Dorothy Uhnak (April 24, 1930 – July 8, 2006; née Goldstein) was an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. Uhnak was born in

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. She attended

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

and the

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts c ...

.Dorothy Uhnak, 76, Novelist Inspired by Police Experience, Is Dead
/ref> Uhnak worked for 14 years as a detective for the

New York City Transit Police The New York City Transit Police Department was a law enforcement agency in New York City that existed from 1953 (with the creation of the New York City Transit Authority) to 1995, and is currently part of the NYPD. The roots of this organizat ...

Department. Uhnak's debut book, ''Policewoman'' (1964), was a non-fiction autobiographical account of her law enforcement career. After its publication, she left police work and devoted herself to writing full-time. Her first novel, ''The Bait'' (1968), received a 1969

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

for Best First Novel (in a tie with E. Richard Johnson's ''Silver Street''). ''The Bait'' was also made into a 1973 made-for-television film of the same title. It was followed by ''The Witness'' and ''The Ledger'', which was adapted for the

TV-movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

and

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

Get Christie Love! ''Get Christie Love!'' is an American crime drama TV series starring Teresa Graves as an undercover African-American female detective which originally aired on ABC from January 22, 1974, until April 5, 1975. The starring television role made Grav ...

'' starring

Teresa Graves Terresa M. Graves (January 10, 1948October 10, 2002), credited as Teresa Graves, was an American actress and singer best known for her starring role as undercover police detective Christie Love in the ABC crime-drama television series ''Get Chri ...

. All three novels featured Christie Opara, an

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

detective assigned to the

Manhattan District Attorney The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County (Manhattan), New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws ...

Office, where Uhnak herself was assigned for many years. After the Opara

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

, Uhnak branched out into longer, more ambitious police novels such as ''Law and Order'', which became a TV-movie starring

Darren McGavin Darren is a masculine given name of uncertain etymological origins. Some theories state that it originated from an Anglicisation of the Irish first name Darragh or Dáire, meaning "Oak Tree". According to other sources, it is thought to come from ...

; ''The Investigation'', which was adapted into a TV-movie featuring

Telly Savalas Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was an American actor and singer whose career spanned four decades. Noted for his bald head and deep, resonant voice, he is perhaps best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on th ...

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, it ...

; and ''Victims'', which seemed to fictionalize the

Kitty Genovese In the early hours of March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old bartender, was raped and stabbed outside the apartment building where she lived in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. Two weeks ...

murder. Several of her later novels were

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

s. Uhnak died in Greenport, New York, reportedly of a deliberate drug overdose.

Bibliography

* ''Policewoman'' (1964) * ''The Bait'' (1968) * ''The Witness'' (1969) * ''The Ledger'' (1970) * ''Law and Order'' (1973) * ''The Investigation'' (1977) * ''False Witness'' (1981) * ''Victims'' (1986) * ''The Ryer Avenue Story'' (1993) * ''Codes of Betrayal'' (1997)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uhnak, Dorothy 1930 births 2006 suicides 20th-century American novelists Drug-related suicides in New York (state) American women novelists American crime fiction writers Edgar Award winners People from Greenport, Suffolk County, New York 20th-century American women writers Women mystery writers 21st-century American women