Charlotte MacLeod (November 12, 1922 – January 14, 2005) was a

Canadian-American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadian ...

mystery fiction Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a re ...

writer.

Life and work

Charlotte Matilda MacLeod was born in 1922 in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

, Canada, but

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to the United States in 1923 and became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

US citizen in 1951. She attended the

Art Institute of Boston Lesley University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. As of 2018-19 Lesley University enrolled 6,593 students (2,707 undergraduate and 3,886 graduate). Hist ...

. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, she worked as a

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or ...

for Stop & Shop Supermarkets in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

. She eventually moved on to join the staff of N. H. Miller & Company, an

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...

, where she rose to the level of

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is o ...

; she retired in 1982. While continuing to work at the advertising company during the day, MacLeod began writing mystery fiction, eventually publishing over 30 novels. Many of her books are set in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

, including a series featuring university professor Peter Shandy, and another about

Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to: Places Canada * Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood * Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia * Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan * Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec United ...

couple Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn. Other mysteries, set in Canada, were published under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Alisa Craig. MacLeod tailored her books to fit into the

cozy mystery Cozy mysteries, also referred to as "cozies", are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur off stage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. Cozies thu ...

genre, i.e. avoiding too much violence, gore, or sex while featuring a humorous and literate-yet-light style, likable

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

s, and eccentric casts of secondary characters. Her work sold over one million copies in the United States as well as Canada and Japan. MacLeod was co-founder of the American Crime Writers League and served as president. She received a

Nero Award The Nero Award is a literary award for excellence in the mystery genre presented by The Wolfe Pack, a society founded in 1978 to explore and celebrate the Nero Wolfe stories of Rex Stout Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886 – October 27, ...

for ''The Corpse in Oozak's Pond'' in 1987, which was also nominated for an Edgar Award. MacLeod began writing at 6 a.m. each day, continued through the morning, then used the afternoon for rewrites. She only started new books on Sundays. Although described as a "true lady" and often seen with hat and white gloves, while writing she would stay dressed in a bathrobe to avoid the temptation of leaving the house for an errand. MacLeod spent her final years in

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

. Toward the end of her years she suffered from Alzheimer's disease. She died on January 14, 2005, in a

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, the state's capital, and Portland, the state's most populous cit ...

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

Bibliography

As Charlotte MacLeod

;Mysteries starring Prof. Peter Shandy of (fictional) Balaclava Agricultural College & Helen Marsh Shandy, D.L.S. *''Rest You Merry'' (1979) evised and expanded from a short story, which became the opening chapter*''The Luck Runs Out'' (1981) *''Wrack and Rune'' (1982) *''Something the Cat Dragged In'' (1984) *''The Curse of the Giant Hogweed'' (1985) *''The Corpse in Oozak's Pond'' (1987) *''Vane Pursuit'' (1989) *''An Owl Too Many'' (1991) *''Something in the Water'' (1994) *''Exit the Milkman'' (1996) ;Mysteries starring Sarah Kelling (Bittersohn) and/or art investigator Max Bittersohn, set among Boston's upper crust *''The Family Vault'' (1980) *''The Withdrawing Room'' (1981) *''The Palace Guard'' (1982) *''The Bilbao Looking Glass'' (1983) *''The Convivial Codfish'' (1984) *''The Plain Old Man'' (1985) *''The Recycled Citizen'' (1988) *''The Silver Ghost'' (1988) *''The Gladstone Bag'' (1989) *''The Resurrection Man'' (1992) *''The Odd Job'' (1995) *''The Balloon Man'' (1998) ;Stand-alone books *''Mystery of the White Knight'' (1964) *''Next Door to Danger'' (1965) *''The Fat Lady's Ghost'' (1968) *''Mouse's Vineyard'' (1968) *''Ask Me No Questions'' (1971) *''Brass Pounder'' (1971) *''King Devil'' (1978) *''We Dare Not Go A Hunting'' (1980) *''Cirak's Daughter ''(1982) *''Maid of Honor'' (1984) *''Grab Bag'' (1987) (short stories; including two featuring Bittersohn & Kelling, and one with Peter Shandy) *''It Was an Awful Shame and Other Stories'' (2002) (short stories; a

reprint A reprint is a re-publication of material that has already been previously published. The term ''reprint'' is used with slightly different meanings in several fields. Academic publishing In academic publishing, offprints, sometimes also known a ...

of ''Grab Bag'' including three additional stories, one featuring Bittersohn & Kelling) ;Correspondence *''Charlotte MacLeod Remembered: Letters from Charlotte'' (collection) ;As editor (

anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...

) *''Christmas Stalkings'' *''Mistletoe Mysteries'' ;Non-fiction *''Astrology for Skeptics'' (1973) *''Had She But Known: A Biography of

Mary Roberts Rinehart Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876September 22, 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie.Keating, H.R.F., ''The Bedside Companion to Crime''. New York: Mysterious Press, 1989, p. 170. Rinehart published her fir ...

'' (1994)

As Alisa Craig

;Mysteries starring Madoc Rhys of the

RCMP The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...

& Janet Wadman Rhys *''A Pint of Murder'' (1980) *''Murder Goes Mumming'' (1981) *''A Dismal Thing to Do'' (1986) *''Trouble in the Brasses'' (1989) *''The Wrong Rite'' (1992) ;Mysteries starring Dittany Henbit Monk, of the Lobelia Falls Grub-and-Stakers Gardening & Roving Club *''The Grub-and-Stakers Move a Mountain'' (1981) *''The Grub-and-Stakers Quilt a Bee'' (1985) *''The Grub-and-Stakers Pinch a Poke'' (1988) *''The Grub-and-Stakers Spin a Yarn '' (1990) *''The Grub-and-Stakers House a Haunt'' (1993) ;Stand-alone books *''The Terrible Tide'' (1985) *''Poems of Faith'' (1989)

Awards and nominations

(1 win) *

Edgar Allan Poe Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

(2 nominations) * American Mystery Awards (5 wins) *

Bouchercon XXIII Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the conve ...

Lifetime Achievement Award **

1986 Anthony award Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the conve ...

nomination for Best Novel, ''The Plain Old Man'' **

1992 Anthony award Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the conve ...

nomination for Best Short Story Collection, ''Christmas Stalkings: Tales of Yuletide Murder'' * Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macleod, Charlotte 1922 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists American mystery writers American women novelists Canadian mystery writers Canadian women novelists Nero Award winners Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in Maine Novelists from Maine Writers from New Brunswick Agatha Award winners People from Carleton County, New Brunswick Women mystery writers Writers from Boston 20th-century Canadian women writers Lesley University alumni Novelists from Massachusetts Anthony Award winners 20th-century American women writers Canadian emigrants to the United States 21st-century American women