Joan Hess (January 6, 1949 – November 23, 2017) was an American mystery writer, a member of Sisters in Crime, and a former president of the American Crime Writers League. She wrote two popular mystery series: The Claire Malloy Mysteries and The Maggody Mysteries (also called The Arly Hanks Mysteries), and contributed to multiple anthologies and book series, including: Crosswinds, Deadly Allies, Malice Domestic, Sisters in Crime, and The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. She also wrote the Theo Bloomer mystery series, under the pseudonym Joan Hadley.[1][2]
Joan Hess | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 6, 1949 |
| Died | November 23, 2017 (aged 68) Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Pen name | Joan Hadley |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Genre | Mystery fiction |
| Notable awards |
|
Series
editThe Claire Malloy series is set in Farberville, Arkansas, and centers around Claire Malloy, who owns a small bookstore across from the campus of Farberville College. It has been suggested that Farberville is a stand-in for Fayetteville, Arkansas, with many landmarks, including the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, Dickson Street, and even well-known local citizens, thinly veiled in the prose.
The Arly Hanks series is set in Maggody, Arkansas, population 755. The main character is Arly Hanks, Maggody's irreverent young female police chief. The first book of the Arly Hanks series, Malice in Maggody, was the basis for the 1993 CBS television pilot Arly Hanks.[3]
In the Theo Bloomer series the eponymous protagonist, "a dignified offshoot of old Connecticut money and prestige", is a retired bachelor-botanist who formerly worked as a florist. In each book, family obligations take him to an exotic vacation destination, where he becomes embroiled in a mystery: in the first book, he travels to Israel to retrieve his niece, who is staying at a kibbutz hotel,[4] and in the next he accompanies her party to a "luxurious villa" in Montego Bay, Jamaica, as a chaperone.[5]
Awards
edit| Year | Title | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Strangled Prose | Anthony Award for Best First Novel | Finalist | [6] |
| 1988 | Mischief in Maggody | Agatha Award for Best Novel | Finalist | [6][7] |
| 1990 | "Too Much to Bare" in Sisters in Crime 2 | Agatha Award for Best Short Story | Winner | [7] |
| 1991 | Macavity Award for Best Mystery Short Story | Winner | [8][9][10] | |
| 1992 | "The Last To Know" in Malice Domestic 1 | Agatha Award for Best Short Story | Finalist | [7] |
| 1993 | O Little Town of Maggody | Agatha Award for Best Novel | Finalist | [6][7] |
| 1994 | Anthony Award for Best Novel | Finalist | [6] | |
| 1995 | Miracles in Maggody | Agatha Award for Best Novel | Finalist | [6][7] |
| Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery Novel Award | Finalist | [6] |
Personal life
editA longtime resident of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Hess lived in Austin, Texas, where she died at her home November 23, 2017.[11][12]
Bibliography
editNovels
edit- Claire Malloy series by Joan Hess[Notes 1]
- Strangled Prose
- The Murder at the Mimosa Inn
- Dear Miss Demeanor
- A Really Cute Corpse
- A Diet to Die For
- Roll Over and Play Dead
- Death by the Light of the Moon
- Poisoned Pins
- Tickled to Death
- Closely Akin to Murder
- Busy Bodies
- A Holly, Jolly Murder
- A Conventional Corpse
- Out on a Limb
- The Goodbye Body
- Damsels in Distress
- Mummy Dearest
- Deader Homes and Gardens
- Murder as a Second Language
- Pride v. Prejudice
- Maggody series by Joan Hess[Notes 2]
- Malice in Maggody
- Mischief in Maggody
- Much Ado in Maggody
- Madness in Maggody
- Mortal Remains in Maggody
- Maggody in Manhattan
- O Little Town of Maggody
- Martians in Maggody
- Miracles in Maggody
- The Maggody Militia
- Misery Loves Maggody
- [email protected]
- Maggody and the Moonbeams
- Muletrain to Maggody
- Malpractice in Maggody
- The Merry Wives of Maggody
- Theo Bloomer Mystery series by Joan Hadley[Notes 3]
Standalone Teenage Romance
- Future Tense (1987)[13]
Short stories
edit- Hess, Joan & Wallace, Marilyn, ed. (1990). "Too Much to Bare". Sisters in Crime 2. New York: Berkley. ISBN 9780425119662.
{{cite news}}:|author=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Hess, Joan & Greenberg, Martin, ed. (1992). "The Last to Know". Malice Domestic #1. Pocket Books. ISBN 9780671738266.
{{cite news}}:|author=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Maggody Files: Hillbilly Cat Great Cat Mysteries: An Anthology of Feline Capers (audio edition by Phoenix Books, 1996). She also has two books of solely her own short stories.
She co-authored Elizabeth Peters' last book, The Painted Queen. After Elizabeth Peters died, Joan Hess completed this last novel in the popular Amelia Peabody series.
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "Joan Hess". Goodreads. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- ^ "Joan Hadley". Goodreads. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- ^ "Q&A: Your questions". Dallas Morning News. 11 September 1994.
- ^ a b Hadley, Joan (November 28, 1986). The Night-Blooming Cereus. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312572808.
- ^ a b Hadley, Joan (March 1, 1988). The Deadly Ackee. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312014162.
- ^ a b c d e f "Joan Hess". Stop, You're Killing Me!. Retrieved 2024-05-11.
- ^ a b c d e "Agatha Awards Past Winners". Malice Domestic. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
- ^ "Obituary Notes: Joan Hess". Shelf Awareness. November 28, 2017. Archived from the original on 2022-12-25. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
- ^ "Macavity Awards". Mystery Readers International. Archived from the original on 2019-04-05. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
- ^ "Macavity Awards". Lincoln City Libraries. September 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-01-02. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
- ^ "Joan Hess". Macmillan.
- ^ "Joan HESS's Obituary on Austin American-Statesman". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
- ^ Hess, Joan (May 1987). Future Tense. Silhouette books. ISBN 0373062338.