories and poetry. "I'd wait an average of 12 months for editors to get back to me." He might still be waiting if he hadn't been thumbing through Fiction Writer's Market, seen Chicago literary agent Jane Browne's name and sent her samples of his work. Although she wouldn't represent his short stories and poetry, "she liked my writing and asked what I liked to read. I told her mysteries and she suggested I try writing those." It turned out to be a good idea. Browne placed his first five mysteries with St. Martin's Press.

Raleigh frequently calls the police for research. "I used to notice things that weren't accurate in other people's books. I wanted to get mine right." The police have been extremely helpful, providing the kinds of factual details that make fiction come alive. "They (the police) like people to know how intricate their job is," says Raleigh. His attention to detail has earned him some interesting fans. When Raleigh presented a program at the West Addison Public Library, two violent crimes detectives came to hear him speak. "They've read all my books," he says. Quite a tribute to the accuracy of his research and the authentic voice of his fiction.

"I'm currently working on a sort of historical mystery set around the time of the Chicago fire," says Raleigh, who is doing research for the book in the Chicago Historical Society archives. "I also plan to do a book set in the time of the Civil War, and I'll use the Newberry Library for that."

Dorothy Cannell

"I write traditional humorous mysteries set in England," says Cannell, who was born in Nottingham, grew up near London and moved to Peoria in 1963. "I go home (to London) usually two to three times a year, mainly to tune my ear in, look at prices, see what people are wearing. I listen to the way people talk to regain the word usage and rhythm of the language."

Cannell always wanted to write. "I wrote as a child and told my three siblings stories. I have a brother who is a poet so it's in the genes. When my youngest child was two I took a class at the local community college and the teacher told me I should be a writer. I can never thank him enough. I came home, told my husband, and he bought me a $50 manual typewriter." Although Cannell began writing immediately, "it took me seven years to sell anything. I'm glad it did. It takes a long time to hone those skills." In 1983 she made her first sale, a Regency romance. She then rewrote the first book she'd written, which became a mystery.

"I have an extremely close relationship with the Peoria Public Library. It's a mutually beneficial relationship. Maggie Nelson (head of public relations) came up with the idea of local writers writing a round-robin novel with proceeds to benefit the library. Phillip Farmer is our leading light here, and he wrote the first chapter of Naked Came the Farmer and I wrote the last. We had local journalists, reporters and writers supply chapters." Cannell calls Maggie Nelson "a real go-getter" who snags authors passing through Chicago on national tours to come to Peoria. "The library goes whole hog and we always get a marvelous turnout."

"I do library programs once a year... some kind of theme. When I have a book out, it is a fund raiser for

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the library. They bring in a local bookseller who sells the books and ties it in with English themes. We did a program at the time of the Queen's birthday.

"I write about the England I know, focus on the woman who is in the home. I have the same protagonist in most of my mysteries, an interior designer, married to a chef, very much a modern day marriage with the husband doing the cooking. These are humorous mysteries. Humor enables me to address many issues important to me. In my first book, the main character had a weight problem to deal with. I strongly believe you cannot change history. I would not have to go back to 50s and be caught in that mind-set. My books are domestic mysteries with 90s sensibilities."

Marc Davis

Free-lance journalist Marc Davis has "been there, done that." He's worked as a newspaper reporter in Chicago and Texas "covering everything from murder trials to hog-calling contests." People he's interviewed include astronaut James Lovell; attorney/author Scott Turow; former Bears coach Mike Ditka; Jo-Ellen Dimitrius, jury consultant for the O.J. Simpson murder trial defense team; and Wallace (Gator) Bradley, former Gangster Disciples underboss. Davis also has been an art teacher, prize-winning painter, licensed commodity broker, business reporter for Arthur Anderson, Ltd., medical writer for the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Rodale Press, advertising copywriter and copy supervisor, and an advertising/public relations consultant.

It was his stint as a Chicago Board of Trade commodities broker that gave Davis the idea and background material for Dirty Money. "I saw the dramatic possibilities immediately. When you're dealing with that much money, it becomes an abstraction, a game." The book is set in Chicago, and Davis has just finished another mystery. Nasty Habits, with the same protagonist who, among other things, is a former journalist, compulsive gambler, former newspaper man, Zen-Buddhist, etc.

