Barbara D'Amato (born April 10, 1938, in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

) is an American mystery author and winner of the Agatha and

Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Among the m ...

. She also features in ''Great Women Mystery Writers'' (2007).page 62-64, ''Great Women Mystery Writers'', 2nd Ed. by Elizabeth Blakesley Lindsay, 2007, publ. Greenwood Press,

Biography

She was born Barbara Steketee, the daughter of the owner of the department store Steketee's. She studied at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

but left to marry Anthony D'Amato in 1958. Anthony became a law school professor and Barbara later completed her bachelor's degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1971, followed by a master's. They have two sons Brian (an author and sculptor) and Paul, and live in Chicago. She began writing full-time in 1973, first co-writing plays with her husband. After trying different genres her first published novel in 1980 was a mystery. She won the Agatha and

for a non-fiction work, '' The Doctor, the Murder, the Mystery: The True Story of the Dr. John Branion Murder Case'' based on a case her husband worked on in 1984. The book led to the reopening of the case and eventual pardon and release of Branion. In 1999, she served as President of the Mystery Writers of America.

Bibliography

Gerritt De Graaf series

#''The Hands of Healing Murder'' (1980) #''The Eyes on Utopia Murders'' (1981)

Cat Marsala series

#''Hardball'' (1989) #''Hard Tack'' (1991) #''Hard Luck'' (1992) #''Hard Women'' (1993) #''Hard Case'' (1994) #''Hard Christmas'' (1995) #''Hard Bargain'' (1997) #''Hard Evidence'' (1999) #''Hard Road'' (2001)

Figueroa and Bennis series

#''Killer.app'' (1996) #''Good Cop, Bad Cop'' (1998) #''Help Me Please'' (1999) #''Authorized Personnel Only'' (2000) #''Death of a Thousand Cuts'' (2004)

Other novels

* ''On My Honor'' (1989) (writing as Malacai Black) * ''White Male Infant'' (2002) * ''Foolproof'' (2009) (with Jeanne M Dams and Mark Richard Zubro) * ''Other Eyes'' (2011)

Anthologies and collections

Non-fiction

*'' The Doctor, the Murder, the Mystery: The True Story of the Dr. John Branion Murder Case'' (1997)

References

External links

*
Barbara D'Amato Papers
a
the Newberry Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Amato, Barbara 1938 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists Agatha Award winners American mystery writers American women novelists Anthony Award winners Cornell University alumni Northwestern University alumni Writers from Grand Rapids, Michigan Writers from Chicago Women mystery writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Illinois Novelists from Michigan