Joan Hess (January 6, 1949 – November 23, 2017) was an American mystery writer, a member of Sisters in Crime, and a former president of the American Crime Writers League. She wrote two popular mystery series: The Claire Malloy Mysteries and The Maggody Mysteries (also called The Arly Hanks Mysteries), and contributed to multiple anthologies and book series, including: Crosswinds, Deadly Allies, Malice Domestic, Sisters in Crime, and The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. She also wrote the Theo Bloomer mystery series, under the pseudonym Joan Hadley.
Series The Claire Malloy series is set in Farberville, Arkansas, and centers around Claire Malloy, who owns a small bookstore across from the campus of Farberville College. It has been suggested that Farberville is a stand-in for Fayetteville, Arkansas, with many landmarks, including the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, Dickson Street, and even well-known local citizens, thinly veiled in the prose.
The Arly Hanks series is set in Maggody, Arkansas, population 755. The main character is Arly Hanks, Maggody's irreverent young female police chief. The first book of the Arly Hanks series, Malice in Maggody, was the basis for the 1993 CBS television pilot Arly Hanks.
In the Theo Bloomer series the eponymous protagonist, "a dignified offshoot of old Connecticut money and prestige", is a retired bachelor-botanist who formerly worked as a florist. In each book, family obligations take him to an exotic vacation destination, where he becomes embroiled in a mystery: in the first book, he travels to Israel to retrieve his niece, who is staying at a kibbutz hotel, and in the next he accompanies her party to a "luxurious villa" in Montego Bay, Jamaica, as a chaperone.
Awards +Awards for Hess's writingYearTitleAwardResult1987Strangled Prose Anthony Award for Best First NovelFinalist1988Mischief in Maggody Agatha Award for Best NovelFinalist1990"Too Much to Bare" in Sisters in Crime 2Agatha Award for Best Short StoryWinner1991Macavity Award for Best Mystery Short StoryWinner1992"The Last To Know" in Malice Domestic 1Agatha Award for Best Short StoryFinalist1993O Little Town of MaggodyAgatha Award for Best NovelFinalist1994Anthony Award for Best NovelFinalist1995Miracles in MaggodyAgatha Award for Best NovelFinalistLefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery Novel AwardFinalist
Personal life A longtime resident of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Hess lived in Austin, Texas, where she died at her home November 23, 2017.
Bibliography
Novels
Claire Malloy series by Joan HessNumbers are those assigned by MacMillan publishers in their latest release of these books and do not necessarily reflect the order of first publication.
Strangled Prose The Murder at the Mimosa Inn Dear Miss Demeanor A Really Cute Corpse A Diet to Die For Roll Over and Play Dead Death by the Light of the Moon Poisoned Pins Tickled to Death Closely Akin to Murder Busy Bodies A Holly, Jolly Murder A Conventional Corpse Out on a Limb The Goodbye Body Damsels in Distress Mummy Dearest Deader Homes and Gardens Murder as a Second Language Pride v. Prejudice
Maggody series by Joan HessThe Maggody books are listed in reading order.
Malice in Maggody Mischief in Maggody Much Ado in Maggody Madness in Maggody Mortal Remains in Maggody Maggody in Manhattan O Little Town of Maggody Martians in Maggody Miracles in Maggody The Maggody Militia Misery Loves Maggody [email protected] Maggody and the Moonbeams Muletrain to Maggody Malpractice in Maggody The Merry Wives of Maggody
Theo Bloomer Mystery series by Joan HadleyThe Theo Bloomer books are listed in reading order.
The Night-Blooming Cereus (1986) The Deadly Ackee (1988)
Standalone Teenage Romance Future Tense (1987)
Short stories
Maggody Files: Hillbilly Cat Great Cat Mysteries: An Anthology of Feline Capers (audio edition by Phoenix Books, 1996). She also has two books of solely her own short stories.
Co-authored Novel She co-authored Elizabeth Peters's last book, The Painted Queen. After Elizabeth Peters died, Joan Hess completed this last novel in the popular Amelia Peabody series.
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