Davis uses the Warren-Newport Library. "The library has been around a while but it's now housed in a magnificent new building. The librarians have been extremely helpful. I've also used the College of Lake County library." For technical information, Davis goes directly to longtime friend Harry McGinnes, a Chicago police detective evidence technician. "As a plain-clothes detective for 20 years, he is all over a crime scene. He has been very generous with his time and his expertise."

Marion Markham

"I don't believe you should write something you don't like to read," say Marion Markham, who says she went "right from reading The Wizard of Oz. to Nero Wolfe" Like many authors, she's seen people try to write what they think the market wants. That hardly ever works. "You have to write what you would enjoy writing."

Her Dixon twins mystery series for Houghton Mifflen is for ages 7-10. She says her Thanksgiving Day Parade Mystery shows idiosyncrasies of the market. She originally wrote the book for the 4th of July, but the marketing department was worried that librarians wouldn't buy a book set during summer vacation. They fished around for another holiday that would have a parade. "That didn't make any sense to me then and it still doesn't," says Markham. "Librarians tell me they would have bought it. You're limited to what they (the marketing department) think the market will support."

One of the seven books in the series is The St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Mystery. "I had to convince my editor there was a market for St. Pat's day. She thought it was only celebrated in Boston and Chicago. I told her I spoke in small towns all around the country where all the children wore green on St. Pat's Day. It's the one day when everybody's Irish. Luckily, the editor finally agreed and the book has sold very well." Markham's now working on a back-to-school book and has her fingers crossed that it doesn't encounter the same sorts of marketing resistance.

Library research is important for all her books. In the Halloween Candy mystery, "I had flashlights that blinked on and off like Christmas tree lights. My editor wanted to know what made them blink. I researched it at the Northbrook library and learned that two different metals inside heated at different temperatures, which caused to contact to go on and off. That's the kind of thing you have to go to the library to find out. There is a fair amount of research in these books.

"I'm also working on an historical mystery for middle grade students that's set in 1889. It takes a lot of research." But Markham says Chicago history is in her blood. "My grandfather was a policeman in Haymarket riot," she says.

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Janet Riehecky

Most of Janet Riehecky's 75 books are for elementary grades. "Even when I want to write something else, it comes out at that age level."

Although she always wanted to write, after completing her MA in English Literature at Northwestern University, she took a job as an editor at The Child's World publishing house, then located in Elgin. "The woman in charge liked the way I'd write reports and asked me to design a new series. When the outline was ready to present to a writer, she said she thought I should write the books. So, I sort of came to writing through the back door, and my first books were a 24-volume Dinosaur series, which won the Summit Award for Best Children's Nonfiction."

A mystery fan since sixth grade, Riehecky's chance to write mysteries came when she contacted Dianne Spahr, president of Forest House Publishing, looking for assignment work. Spahr (formerly with Children's Press) said she'd always wanted to set a mystery in a place with a red door like the one on the house in which she'd grown up. It took Riehecky two years, but she finally wrote and submitted The Mystery Of The Missing Money. Not sure if Spahr would even remember her, Riehecky sent in the book. Not only did Spahr want the book, she made it the first of a series. Numbers three and four of the Red Door Detective Club books are slated for publication this year.

Riehecky is a frequent visitor of the Gail Border Library in Elgin. "I've taken literally hundreds of problems to the librarians there and they have always been very helpful. Once they even located a professor at Rutgers University who was in charge of the Edison papers to help me answer some questions about Edison."

Riehecky values the input of other authors and is active in several groups. "The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in Dundee meets once a month and has been a valuable resource and support group for me." She began a Christian Writers' group that has met monthly in her home for the past seven years. And last year she joined a weekly group at Elgin Community College, a part of their Writer's Center. It was through an agent's lecture at a Children's Reading Roundtable conference that Riehecky found her agent, Chicago-based Jane Jordan Browne, one of the most powerful and respected agents in the industry.

"I think I have the best possible job in the world and never take for granted how lucky I am."

