Mary Willis Walker
Mary Willis Walker (born May 24, 1942, Fox Point, Wisconsin)[1] is an American crime fiction author.
Mary Willis Walker | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mary Willis May 24, 1942 Fox Point, Wisconsin |
| Occupation | Author |
| Alma mater | Duke University |
| Genre | Crime fiction |
| Notable works | Zero at the Bone, The Red Scream, Under the Beetle's Cellar |
| Notable awards | Zero at the Bone: Agatha Award (1991), Macavity Award (1992) The Red Scream: Edgar Award (1995) Under the Beetle's Cellar: Macavity Award (1996), Anthony Award (1996), Martin Beck Award (1998) |
| Spouse | Lee Walker (1967-1993) |
Life
Walker graduated from Duke University in English and took up high school teaching.[2] She married in 1967 to Lee Walker who became president of Dell Computers, living in New York and Virginia before moving to Austin, Texas. They have two daughters, Amanda and Susannah. The couple divorced when she was 51. She returned to her maiden name of Mary Willis, but continued to published as Mary Willis Walker, which, she wrote in an article for the New York Times Magazine, she now considers a pen name.[3] She continues to live in Austin.[4]
Writing
She began writing in her mid-forties, which she characterized as " 'pretty late to start' ".[5] She spent two years writing her first published thriller, Zero at the Bone, which was published in 1991.[5] Her second Texas-based mystery, Red Scream, was Walker's first to feature sleuth Molly Cates.[5] Red Scream won the Best Mystery Edgar Award in 1993.[5] Under the Beetle's Cellar, published in 1995, was Walker's third mystery.[5]
Bibliography
- Zero at the Bone (1991)
- "Molly Cates" series
- The Red Scream (1994)
- Under the Beetle's Cellar (1995)
- All the Dead Lie Down (1998)
Selected awards
- 1991: Agatha Award for best first novel for Zero at the Bone
- 1992: Macavity Award for best first novel for Zero at the Bone
- 1995: Edgar Award for Best Novel for The Red Scream
- 1996: Macavity Award for Under the Beetle's Cellar
- 1996: Anthony Award for Under the Beetle's Cellar
- 1998: Martin Beck Award for Under the Beetle's Cellar
Footnotes
- Embden, Nico van. "Mary Willis Walker". embden11.home.xs4all.nl. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- "Lars Eighner's US Bookstore Presents The Texas Institute of Letters Authors: Mary Willis Walker". larseighner.com. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- Willis, Mary (1994-11-01). "Too important to sign away: Divorce underlines value of maiden name". The StarPhoenix. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
- page 253, Great Women Mystery Writers, 2nd Ed. by Elizabeth Blakesley Lindsay, 2007, publ. Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-33428-5
- Doug J. Swanson (1995-11-15). "Author works from fears". Baca Raton News. Retrieved 2009-12-19.
References
- Marilyn Stasio (1995-10-01). "Crime". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-12-19.
External links
- How I Gave Up My Alias by Mary Willis, The New York Times, October 16, 1994