Tess Gerritsen (born Terry Tom; June 12, 1953) is the pseudonym of Terry Gerritsen, an American novelist and retired general physician.

Early life

Tess Gerritsen is the child of a Chinese immigrant and a Chinese-American seafood chef. While growing up in San Diego, California, Gerritsen often dreamt of writing her own Nancy Drew novels. Her first name is Terry; she decided to feminize it when she was a writer of romance novels.WRITERS AND SECRET IDENTITIES
an essay by Tess Gerritsen posted to her blog Sunday, October 7, 2007 @ 11:45 Although she longed to be a writer, her family had reservations about the sustainability of a writing career, prompting Gerritsen to choose a career in medicine. In 1975, Gerritsen graduated from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

with a BA in anthropology, intrigued by the ranges of human behavior. She went on to study medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She received her medical degree in 1979 and started work as a physician in Honolulu, Hawaii. While on maternity leave, she submitted a short story to a statewide fiction contest in the magazine ''Honolulu''. Her story, "On Choosing the Right

Crack Seed Crack seed is a category of snacks that originated in China. It is highly popular in many regions, such as Hawaii. Crack seed are preserved fruits that have been cracked or split with the seed or kernel partially exposed as a flavor enhancement. ...

," won first prize and she received $500. The story focused on a young male reflecting on a difficult relationship with his mother. Gerritsen claimed the story allowed her to deal with her own childhood turmoil, including the repeated suicide attempts of her mother.

Writing career

Inspired by the romance novels she enjoyed reading while working as a doctor, Gerritsen's first novels were romantic thrillers. After two unpublished "practice novels", ''Call After Midnight'' was bought by publisher Harlequin Intrigue in 1986 and published a year later. Gerritsen subsequently wrote eight romantic thrillers for Harlequin Intrigue and Harper Paperbacks.

Other genres

In 1996, Gerritsen wrote ''Harvest'', her first medical thriller. The plot was inspired by a conversation with a retired homicide detective who had recently traveled in Russia. He told her young orphans were vanishing from Moscow streets, and police believed the kidnapped children were being shipped abroad as organ donors. ''Harvest'' was Gerritsen's first hardcover novel, and it marked her debut on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list at number thirteen. Following ''Harvest'', Gerritsen wrote three more bestselling medical thrillers: ''Life Support'', ''Bloodstream'', and ''Gravity''. In 2001, Gerritsen's first crime thriller, '' The Surgeon'', was published and introduced homicide detective Jane Rizzoli. Although a secondary character in ''The Surgeon'', Rizzoli has been a central focus of 13 subsequent novels (see below) pairing her with medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles. The books inspired the ''

Rizzoli & Isles ''Rizzoli & Isles'' is an American crime drama television series starring Angie Harmon as Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as Maura Isles. Based on the series of ''Rizzoli & Isles'' novels by Tess Gerritsen, the plot follows Boston Homicide polic ...

'' television series starring Angie Harmon and

Sasha Alexander Sasha Alexander (born Suzana Drobnjakovic on May 17, 1973), is an American actress and TV director. She played Gretchen Witter in '' Dawson's Creek'' and has acted in films including '' Yes Man'' (2008) and ''He's Just Not That Into You'' (2 ...

. Gerritsen also made an appearance in the series' final season as a writer who helps Isles establish herself in the literary field. Although most of her recent books have been in the Rizzoli/Isles series, in 2007 Gerritsen wrote a stand-alone historical thriller titled '' The Bone Garden''. A tale of gruesome murders, the book is set primarily in 1830s Boston and includes a character based on Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Gerritsen's books have been published in 40 countries and have sold 25 million copies.

Other works

Film & Television

Adrift Adrift may refer to: Media * Adrift (band), a Tampa, Florida-based American heavy rock band * ''Adrift'' (video game), a first-person adventure video game * "Adrift", a song by God Is an Astronaut from the album '' Ghost Tapes #10'' Film * ''A ...

