Mary Rene Richardson Daheim (November 7, 1937 — March 30, 2022) was an American writer of

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

and

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

novels.

Life and career

Daheim was born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, United States, to Hugh and Monica Richardson. She attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

where she was one of the first female editors of ''The Daily'', the campus newspaper. After receiving her BA in communications, Daheim worked as a journalist in

Anacortes Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman.Port Angeles, Washington Port Angeles ( ) is a city and county seat of Clallam County, Washington, Clallam County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 19,960 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most populous city in t ...

. Daheim's first novel, the

historical romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Lord Byron, Byron helped popularize in the early 19th century. The genre often takes the form of the novel. Varieties ...

''Love's Pirate'', was published in 1983. Daheim continued writing historical romances for several years until she tired of writing "bodice-rippers". She switched genres to her personal favorite, mysteries. The "Bed & Breakfast" series featuring amateur detective Judith McMonigle (later Flynn) was published beginning in 1991. The first book in her "Alpine" series ''The Alpine Advocate'' was published in 1992. Emma Lord is the protagonist who tackles mysteries in the small town of Alpine, Washington. The real Alpine no longer exists; however in her series Daheim resurrects the town. Interest in the old town led to it being rediscovered in 2008 by a group calling themselves "The Alpine Advocates". Daheim was nominated for an

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 ...

for her first mystery novel ''Just Desserts'' in 1991. In 2008, she was inducted into the University of Washington Department of Communications Alumni Hall of Fame. Mary Daheim passed away March 30, 2022.

Bibliography

Daheim's published works:

Historical romances

* ''Love's Pirate'' (1983) - republished in 2013 as ''The Royal Mile'' * ''Destiny's Pawn'' (1984) * ''Pride's Captive'' (1986) - republished in 2013 as ''Reunion'' * ''Passion's Triumph'' (1988) - republished in 2015 as ''Gosford's Daughter'' * ''King's Ransom'' (1990) * ''Improbable Eden'' (1991) * ''Gypsy Baron'' (1992)

Mystery series

Bed & Breakfast series

#''Just Desserts'' (1991) #''Fowl Prey'' (1991) #''Holy Terrors'' (1992) #''Dune to Death'' (1993) #''Bantam of the Opera'' (1993) #''A Fit of Tempera'' (1994) #''Major Vices'' (1995) #''Murder, My Suite'' (1996) #''Auntie Mayhem'' (1996) #''Nutty as a Fruitcake'' (1996) #''September Mourn'' (1998) #''Wed and Buried'' (1998) #''Snow Place to Die'' (1998) #''Legs Benedict'' (1998) #''Creeps Suzette'' (2000) #''A Streetcar Named Expire'' (2001) #''Suture Self'' (2001) #''Silver Scream'' (2002) #''Hocus Croakus'' (2003) #''This Old Souse'' (2004) #''Dead Man Docking'' (2005) #''Saks and Violins'' (2006) #''Scots on the Rocks'' (2007) #''Vi Agra Falls'' (2008) #''Loco Motive'' (2010) #''All The Pretty Hearses'' (2011) #''The Wurst Is Yet to Come'' (2012) #''Gone With the Win'' (2013) #''Clam Wake'' (2014) #''Here Comes the Bribe'' (2016) #''A Case of Bier'' (2018) ;B&B short stories in anthologies * ''Tippy Canoe'' in Murder, They Wrote (1997) (also contains works by Jane Dentinger, Marjorie Eccles, Sally Gunning, Jean Hager,

Ellen Hart Ellen Hart (born August 10, 1949) is the award-winning mystery author of the Jane Lawless and Sophie Greenway series. Born in Maine, she was a professional chef for 14 years. Hart's mysteries include culinary elements similar to those of Diane ...

Kate Kingsbury Kate may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American author o ...

Janet Laurence Janet Laurence (born 4 March 1947) is an Australian artist, based in Sydney, who works in photography, sculpture, video and installation art. Her work is an expression of her concern about environment and ethics, her "ecological quest" as she ...

Marlys Millhiser Marlys Joy Millhiser (May 27, 1938 – April 20, 2017) was an American author of mysteries (the ''Charlie Greene'' series) and horror novels, including her most famous one '' The Mirror'', published in 1978. She was also the author of ''The Thres ...

, and

Nancy Pickard Nancy Pickard (born September 19, 1945, in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American crime novelist. She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. She also ...

) * ''Dial M for Mom'' in Motherhood Is Murder (2003) * ''The Ghost of Christmas Past'' in Sugar Plums & Scandal (2006)

Alpine series

#''The Alpine Advocate'' (1992) #''

The Alpine Betrayal ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1993) #''The Alpine Christmas'' (1993) #''The Alpine Decoy'' (1994) #''The Alpine Escape'' (1995) #''The Alpine Fury'' (1996) #''The Alpine Gamble'' (1996) #''The Alpine Hero'' (1997) #''The Alpine Icon'' (1998) #''The Alpine Journey'' (1998) #''The Alpine Kindred'' (1998) #''The Alpine Legacy'' (1999) #''The Alpine Menace'' (2000) #''The Alpine Nemesis'' (2001) #''The Alpine Obituary'' (2002) #''The Alpine Pursuit'' (2004) #''The Alpine Quilt'' (2005) #''The Alpine Recluse'' (2006) #''The Alpine Scandal'' (2007) #''The Alpine Traitor'' (2008) #''The Alpine Uproar'' (2009) #''The Alpine Vengeance'' (2011) #''The Alpine Winter'' (2011) #''The Alpine Xanadu'' (2013) #''The Alpine Yeoman'' (2014) #''The Alpine Zen'' (2015) #''Alpha Alpine'' (2017) #''Bitter Alpine'' (2020)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daheim, Mary 1937 births Living people American mystery writers American women mystery writers Writers from Seattle American women novelists Novelists from Washington (state)