Monica Ferris (Tuesday)

I was first published as Mary Monica Pulver, which is my maiden name.  Under that name I published numerous short stories and five novels about a police detective and his horse-breeder wife - Peter and Kori Brichter - who live in the fictional Illinois city of Charter.  A perceptive reviewer described them as a "hard-boiled cop who has wandered into a cozy series."  All long out of print, a small Minnesota publisher, FTL Publications, is bringing them back.

My second series was a collaboration with Gail Frazer.  We wrote medieval short stories and novels under the pseudonym Margaret Frazer.  They were about a Benedictine nun named Dame Frevisse (FRAY-viss), a niece by marriage of Thomas Chaucer, wealthy and politically-connected son of the mighty Geoffrey.  Gail and I wrote six together before the collaboration broke up and she continued the series alone.  Two were nominated for Edgars.

My third series is the Betsy Devonshire needlework mysteries.  I am finishing up number sixteen in this series, with no sign yet of quitting.  It is set in the small town of Excelsior, Minnesota - a real place.  Betsy inherits a needlework shop when her sister is murdered.  A fresh divorcee of fifty-odd summers, she is broke and jobless and so decides to try to keep the shop going.  Mostly by accident, she solves her sister's murder and so sets off on a part-time career as amateur sleuth.  I signed a three-book contract to start the series, and didn't think it would go beyond that.  But it has, and Betsy maintains her amateur status while continuing to earn a living from selling counted cross stitch, needlepoint, punch needle, and knitting supplies.