Caroline Roe

Caroline Medora Sale Roe (born 1943; died November 7, 2021) was a Canadian novelist who wrote detective novels as Medora Sale and historical mystery novels as Caroline Roe.[1]

Caroline Medora Sale was born in Windsor, Ontario.[2] She received a BA from the University of Toronto,[1] and a PhD in Medieval Studies from the same university.[2] Her PhD research involved religious diversity in the Medieval Era.[3] Before becoming a full-time writer, she taught at Branksome Hall[2] and also worked in advertising and as a typist, translator, and caseworker.[1] She married the medievalist Harry Roe in 1970; they had one daughter, Anne.[1]

Her books as Medora Sale are The Spider Bites (2010), Murder on the Run (1985), Murder in Focus (1989), Murder in a Good Cause (1990), Sleep of the Innocent (1991), Pursued by Shadows (1992), and A Short Cut to Santa Fe (1994).[1] They are police procedural novels set around Toronto and featuring the characters of John Sanders, a homicide detective, and Harriet Jeffries, an architectural photographer.[3]

Her books as Caroline Roe are Remedy for Treason (1998), Cure for a Charlatan (1999), An Antidote for Avarice (1999), Solace for a Sinner (2000), A Potion for a Widow (2001), A Draught for a Dead Man (2002), A Poultice for a Healer (2003), and Consolation for an Exile (2004).[1] These historical mystery novels draw upon Roe's PhD research, and feature a 14th-century Jewish doctor who is physician to the Bishop of Girona.[3]

Roe was president of Crime Writers of Canada and of the international board of Sisters in Crime.[3] Roe won the Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel in 1985 (for Murder on the Run), and a Barry Award in 1999 (for An Antidote for Avarice).[1]