Carolyn Hart
Encyclopedia
Carolyn Gimpel Hart is an award-winning American mystery
writer
who specializes in traditional mysteries, also known as cozy
mysteries.
, Oklahoma
, where she still lives. She attended Cleveland Elementary School, Taft Junior High School, and Classen High School. At the age of 11, Hart decided that she wanted to be a newspaper reporter. She worked on school papers beginning in grade school, continuing all the way through her college years.
Hart is a Phi Beta Kappa
graduate of the University of Oklahoma
(class of 1958), where she majored in journalism. Hart met her husband, Philip, while traveling in Europe in her junior year in college. After graduation, while her husband attended law school, Hart worked as a reporter for The Norman Transcript. She gave up journalism after the birth of her son, Philip Jr.
In 1964, the year her daughter, Sarah, was born, Hart won a writing contest calling for a mystery novel that would appeal to adolescent girls, sponsored by Dodd, Mead and Calling All Girls. She went on to write several more teenage and young adult mysteries between 1965 and 1972. From 1972 to 1987, she wrote nine stand-alone suspense novels and mysteries which had only modest success. Until the publication of books by Marcia Muller
, Sara Paretsky
, and Sue Grafton
, publishers had little interested in mysteries written by female American authors. The success of these authors opened the door for Hart's Death on Demand series in 1987.
Hart's stand-alone World War II
novel Letter from Home was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
by the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers at Oklahoma State University–Tulsa
. She has twice appeared as one of the featured mystery authors at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. .
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
who specializes in traditional mysteries, also known as cozy
Cozy (genre)
Cozy mysteries, also referred to simply as "cozies," are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community...
mysteries.
Biography
Hart was born Carolyn Gimpel and was raised in Oklahoma CityOklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, where she still lives. She attended Cleveland Elementary School, Taft Junior High School, and Classen High School. At the age of 11, Hart decided that she wanted to be a newspaper reporter. She worked on school papers beginning in grade school, continuing all the way through her college years.
Hart is a Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...
graduate of the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
(class of 1958), where she majored in journalism. Hart met her husband, Philip, while traveling in Europe in her junior year in college. After graduation, while her husband attended law school, Hart worked as a reporter for The Norman Transcript. She gave up journalism after the birth of her son, Philip Jr.
In 1964, the year her daughter, Sarah, was born, Hart won a writing contest calling for a mystery novel that would appeal to adolescent girls, sponsored by Dodd, Mead and Calling All Girls. She went on to write several more teenage and young adult mysteries between 1965 and 1972. From 1972 to 1987, she wrote nine stand-alone suspense novels and mysteries which had only modest success. Until the publication of books by Marcia Muller
Marcia Muller
Marcia Muller is an American author of fictional mystery and thriller novels.Muller has written many novels featuring her Sharon McCone female private detective character. Vanishing Point, won the Shamus Award for Best P.I. Novel...
, Sara Paretsky
Sara Paretsky
Sara Paretsky is a modern American author of detective fiction.-Life and career:Paretsky was born in Ames, Iowa and raised in Kansas, graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in political science. She did community service work on the south side of Chicago in 1966 and returned in...
, and Sue Grafton
Sue Grafton
Sue Taylor Grafton is a contemporary American author of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the 'alphabet series' featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California. The daughter of detective novelist C. W...
, publishers had little interested in mysteries written by female American authors. The success of these authors opened the door for Hart's Death on Demand series in 1987.
Hart's stand-alone World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
novel Letter from Home was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
by the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers at Oklahoma State University–Tulsa
Oklahoma State University–Tulsa
Oklahoma State University–Tulsa, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, is the newest institution of the Oklahoma State University System. It was previously the University Center at Tulsa until it became OSU-Tulsa on January 1, 1999...
. She has twice appeared as one of the featured mystery authors at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. .
Awards
Hart has won awards throughout her four-decade writing career.- Agatha AwardAgatha AwardThe Agatha Awards are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write via the same method as Agatha Christie...