Alzina Stone Dale

Perhaps there is something about living in the same Victorian house where she grew up (antique ghosts prowling the rafters?) that led Alzina Stone Dale to a career of following the haunts of fictional mystery characters.

She says the idea for her Mystery Reader's Walking Guide series came as "I was walking down Whitehall in London past old Scotland Yard. I realized nobody had done a guide book about mystery characters. In fact, travel books don't even mention writers like Dorothy L. Sayers or Sara Paretsky or Margaret Truman. So I came home and talked Barbara Sloan Hendershott into collaborating on a mystery guide book. We collaborated on two, now there are five." So far, the Walking Guides track sleuths found in crime novels set in Chicago (winner Malice Domestic Agatha Award for Best Non-Fiction), New York, England, London and Washington, D.C.

Martha Powers

Martha Powers' first mystery didn't sell. "Thank goodness," she says. "It was awful. Around that same time, I'd read that romances were easier to write. This isn't true but it did lead me to a romance writer's critiquing group." They gave her the feedback and support she needed to become a successful romance writer. After publishing nine Regency romances, "I decided that if I wanted to go back to my first love, which is mysteries, I'd have to quit Regencies. They have a sing-song rhythm in their dialogue, which doesn't work in mysteries."

Her first mystery. Sunflower, is about a serial killer in a small Wisconsin town. "We've always gone trout fishing around the Madison area. As Madison grew, it enveloped small towns, brought big city problems."

All Powers' research is done through the local library system in Park Ridge Public Library. "Everything I ever needed as far as research was concerned I got through the library. One of my signings is going to be at the library because they've been so helpful."

Fred Hunter

Hunter began his writing career as a playwright, struggling in theater where writing becomes a collaborative art. One day he came up with an idea for a mystery he thought would work better as a book than a play. After writing and selling Presence of Mind, a

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mystery set in the theater, he never looked back. "I love writing books," he says, "because it's just you and an editor."

Currently writing two series, Hunter produces one book in each series per year. His Jeremy Ransom/Emily Charters Mysteries features Jeremy Ransom, a Chicago homicide detective in his late 30s. In the first book he meets up with an elderly woman named Emily Charters. They strike up a friendship and he winds up sort of adopting her. She offers Nero Wolfe-like insights into his cases.

The Alex Reynolds series, "very funny, very light," features a gay graphic artist, who along with his lover and mother becomes involved in espionage and winds up helping the CIA. Both series are published by SMP.

Hunter worked in a private library for 11 years and wrote an article for "The Writer" on how to do research. "I am the biggest fan of the Harold Washington Library," he says. "I have a huge amount of respect for librarians. They have all the information in the world at their fingertips and know how to use it. It's amazing." For research into the 1960s, he's used the Newberry Library and the Chicago Historical Society library. "They are very good. They have things like the telephone directories from the 1960s." His newest book. Ransom Unpaid, is due out December 1999.

Sidebar
Authors mentioned in the article:

Dorothy Cannell, Peoria: Recent titles: The Spring Cleaning Murders ISBN 0-670-87571-6; God Save the Queen ISBN 0-553-57468-X; How To Murder The Man of Your Dreams ISBN 0-553-57360-8. Spring '99: The Trouble With Harriet (Viking)

Barbara D'Amato, Chicago: Good Cop, Bad Cop, Forge ISBN 0-312-86562-7; Hard Bargain, ISBN 0-684-83353-0; Killer.app, ISBN 0-812-55391-8; Hard Case, ISBN 0-425-15009-7; Hard Woman, ISBN 0-373-26150-0 (runner up for Nero Wolfe Award); The Doctor, the Murder, the Mystery, ISBN 0-425-15624-9.

Alzina Stone Dale, Chicago: Nonfiction: Mystery Reader's Walking Guide: Chicago, ISBN 0-8442-9611-2; Washington, D.C., ISBN 0-8442-9480-2; England, ISBN 0-8442-9553-1; London, ISBN 0-8442-9610-4; New York, ISBN 0-8442-9611-2.

