Susan Dunlap

Susan Dunlap
Born	Susan D. Sullivan June 20, 1943 Kew Gardens, Queens,New York
Occupation	Mystery writer, social worker
Education	Bucknell University,B.A.1965 University of North Carolina,M.A.T.1966
Notable awards	Macavity Award Anthony Award
Spouses	Newell Dunlap (1970)
Website
Susan Dunlap

Susan Dunlap(born June 20, 1943) is an American writer ofmysterynovels 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, includingA Woman's Eye(1991), and to periodicals such asEllery Queen's Mystery MagazineandAlfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.Her short story "Checkout" won aMacavity Awardand anAnthony Awardin 1994.

Dunlap was a founding member ofSisters in Crimeand served as its president in 1990–91. Before becoming a full-time writer in 1984, she was asocial workerinBaltimore(1966–67),New York City(1967), andContra Costa County,California (1968–84). She has also worked as aparalegal,private investigator,andyogateacher.

Personal life

Born inKew Gardens, Queens,New York, Dunlap graduated fromBucknell Universitywith aB.A.in 1965 and from theUniversity of North Carolinawith aMaster of Arts in Teachingin 1966. She married Newell Dunlap in 1970.In 2020, the Dunlaps live near San Francisco.

Critical reception

Reviews

Carol M. Harper inSt. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writerssaid 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 ReviewspraisesTime Expired,featuringBerkeley, California,homicide detective Jill Smith, as "an adroitly plotted, consistently interesting police procedural."

Awards

Pious Deception(1989) andRogue Wavewere finalists for theAnthony Award for Best Novel.

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, withRobert J. Randisi(1994)
• Fast Friends(novel) (2004)

External links

• Official website