Katy Munger, who has also written under the names Gallagher Gray and Chaz McGee, is an American writer known for writing the ''Casey Jones'' and ''Hubbert & Lil'' series. She is a former reviewer for the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''.

Biography

Born in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, she soon moved to

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, growing up with her five brothers and sisters. She describes herself as a "

southern belle Southern belle () is a colloquialism for a debutante in the planter class of the Antebellum South. Characteristics The image of a Southern belle is often characterized by fashion elements such as a hoop skirt, a corset, pantalettes, a wide-b ...

" and says that Casey Jones was influenced by her own character. Munger began her writing career by publishing under a name other than her own, namely Gallagher Gray. Under this

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

, she wrote four books in the ''Hubbert & Lil'' series in the 1990s. During the late '90s into the early 2000s, Munger wrote the Casey Jones series. However, there was then a long break in her output until she began a new series in 2009, the ''Dead Detective'' series, under a new pseudonym, Chaz McGee. She also obtained a new publisher for the series.

Tart Noir

Munger's genre of writing is described as Tart Noir, which is a subsection of

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

created in part by Munger. In publicizing the genre, she has teamed up with the three other creators and writers, Sparkle Hayter,

Laura Lippman Laura Lippman (born January 31, 1959) is an American journalist and author of over 20 detective fiction novels. Life and career Lippman was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Columbia, Maryland. She is the daughter of Theo Lippman, Jr., a w ...

, and Lauren Henderson, for book signings and other venues. It is believed that the authors first met and befriended each other by "getting drunk together at writers conferences". Not long afterwards, the four worked together in creating and promoting their new website, titled Tartcity.com. Munger and a collection of 19 other Tart Noir writers also came together to write an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

of original stories in 2002.

Awards

* 2002, American Crime Writers League's "Ellen Nehr Award"

Works

Hubbert & Lil series (as Gallagher Gray)

* ''Hubbert & Lil: Partners In Crime'' (1991) * ''A Cast Of Killers'' (1992) * ''Death Of A Dream Maker'' (1995) * ''Motive For Murder'' (1996)

Casey Jones series

* ''Legwork'' (1997) * ''Out of Time'' (1998) * ''Money to Burn'' (1999) * ''Bad to the Bone'' (2000) * ''Better Off Dead'' (2001) * ''Bad Moon on the Rise'' (2009) *''Fire and Rain'' (2019)

Dead Detective series (as Chaz McGee/Katy Munger)

* ''Desolate Angel'' (2009) * ''Angel Interrupted'' (2010) * ''Angel of Darkness'' (2011) * ''Angel Among Us'' (2012)

References

External links

Katy Munger's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munger, Katy 1956 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers American crime fiction writers American women novelists Writers from Honolulu Writers from Raleigh, North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Women crime fiction writers Novelists from Hawaii Novelists from North Carolina Pseudonymous women writers