Susan Dunlap (born June 20, 1943) is an American writer of
mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
novels and short stories. Her novels have mostly appeared in one of four series, each with its own sleuthing protagonist: Vejay Haskell, Jill Smith, Kiernan O'Shaughnessy, or Darcy Lott. Through 2020, more than two dozen of Dunlap's book-length mysteries have appeared in print. She has also edited crime fiction and has contributed to anthologies, including ''A Woman's Eye'' (1991), and to periodicals such as
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fict ...
and
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'' (AHMM) is a bi-monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime and detective fiction. ''AHMM'' is named for Alfred Hitchcock, the famed director of suspense films and television.
History
''AHM ...
.
Her short story "Checkout" won a
Macavity Award
The Macavity Awards are a literary award for mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the " mystery cat" of T. S. Eliot's ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' ...
and an
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 ...
in 1994.
Dunlap was a founding member of
Sisters in Crime
Sisters in Crime is an organization that has 4,500 members in 60+ regional chapters worldwide, offering networking, advice and support to mystery authors. Members are authors, readers, publishers, agents, booksellers and librarians bound by their ...
and served as its president in 1990–91. Before becoming a full-time writer in 1984, she was a
social work
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...
er in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
(1966–67),
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
(1967), and
Contra Costa County
) of the San Francisco Bay
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1 = State
, subdivision_name1 = California
, subdivision_type2 ...
, California (1968–84). She has also worked as a
paralegal
A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...
,
private investigator
A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...
, and
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
teacher.
Personal life
Born in
Kew Gardens, Queens
Kew Gardens is a neighborhood in the central area of the New York City borough of Queens. Kew Gardens is bounded to the north by the Union Turnpike and the Jackie Robinson Parkway (formerly the Interboro Parkway), to the east by the Van Wyck Exp ...
, New York, Dunlap graduated from
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...
with a
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in 1965 and from the
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...
with a
Master of Arts in Teaching
The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) or Master of Science in Teaching (MST) degree is generally a pre-service degree that usually requires a minimum of 30 semester hours beyond the bachelor's degree. While the program often requires education c ...
in 1966. She married Newell Dunlap in 1970.
In 2020, the Dunlaps live near San Francisco.
Critical reception
Carol M. Harper in ''St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers'' said in 1996 that "Dunlap has coupled authenticity in setting with a bizarre sense of humor appropriate for Northern California. Her series feature radically different heroines (amateur detective, police officer and licensed private detective) from three different backgrounds (rural northern California, urban northern California, and East Coast transplant to urban Southern California) to create three eminently readable series." Harper also praised Dunlap for her abilities as a writer of short stories and an editor of crime-story anthologies.
''Kirkus Reviews'' praises ''Time Expired'', featuring
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
, homicide detective Jill Smith, as "an adroitly plotted, consistently interesting police procedural."
Bibliography
Mystery series
Vejay Haskell
*''An Equal Opportunity Death'' (1984)
*''The Bohemian Connection'' (1985)
*''The Last Annual Slugfest'' (1986)
Jill Smith
*''Karma'' (1981)
*''As a Favor'' (1984)
*''Not Exactly a Brahmin'' (1985)
*''Too Close to the Edge'' (1987)
*''A Dinner to Die For'' (1987)
*''Diamond in the Buff'' (1990)
*''Death and Taxes'' (1992)
*''Time Expired'' (1993)
*''Sudden Exposure'' (1996)
*''Cop Out'' (1997)
Kiernan O'Shaughnessy
*''Pious Deception'' (1989)
*''Rogue Wave'' (1991)
*''High Fall'' (1994)
*''No Immunity'' (1998)
Darcy Lott
*''A Single Eye'' (2006)
*''Hungry Ghosts'' (2008)
*''Civil Twilight'' (2009)
*''Power Slide'' (2010)
*''No Footprints'' (2012)
*''Switchback'' (2015)
*''Out of Nowhere'' (2016)
Short story collections
*''The Celestial Buffet and Other Morsels of Murder'' (2001)
*''Karma and Other Stories'' (2002)
*''No Safety and Other Short Stories'' (2014)
Other
*''Deadly Allies II: Private Eye Writers of America and Sisters in Crime Collaborative Anthology'', editor, with
Robert J. Randisi (1994)
*''Fast Friends'' (novel) (2004)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlap, Susan
1943 births
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
American crime fiction writers
Bucknell University alumni
University of North Carolina alumni
Writers from Queens, New York
Writers from San Francisco
Anthony Award winners
Macavity Award winners
Living people