Carolyn Hart (also known as Carolyn G. Hart) is an American mystery and suspense writer. She is the author of 63 books, including the Death on Demand, Henrie O and Bailey Ruth series. In 2014, she was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. She was born in Oklahoma in 1936.

Biography

Hart was born Carolyn Gimpel and was raised in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, 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 The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

graduate of the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

(class of 1958), where she majored in journalism. Hart met her husband Philip while traveling in Europe during her junior year in college. After graduation, while her husband attended law school, Hart worked as a newspaper 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, sponsored by Dodd, Mead and Calling All Girls, calling for a mystery novel that would appeal to adolescent girls. She went on to write several more young adult mysteries between 1965 and 1972. From 1972 to 1987, she wrote nine stand-alone suspense novels and mysteries, with only modest success. Until the publication of mystery novels by Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, and Sue Grafton, publishers had little interest in mysteries written by contemporary American female writers; the success of these authors, however, opened the door for Hart's ''Death on Demand'' (1987), which became the first in a long-running series of the same name. Hart's stand-alone

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

novel ''Letter from Home'' was nominated for the

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

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 The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

Awards

Hart has won awards throughout her four-decade writing career. *

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

Grand Master 2014 *

Agatha Award The Agatha Awards, named for Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short ...

– nine nominations and three wins *

Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Categori ...

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 The Agatha Awards, named for Agatha Christie, are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write in the traditional mystery subgenre: "books typified by the works of Agatha Christie . . . loosely defined as mysteries that contain no expli ...

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 Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication *Featured mystery author at the

National Book Festival on the Mall in Washington DC in 2003 and 2007 * Past president of Sisters in Crime

Works

Death on Demand series

Hart's first commercially successful adult mystery series features Annie Laurance, proprietor of the Death on Demand bookstore, located in the fictional

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

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) also in Something Wicked #''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) #''Death Comes Silently'' (2012) #''Dead, White and Blue'' (2013) #''Death at the Door'' (2014) #''Don't Go Home'' (2015) #''Walking on My Grave'' (2017)

Henrie O series

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), turned into a 1996 TV movie starring

Barbara Eden Barbara Eden (born Barbara Jean Morehead; August 23, 1931) is an American actress and singer, who starred as the title character in the sitcom ''I Dream of Jeannie'' (1965–1970). Her other roles included Roslyn Pierce opposite Elvis Presley in ...

and

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

#''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 series

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) #''Ghost Gone Wild'' (2013) #''Ghost Wanted'' (2014) #''Ghost to the Rescue'' (2015) #''Ghost Times Two'' (2016) #''Ghost on the Case'' (2017) #''Ghost Ups Her Game'' (2020) published by SEVERN House Great Britain and USA

Non-series books

Pre-teens

*''The Secret of the Cellars'' (1998, ebook 2013)

Teens

*''Dangerous Summer'' (1968, ebook 2013) *''No Easy Answers'' (1970, reprint 2013) *''Rendezvous in Veracruz'' (1972, reprint 2012) *''Danger, High Explosives!'' (1972, ebook 2013)

Adults

*''Flee from the Past'' (1975, reprint 1998, reprint 2012) *''A Settling of Accounts'' (1976, reprint 2013) also in Secrets and Other Stories of Suspense *''Escape from Paris'' (1982, reprint 2013) *''The Rich Die Young'' (1983, reprint 2001) *''Death by Surprise'' (1983, reprint 2013) *''Skulduggery'' (1984, reprint 2012) *''The Devereaux Legacy'' (1986, reprint 2013) *''Brave Hearts'' (1987, reprint 2013) *''Letter from Home'' (2003) *''What the Cat Saw'' (2012) *''Cry in the Night'' (2013) *''Castle Rock'' (1983, reprint 2014) *''Cliff's Edge'' (2014) *''High Stakes'' (November 2015) *''Peril Off Padre'' (2018) e-book only

Anthologies

Non-fiction books

*''The Sooner Story, 1890–1980 (1980, with Charles F. Long)''

References

External links

*
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Hart, Carolyn G.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Carolyn 1936 births Living people Writers from Oklahoma City University of Oklahoma alumni American mystery writers Anthony Award winners Macavity Award winners Agatha Award winners American women mystery writers American women novelists Classen School of Advanced Studies alumni 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Oklahoma