Katherine Hall Page (born July 7, 1947) is an American writer of

cozy mysteries Cozy mysteries (also referred to as cozies) are a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small socially-intimate community. Cozies thus s ...

. Page has written twenty-five books in her ''Faith Fairchild'' series and four ''Christie and Company'' juvenile mysteries. Between 1990 and 2005, Page won three

Agatha Awards 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 ...

. She was nominated for two

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

and a

Macavity Award The Macavity Awards, established in 1987, are a group of literary awards presented annually to mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the "Macavity, mystery cat ...

during this time period. In 2024, Hall became a Grand Master at the Edgar Awards in 2024. Outside of writing, Page worked in

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

between the 1960s to 1980s.

Early life and education

Page was born on July 7, 1947, in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. For her post-secondary education, Page started with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

in 1969 and a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

in 1974. She later received a

Doctor of Education Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1985.

Career

From the 1960s to 1980s, Page worked with teenagers in

while teaching history and art. She continued her educational career as a consultant in 1985. In 1990, Page wrote ''The Body in the Belfry'' as a stand-alone book. After her editor asked when the next story in the series would be written, Page created the ''Faith Fairchild'' books with the publication of ''The Body in the Kelp''. While writing ''The Body in the Fjord'', Page expanded her writing to juvenile mysteries in the late 1990s. After publishing ''Christie and Company'' in 1996, Page added three more books to the Christie and Company series throughout the remainder of the 1990s. In 2019, her Faith Fairchild series grew to twenty five books after the release of ''The Body in the Wake''. Apart from her series, Page released ''Club Meds'' in 2006.

Writing style and themes

Page bases the ''Faith Fairchild'' series around the criminal and methodology of the crime while planning out her characters, dialogue and timeline of events. For her locations, Page merged neighboring towns of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, to create her fictional town of Aleford. Her other fictional location, Sanpere Island, is based on Deer Isle, Maine. From her third ''Faith Fairchild'' book onwards, Page used her made-up town of Aleford in every other book while incorporating other American and European locations. With her fourth book, Page started to include accompanying recipes that were part of her stories. She also created a compilation of the recipes from her series with the 2010 publication titled ''Have Faith in Your Kitchen''. In 1998, Page used a home burglary she experienced as the basis for her book ''The Body in the Bookcase''.

Awards and honors

As part of her six

nominations, Page won the Best First Novel category in 1990 with ''The Body in the Belfry''. ''“The Would-Be Widower"'' received the 2001 Best Short Story award while ''The Body in the Snowdrift'' won the Best Novel category in 2005. At the

, Page was nominated for the 1998 Best Juvenile award with ''Christie & Company Down East'' and the 2004 Mary Higgins Clark Award with ''The Body in the Lighthouse''. In 2016, Page was selected to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Malice Domestic convention. Hall became a Grand Master during the Edgar Awards held in 2024. During the Maine Literary Aeards, ''The Body in the Wake'' was nominated for the Book Award for Crime Fiction in 2020. ''The Body in the Web'' was nominated for this award in 2024. Page was chosen as a CrimeMaster by The Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance in 2022. During the 2002

Macavity Awards The Macavity Awards, established in 1987, are a group of literary awards presented annually to mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the " mystery cat" of T. ...

, ''“The Would-Be Widower"'' was nominated for the Best Mystery Short Story category.

Personal life

Page is married and has one child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Katherine Hall American mystery writers Place of birth missing (living people) Agatha Award winners Living people Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni Wellesley College alumni Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni 1947 births Novelists from New Jersey American women mystery writers American women novelists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers