Meade, Amy Patricia 1972-

PERSONAL:

Born November 19, 1972, NY; married; husband's name Steve; children: Carrie. Education: Attended Adelphi University; graduated summa cum laude from Institute of Technology, New York, NY, 1995. Hobbies and other interests: Traveling, cooking, needlepoint, and entertaining.

CAREER:

Writer. Freelance technical writer, 1995—.

MEMBER:

Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Presidential Scholarship, Adelphi University.

WRITINGS:

Million Dollar Baby: A Marjorie McClelland Mystery, Midnight Ink (Woodbury, MN), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Amy Patricia Meade's longtime love of mystery novels eventually led her to write her own. Million Dollar Baby: A Marjorie McClelland Mystery is set during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The story revolves around Creighton Ashcroft, a British millionaire who buys a mansion in a small town in Connecticut and who becomes enamored of Marjorie McClelland, a mystery writer. Marjorie is writing a novel about a suicide that occurred in the mansion Creighton now owns. When the two get together so Marjorie can tour the mansion and grounds, they discuss the suicide and eventually come across an old murder case and also discover a body buried in the garden. Creighton is falling for Marjorie, who, unlike the other residents of the town, seems immune to Creighton's charms. When handsome police detective Robert Jameson appears on the scene, Creighton realizes that he may have a rival. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called the novel "a vintage-style mystery that will have readers looking for the resolution of Marjorie's romantic entanglements in the sequel." Carol Haggas, writing in Booklist, commented: "Meade's kickoff mystery is a winner." A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that "this is a good first effort that bodes well for future installments."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2006, Carol Haggas, review of Million Dollar Baby: A Marjorie McClelland Mystery, p. 72.

Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2006, review of Million Dollar Baby, p. 65.

Publishers Weekly, January 16, 2006, review of Million Dollar Baby, p. 39.

ONLINE

Amy Patricia Meade Home Page,http://www.amypatriciameade.com (September 27, 2006).

Who-Dunnit,http://www.who-dunnit.com/ (September 27, 2006), brief profile of author.