Patricia Bernadette Carlon (9 January 1927 -29 July 2002) was an Australian

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, ...

writer whose most notable works are fourteen suspenseful novels published between 1961 and 1970. She sometimes used the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

's Patricia Bernard and Barbara Christie.

Biography

She was born in

Wagga Wagga, New South Wales Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

, she was rediscovered in the 1990s, after ''The Whispering Wall'' (1969) and ''The Souvenir'' (1970) were republished as part of a series of Australian Classic Crime. These and other novels have subsequently been reissued in the United States and Australia. Carlon lived almost all her life with, or next door to, her parents, in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

and the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

suburbs of

Homebush Homebush is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Municipali ...

and

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Char ...

.Windham, Susan ‘Ace thriller writer trapped in a silent world’ ''Sydney Morning Herald'' 25 September 2002.
/ref> Her income source from her late teens onwards was writing articles and

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

for magazines as well as her novels. She refused all interviews. After her death it

Bexley, New South Wales Bexley is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bexley is located south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Bayside Council and is part of the St George area. His ...

, it became known that she had been

profoundly deaf Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken l ...

since the age of 11: something even her publishers had been unaware of, as she always communicated with them by letter. Her deafness has since been related to themes and plots in her novels, in which people in possession of the truth about a crime are often isolated and in peril, either through being physically trapped, or because they are unable make others believe them.Adrian, Jack 'Patricia Carlon; suspense writer rediscovered in her 60s.' ''The Independent'' 8 October 2002.
/ref>

Selected novels

*''Circle of Fear'' (1961) *''Danger in the Dark'' (1962) *''Who Are You, Linda Condrick?'' (1962) *''The Price of an Orphan'' (1964) *''The Unquiet Night'' (1965) *''Crime of Silence'' (1965) *''Betray Me If You Dare'' (1966) *''The Running Woman'' (1966) *''See Nothing, Say Nothing'' (1967) *''Hush, It's a Game'' (1967) *''Forty Pieces of Alloy'' (1968) *''The Whispering Wall'' (1969) *''The Souvenir'' (1970) *''Death by Demonstration'' (1970)

References and notes

External links

''Fantastic Fiction''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlon, Patricia 1927 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Australian novelists Australian crime writers Australian women short story writers Australian women novelists Writers from New South Wales Women mystery writers 20th-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian short story writers Deaf writers Deaf people from Australia