Marc Davis, Gumee: Dirty Money, ISBN 0-440-21064-X (Shamus nominee)

Phillip Jose Farmer, Peoria: Nothing Burns in Hell, Tor (St. Martin's Press)

Fred Hunter, Chicago: Jeremy Ransom/Emily Charters Mysteries (Worldwide & SMP); The Alex Reynolds mysteries (SMP)

Marion Markham, Northbrook: St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Mystery (Houghton Mifflin) 0-395-72137-7 (Juvenile)

Stella Pevsner, Chicago: Jon, Flora and the Odd-Eyed Cat, Houghton Mifflin-Clarion Imprint ISBN 0-395-67021-7.

Martha Powers, Park Ridge: Sunflower Simon and Schuster, ISBN 0-684-83767-6

Michael Raleigh, Chicago: Death in Uptown, A Body in Belmont Harbor, The Maxwell Street Blues, Killer on Argyle Street, The Riverview Murders (all SMP)

Janet Riehecky, Elgin: Children's mysteries: Red Door Detective Club series: The Mystery of the Missing Money (library bound hardback: ISBN 1-56674-087-8; paperback ISBN 1-56674-701-5) and The Mystery of the UFO (library-bound hardback ISBN 1-56674-088-6; paperback ISBN 1-56674-702-3); The Mystery of the Dragon in the Dungeon (ISBN 1-56674-089-4); The Mystery of the Computer Crime (ISBN 1-56674-090-8).

David Walker, Wilmette: Half the Truth, ISBN 0-312-14511-6; Applaud the Hollow Ghost, ISBN 0-312-18041-1. A Ticket to Die For, (SMP) ISBN 0-312-19345-9, Nov, 98, Fixed in his Folly (Edgar nominated, out in paperback from Worldwide 7/99)

Mark Richard Zubro, Mokena: Many books in Tom Mason and Paul Turner mysteries

More Murderous Illinois Authors

Beth Anderson, Lansing: two books published, two on the way, visit at: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/9534/

Raymond Benson, Buffalo Grove: James Bond Bedside Companion, (recently commissioned to take over writing the James Bond 007 Novels); The Facts of Death

Eleanor Taylor Bland, Waukegan: Marti MacAlister Series, SMP

D.C. Brod, St. Charles: The Quint McCauley "hard-boiled" detective series (Walker)

Michael Allen Dymmoch, Northbrook: The Death of Blue Mountain Cat, 0-312-13962-4

Jacqueline Fiedler, Chicago: Caroline Canfield Series: Pocket

Jan Gleiter, Chicago: Lie Down With Dogs (Malice Domestic Award) & A House by the Side of the Road (SMP)

Barbara Gregorich, Chicago: Dirty Proof, (Pageant)

Barbara Sloan Hendershott, Elmhurst: Walking Guides (w/ Alzina Stone Dale)

Fred Hunter, Chicago: Jeremy Ransom/Emily Charters Mysteries (Worldwide & SMP); The Alex Reynolds mysteries (SMP)

Norm Kelly, Peoria: True Crime: Murder in Familiar Places

Catherine Kenney, Park Ridge: The Remarkable Case of Dorothy L. Sayers, 0-87338-458-X (Nonfiction) (Edgar Nominee)

Gera-Lind Kolarik, Chicago: True Crime Series: Freed to Kill, Prisoners of Fear (Avon)

Ruth Littman & Arlene Pascal: Evanston/Highland Park: Deadly Prayer (1-886094-40-3)

Chardy Lieb, Jacksonville: (writing as Charlotte Walker), Yesterday's Bride, ISBN 0-373-077688

Arthur Maling, Chicago: Edgar winner. National Book Award Nominee, fourteen published suspense novels.

Alex Matthews, Oak Park: The Cassidy McCabe Series (Intrigue Press)

Robert Nordan, Chicago: Death Beneath the Christmas Tree, Fawcett 0-449-14742-8

Sara Paretsky, Chicago: Ghost Country, Woman on the Case, ISBN 0-385-31401-9; Windy City Blues, ISBN 0-385-31502-3; Tunnel Vision, ISBN 0-385-29932-X, all from Delacorte.