(1993)

(2010)
Island Zero (2018)Magnificent Beast (2022)
Gerritsen co-wrote the story and screenplay for ''Adrift'', which aired on CBS as Movie of the Week in 1993 and starred Kate Jackson and Bruce Greenwood. She has contributed essays in volumes published by Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. She also blogs regularly about the writing business, both on her own website and on a mystery writers site, Murderati.com. She is also the composer of the musical piece "Incendio" for violin and piano, a waltz that features in the plot of her novel "Playing With Fire". The composition has been recorded by violinist

Susanne Hou Yi-Jia Susanne Hou (, b. , Shanghai, China) is a Canadian violinist. Born in Shanghai and raised in Mississauga, Hou grew up in a musical family. At the age of nine, she studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She went on to attend The J ...

Chinese legacy

Gerritsen's mother told her traditional Chinese stories eg. about Monkey King. Novel 'The Silent Girl' uses Chinese martial arts and traditional motives in contemporary Boston. One of the victims is a Chinese chef.

Works inspired by Gerritsen

''Yakov's Lament'' (2012), a solo violin piece by French composer Damien Top, is inspired by Gerritsen's novel ''Harvest''.

Personal life

Gerritsen is married to Jacob Gerritsen, who is also a physician. She has two sons. She enjoys gardening and playing the

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

, and lives in Camden, Maine.

Reception

''The Surgeon'' received a RITA award Romance Writers of America in 2002 for Best Romantic Suspense Novel. In 2006, ''Vanish'' received the Nero Award for best mystery novel, and was nominated for both an

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

by the Mystery Writers of America and a Macavity Award. She has also won approval from several of her contemporaries, including James Patterson and

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

, the latter of whom described her as being "even better than

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...

Selected bibliography

Romantic thrillers

* ''Adventure's Mistress'' (1985) * ''Love's Masquerade'' (1986) * ''Call After Midnight'' (1987) * ''Under the Knife'' (1990) * ''Never Say Die'' (1992) * ''Whistle Blower'' (1992) * ''Presumed Guilty'' (1993) * ''Girl Missing'' (Originally released as ''Peggy Sue Got Murdered'') (1994) * ''Keeper of the Bride'' (1996) * ''Perfect Timing'' (2001) * ''Murder and Mayhem'' (2006) * ''Madame X'' (2008) * ''Playing with Fire'' (2015) * ''The Shape of Night'' (2019) * ''Choose Me'' (with

Gary Braver Gary Goshgarian, better known by his pen name Gary Braver, is the author of nine thrillers and mysteries. Goshgarian is an assistant professor of English at Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private ...

)(2021)

Medical thrillers

* ''Harvest'' (1996) * ''Life Support'' (1997) * ''Bloodstream'' (1998) * ''Gravity'' (1999) * '' The Bone Garden'' (2007)

Tavistock series

* ''In Their Footsteps'' (1994) * ''Stolen'' (Originally released as ''Thief of Hearts'') (1995)

Rizzoli & Isles series

# '' The Surgeon'' (2001) introduces police detective Jane Rizzoli # '' The Apprentice'' (2002) introduces medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles # '' The Sinner'' (2003) # '' Body Double'' (2004) # ''Vanish'' (2005) # ''The Mephisto Club'' (2006) # ''The Keepsake / Keeping the Dead'' (US / UK, 2008) # ''Ice Cold / The Killing Place'' (US / UK, 2010) #:8.5 ''Freaks'' (short story, 2011) # ''The Silent Girl'' (US / UK, 2011) #:9.5 ''John Doe'' (short story, 2012) # ''Last To Die'' (UK / US August 16 / 28, 2012) # ''Die Again ''(2014) # ''I Know A Secret'' (15 August 2017) # ''Listen to Me'' (5 July 2022)

References

External links

*
Gerritsen on GoodreadsInterview
aired on NPR's ''All Things Considered'' July 12, 2010
Literary-oriented interview
by Lenn Wanner on The Crime of It All website (October 10, 2010)

with her comments, on the Murderati website *
Interview
on the Profile website {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerritsen, Tess 1953 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists Physicians from Hawaii American romantic fiction writers American thriller writers American writers of Chinese descent Living people Writers from San Diego RITA Award winners Stanford University alumni University of California, San Francisco alumni Nero Award winners American women novelists Women mystery writers Women thriller writers Women romantic fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers