Sharan Newman (born April 15, 1949, in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

) is an American historian and writer of historical novels. She won the

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 ...

for Best First Mystery in 1994.

Biography

Newman's father was a

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

captain; her mother was a psychologist. In 1971 she both graduated from

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

and married Paul Richard Newman, a physicist. She also gained a master's in medieval literature in 1973 from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

and then doctoral work in Medieval studies at the

University of California at Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...

. Newman lectures widely in medieval historypage 161-164, ''Great Women Mystery Writers'', 2nd Ed. by Elizabeth Blakesley Lindsay, 2007, publ. Greenwood Press, and currently lives in Ireland.

Writing

Newman's first novels were a historical trilogy about

Guinevere Guinevere ( ; ; , ), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First mentioned in literature in the early 12th cen ...

. Then she turned to mystery novels set in 12th-century France featuring Catherine LeVendeur, a novice in a convent run by Heloise – though she later leaves and marries.

Awards

Newman's debut mystery, ''Death Comes as Epiphany'', won the

for "Best First Novel" in 1994 and was also nominated for the 1994 Anthony Award and the 1993

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 ...

in the same category. The novel was also nominated for the 1994

Dilys Award The Dilys Award was presented every year from 1992 to 2014 by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. It was given to the mystery title of the year which the member booksellers have most enjoyed selling. The Independent Mystery Booksell ...

for the mystery title of the year which the ''Independent Mystery Booksellers Association'' booksellers have most enjoyed selling. ''The Wandering Arm'' and ''Strong As Death'' also received nominations for Agatha Awards for "Best Novel" in 1995 and 1996 respectively.

Bibliography

Guinevere series

* ''Guinevere'' (1981) * ''The Chessboard Queen'' (1983) * ''Guinevere Evermore'' (1985)

Catherine LeVendeur series

* ''Death Comes as Epiphany'' (1993)

* ''The Devil's Door'' (1994) * ''The Wandering Arm'' (1995) * ''Strong as Death'' (1996) * ''Cursed in the Blood'' (1998)
Herodotus Award for "Best US Historical Mystery" * ''The Difficult Saint'' (1999) * ''To Wear the White Cloak'' (2000) * ''Heresy'' (2002) * ''The Outcast Dove'' (2003) * ''The Witch in the Well'' (2004)

Other novels

* ''The Dagda's Harp'' (1976) * ''The Shanghai Tunnel'' (2008)

Anthologies and collections

* ''Death Before Compline'' (2011) *''Home from America'' (Aug 2010) in Death's Excellent Vacation

Anthologies edited

* ''Crime Through Time'' (1997) (with Miriam Grace Monfredo) * ''Crime Through Time II'' (1998) (with Miriam Grace Monfredo) * ''Crime Through Time III'' (2000) (intro. Anne Perry)

Non-fiction

* ''The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code'' (2005) * ''The Real History Behind the Templars'' (2007) * ''The Real History of the End of the World'' (2010) * ''Defending the City of God'' (2014)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Sharan 1949 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American historians American historical novelists American mystery writers Antioch College alumni Macavity Award winners Michigan State University alumni Writers from Ann Arbor, Michigan University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Novelists from Oregon Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages American women historians American women mystery writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American women historical novelists Novelists from Michigan 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Historians from Michigan