Charlotte MacLeod
BornCharlotte Matilda MacLeod
(1922-11-12)November 12, 1922
Bath, New Brunswick, Canada
Died(2005-01-14)January 14, 2005 (Aged 82)
Lewiston, Maine
Pen nameAlisa Craig
OccupationNovelist
NationalityAmerican
GenreMystery
Notable worksThe Peter Shandy series

Charlotte MacLeod (November 12, 1922 – January 14, 2005) was a Canadian-American mystery fiction writer.

Life and work

Charlotte Matilda MacLeod was born in 1922 in Bath, New Brunswick, Canada, but emigrated to the United States in 1923 and became a naturalized US citizen in 1951. She attended the Art Institute of Boston. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, she worked as a copywriter for Stop & Shop Supermarkets in Boston. She eventually moved on to join the staff of N. H. Miller & Company, an advertising agency, where she rose to the level of vice president; she retired in 1982.[1]

While continuing to work at the advertising company during the day, MacLeod began writing mystery fiction, eventually publishing over 30 novels. Many of her books are set in New England, including a series featuring university professor Peter Shandy, and another about Beacon Hill couple Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn. Other mysteries, set in Canada, were published under the pen name Alisa Craig.

MacLeod tailored her books to fit into the cozy mystery genre, i.e. avoiding too much violence, gore, or sex while featuring a humorous and literate-yet-light style, likable protagonists, and eccentric casts of secondary characters.[2]

Her work sold over one million copies in the United States as well as Canada and Japan. MacLeod was co-founder of the American Crime Writers League and served as president.[1] She received a Nero Award for The Corpse in Oozak's Pond in 1987,[3] which was also nominated for an Edgar Award.[4]

MacLeod began writing at 6 a.m. each day, continued through the morning, then used the afternoon for rewrites.[1] She only started new books on Sundays. Although described as a "true lady" and often seen with hat and white gloves, while writing she would stay dressed in a bathrobe to avoid the temptation of leaving the house for an errand.[1]

MacLeod spent her final years in Maine. Toward the end of her years she suffered from Alzheimer's disease. She died on January 14, 2005, in a Lewiston, Maine nursing home.

Bibliography

As Charlotte MacLeod

Mysteries starring Prof. Peter Shandy of (fictional) Balaclava Agricultural College & Helen Marsh Shandy, D.L.S.
Mysteries starring Sarah Kelling (Bittersohn) and/or art investigator Max Bittersohn, set among Boston's upper crust
Stand-alone books
Correspondence
As editor (anthologies)
Non-fiction

As Alisa Craig

Mysteries starring Madoc Rhys of the RCMP & Janet Wadman Rhys
Mysteries starring Dittany Henbit Monk, of the Lobelia Falls Grub-and-Stakers Gardening & Roving Club
Stand-alone books

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ^ a b c d Oliver, Myrna (January 19, 2005). "Charlotte MacLeod, 82; Author of 'Cozy' Mysteries, Juvenile Books". Los Angeles Times. pp. B9. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  2. ^ Lindsay, Elizabeth Blakesley (2007). Great Women Mystery Writers. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-313-33428-3.
  3. ^ "The Nero Award Winners—Chronological". The Wolfe Pack. The Wolfe Pack. December 8, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  4. ^ "The Edgars Database". Mystery Writers of America. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  5. ^ "Charlotte MacLeod Remembered: Letters from Charlotte". Robert John Guttke. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  6. ^ "History of Guests of Honor and Anthony Award Winners". Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Convention. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Anthony Awards Nominees: 2011". Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Convention. 2 October 2003. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
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