- nine nominations and three wins - Anthony AwardAnthony AwardThe Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher , one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America....
for Best Paperback Original - five nominations and two wins - Macavity Award for Best Paperback Original - two wins
- Ridley Pearson Award for significant contribution to the mystery field
- Guest of Honor at the Malice Domestic annual conference in 1997 and recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007
- Oklahoma Center for the Book award for fiction in 2001 and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004
- Distinguished Alumnus of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass CommunicationGaylord College of Journalism and Mass CommunicationThe Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication is the journalism unit of the University of Oklahoma in Norman. It is located in Norman, a quaint town located 40 miles south of Oklahoma City...
- Appeared as a featured mystery author at the Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
National Book Festival on the Mall in Washington DC in 2003 and 2007 - member and past president of Sisters in CrimeSisters in CrimeSisters in Crime is an organization that has 3,600 members in 48 chapters world-wide, offering networking, advice and support to mystery authors. Members are authors, readers, publishers, agents, booksellers and librarians bound by their affection for the mystery genre and their support of women...
Death on Demand
Hart's first commercially-successful adult mystery series features Annie Laurance, proprietor of the Death on Demand bookstore, located in the fictional South Carolina island community of Broward's Rock. By using a mystery bookstore for her background, Hart has given her characters the opportunity to talk freely about other mystery authors and books. One of the ongoing themes of the series is a contest whereby the first customer who correctly identifies a series of five mysteries from the clues in a painting hanging in the shop wins his or her choice of a novel.- Death on Demand (1987)
- Design for Murder (1988)
- Something Wicked (1988)
- Honeymoon with Murder (1988)
- A Little Class on Murder (1989)
- Deadly Valentine (1990)
- The Christie Caper (1991)
- Southern Ghost (1992)
- Mint Julep Murder (1995)
- Yankee Doodle Dead (1998)
- White Elephant Dead (1999)
- Sugarplum Dead (2000)
- April Fool Dead (2002)
- Engaged to Die (2003)
- Murder Walks the Plank (2004)
- Death of the Party (2005)
- Dead Days of Summer (2006)
- Death Walked In (2008)
- Dare to Die (2009)
- Laughed 'Til He Died (2010)
- Dead by Midnight (2011)
Henrie O
Hart's Henrie O mysteries feature 70-something retired newswoman, Henrie O'Dwyer Collins, as she travels the country and the world, solving crimes that seem to follow her as she travels. Henrie gets by on her grit, tenacity, and sensible shoes.- Dead Man's Island (1993)
- Scandal in Fair Haven (1994)
- Death in Lovers' Lane (1997)
- Death in Paradise (1998)
- Death on the River Walk (1999)
- Resort to Murder (2001)
- Set Sail for Murder (2007)
Bailey Ruth Raeburn
Hart's newest protagonist, the ghost of a woman killed at sea who returns to earth via the "Rescue Express" to help her fictional hometown of Adelaide, Oklahoma while trying not to violate the Precepts for Earthly Visitation and adjusting to her powers on earth.- Ghost at Work (2008)
- Merry, Merry Ghost (2009)
- Ghost In Trouble (2010)
Non-series books
- The Secret of the Cellars (1998)
- Dangerous Summer (1968)
- No Easy Answers (1970)
- Rendezvous in Veracruz (1972)
- Danger, High Explosives! (1972)
- Flee from the Past (1975, reprint 1998)
- A Settling of Accounts (1976)
- Escape from Paris (1982)
- The Rich Die Young (1983, reprint 2001)
- Death by Surprise (1983, reprint 2000)
- Castle Rock (1983, reprint 2000)
- Skulduggery (1984, reprint 2000)
- The Devereux Legacy (1986, reprint 1999)
- Brave Hearts (1987, reprint 1999)
- Crimes of the Heart (1995, edited anthology)
- Crime on her Mind (1999, anthology)
- Love & Death (2001, edited anthology)
- Letter from Home (2003)
- Secrets and Other Stories of Suspense (2008)