Sara Plane Petit, Lansing: Goodbye Charii Series (Avalon & Vista)

Les Roberts: Seeing the Elephant (SMP) (set in Chicago), fifteen others

Patricia Rosemoor aka Patricia Pinianski, Chicago: many Harlequin Intrigues (Nominated by Romantic times for Career Achievement Award in Romantic Suspense)

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Mary Sass, Skokie: short stories in anthologies: Best of the Midwest Vol I and II

Edith Skom, Winnetka: The George Eliot Murders; The Mark Twain Murders (Dell)

Maureen Tan, Champaign: Jane Nichols Suspense series (Mysterious Press)

Scott Turow, Wilmette: (on web at ScottTurow.com) Presumed Innocent; Burden of Proof; Pleading Guilty; The Laws of Our Fathers.

Still More Writers:

Paul Dale Anderson, Rockford; Anne Louise Bannon. Evanston; Michael A. Black, Blue Island; Martin Blank, Mundelein; Michael Cormany, Chicago; Alice Cromie, Grayslake; Doug Cummings, Highland Park; David J. Dee, Chicago; Joseph P. DeSario, Morton Grove; Paul Engleman, Chicago; Juliann Evans Fleenor, Barrington; Joseph Flynn, Springfield; Robert Goldsborough, Wheaton; Andrew M. Greeley, Chicago; James R. Leeke, St. Charles; Ronald Levitsky, Northbrook; Steve Lindley, Palatine; Bill Love, Hinsdale; Thomas E. Millstead, Chicago; Catherine O'Connell, Chicago; Stella Pevsner, Chicago; Charles Remsberg, Wilmette; Bruce Holland Rogers, Champaign; Richard M. Rose, Chicago; Allen Salter, Evanston; James M. Ullman, Park Ridge.

Organizations

MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA, Inc. Midwest Chapter, P.O. Box 1944, Muncie, IN 47308-1944; Monthly newsletter "CLUES" keeps tabs on local writers' publishing/ speaking/awards activities as well as reporting on speakers appearing at the monthly MWA meeting in Chicago.
Of Dark and Stormy Nights is an outstanding mystery writing conference organized each June by MWA Midwest. Most recently held in Rolling Meadows, IL, the event provides programs given by top mystery writers, editors, agents, etc.

SISTERS IN CRIME
With more than 2,800 members including 1,560 published authors. Sisters in Crime invites anyone interested in mysteries to join.

Annual membership is $35. For information contact Sisters in Crime, P.O. Box 442124, Lawrence, KS 66044-8933; sistersincrime@juno.com; or (785) 842-1325

Books-in-Print lists members' current and forthcoming books. Published in Spring and Fall, it lists each book's ISBN in addition to author and title. Copies are $2.50. Phone: (540) 961-3315; PAX: (540) 951-7340; e-mail: faulkner@bev.net.

Speakers bureau serves library programs, autographing events, schools, writing workshops, etc. For information contact: Sisters in Crime Speakers Bureau c/o Robyn Longmire, 5325 Newcastle Ave #223, Encino, CA 91316-3067

Mysteries for Minors Speakers Bureau, Carol Gormn, Coordinator, 3601 Skylark Lane SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403-4334

Of special note: Chicago based Booklist highlights mysteries in its April Mystery Showcase.

Author's Note: As I write, the vice-president of Mystery Writers of America is in Washington, D.C. "pitching the White House" to create a national mystery week, ideally the week following the Edgar awards, perhaps the second week of May. Also, award-winning author Joan Lowery Nixon has initiated a national "Kids Love a Mystery" week in February. May and February would be two good months to feature books by Illinois mystery authors and line up writers for lectures, programs, etc.

This article is not intended as a complete compilation of Illinois' many wonderful mystery writers. Notices seeking interested writers were posted in bulletins of MWA Midwest and the Society of Midland Authors. Illinois mystery writer's names were pulled from member lists of Sisters in Crime, MWA Midwest as well as contributed by librarians, agents, publishers and other authors. The authors in this article are some of those who responded an generously offered their time to be interviewed. I tried to select a regional sampling for the article, as well as include other authors and their books in the sidebar. I suggest that libraries interested in more information join both Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America Midwest to obtain a member's directory and monthly bulletins.

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