Michael McGarrity Alamogordo January 2009

Michael McGarrity (born 1940) is a New Mexican author and former law enforcement officer. He has written a dozen crime novels set in New Mexico and the American West trilogy, historical novels also set in New Mexico consisting of ''Hard Country'', ''Backlands'' and ''The Last Ranch''. As

deputy sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is commonly ...

Santa Fe County Santa Fe County (; meaning "County of the Holy faith" in Spanish) is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, its population was 154,823, making it New Mexico's third-most populous county, after Bernalillo Count ...

he founded their

sex crimes unit A Special Victims Unit (SVU), also known as a Special Victims Division, is a specialized branch within some law enforcement agencies, typically police departments. These units focus on cases involving vulnerable or high-risk victims. Detective ...

Early life

McGarrity attended the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

for three years and graduated from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

with a Bachelor's degree with distinction in English and Psychology. He earned a Master's degree in clinical social work from the University of Iowa and is a graduate of the New Mexico Law Enforcement academy.Fauntleroy, Gussle (1995) "Public Works: State worker hits big time with sale of 2 novels" ''The Santa Fe New Mexican'' p. A-6, col. 1

Career

Legal career and nonfiction writing

In addition to law enforcement work, he has been an investigator and caseworker for the New Mexico Public Defender's Office. He worked on rehabilitating prison programs after the New Mexico State Penitentiary riot in 1980. McGarrity has taught at several colleges and universities as well as the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy.Mcguire, Ginger (18 January 2006) "Writing from Experience Works for Mcgarrity" ''The Santa Fe New Mexican'' Eldorado Section, page EL-1 As a social worker he published a number of articles in professional journals on a wide range of topics, ranging from therapy programs for children, to program assessment and evaluation, and drug treatment interventions.

Fiction writing

McGarrity's crime novels take place in modern New Mexico, with law enforcement officer Kevin Kerney as the

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 ...

. The settings are vividly evokedHillerman, Anne (11 May 1997) "Books' Settings More Than Background" ''The Albuquerque Journal'' (New Mexico), page 3 and range from the

Tularosa Basin The Tularosa Basin is a graben basin in the Basin and Range Province and within the Chihuahuan Desert, east of the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico and West Texas, in the Southwestern United States. Geography The Tularosa Basin is located pr ...

and Lincoln County to Hermit's Peak, although many take place in Santa Fe. ''Hard Country'', ''Backlands'', and ''The Last Ranch'' form a sweeping trilogy tracing the Kerney family's history in New Mexico from 1875 through the end of the Vietnam War. A ground breaking prequel trilogy, all three books are set on the Tularosa Basin of south central New Mexico.

Awards

McGarrity has been nominated three times for the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction Western fiction is a genre of literature set in th ...

Spur Award Spur Awards are literary prizes given annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur Awards began in 1953, the same year the WWA wa ...

for Best Western Novel as well as an Anthony Award for his debut novel, ''Tularosa.'' He has received the following awards: * New Mexico Social Worker of the Year, 1980Mcguire, Ginger (18 January 2006) "Writing from Experience Works for Mcgarrity" ''The Santa Fe New Mexican'' Eldorado Section, page EL-3 * Santa Fe's Police Officer of the Year, 1987 * New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts — Literature, 2004 * Santa Fe Mayor's Award for Excellence in the Arts - Literature, 2015 * Frank Waters Exemplary Literary Achievement Award, 2015

Bibliography

Kevin Kerney series

*''Tularosa'' (1996) —

White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established in 1941 as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, where the Trinity t ...

*''Mexican Hat'' (1997) —

Gila Wilderness Gila Wilderness was designated the world's first wilderness area on June 3, 1924. Along with Aldo Leopold Wilderness and Blue Range Wilderness, the 558,014 acre (225,820 ha) (872 sq. mi.) wilderness is part of New Mexico's Gila National Fores ...

in southwestern New Mexico *''Serpent Gate'' (1998) —

Mountainair Mountainair is a town in Torrance County, New Mexico, United States. It was founded in 1902 by John Corbett, Colonel E. C. Manning, and Elias S. Stover. The population was 884 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Stat ...

and Santa Fe *''Hermit's Peak'' (1999) — Hermit's Peak and

Las Vegas, New Mexico Las Vegas, often known simply as Vegas, is a city in and the county seat of San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities (one a city and the other a town), both were named Las Vegas: West Las Vegas ("Old Town" ...

*''The Judas Judge'' (2000) — Central and southeastern New Mexico *''Under the Color of Law'' (2001) — Santa Fe and western New Mexico *''The Big Gamble'' (2002) —

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

and Santa Fe counties *''Everyone Dies'' (2003) — Santa Fe *''Slow Kill'' (2004) —

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and New Mexico *''Nothing But Trouble'' (2005) — Bootheel, the extreme southwestern New Mexico *''Death Song'' (2007) — Lincoln County and Santa Fe *''Dead or Alive'' (2008) — Northeastern New Mexico *''Residue'' (2018) — Southwestern New Mexico *''Head Wounds'' (2020) -

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; ; lit. 'the crosses') is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the county seat, seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 United States ce ...

American West Trilogy books

*''Hard Country'' (2012) *''Backlands'' (2014) *''The Last Ranch'' (2016)

Stand-alones

*''The Long Ago'' (2023)

References

External links

Michael McGarrity's homepageModern Signed Books BlogTalkRadio Interview with Rodger Nichols about The Last Ranch June 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGarrity, Michael American crime writers Western (genre) writers American thriller writers 1939 births Living people University of New Mexico alumni University of Iowa alumni American male novelists San Jose State University alumni