Babson, Marian 1929- (Ruth Marian Stenstreem)

views updated

Babson, Marian 1929- (Ruth Marian Stenstreem)

PERSONAL:

Born December 15, 1929, in Salem, MA.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—David Grossman Literary Agency, 118b Holland Park Ave., Hammersmith, London W11 4UA, England.

CAREER:

Writer, 1971—. Crime Writers Association, secretary, 1976-86.

MEMBER:

Mystery Writers of America, American Crime Writers League, Society of Authors.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Sleuth Award, 1984; Red Herrings Award, 1985; Hawthornden fellow, 1989; Dagger in the Library Award, 1996; Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement, 2004.

WRITINGS:

MYSTERY NOVELS

Pretty Lady, Collins (London, England), 1973.

The Stalking Lamb, Collins (London, England), 1974.

Unfair Exchange, Collins (London, England), 1974, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1986.

Murder Sails at Midnight, Collins (London, England), 1975, Bantam (New York, NY), 1989.

There Must Be Some Mistake, Collins (London, England), 1975, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1987.

Untimely Guest, Collins (London, England), 1976.

The Lord Mayor of Death, Collins (London, England), 1977, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1979.

Murder, Murder, Little Star, Collins (London, England), 1977, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1980.

Tightrope for Three, Collins (London, England), 1978, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1990.

So Soon Done For, Collins (London, England), 1979, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1988.

The Twelve Deaths of Christmas, Collins (London, England), 1979, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1980.

Dangerous to Know, Collins (London, England), 1980, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1981.

Queue Here for Murder, Collins (London, England), 1980, published as Line up for Murder, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1981.

Bejewelled Death, Collins (London, England), 1981, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1982.

Death Warmed Up, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1982.

Death beside the Seaside, Collins (London, England), 1982, published as Death beside the Sea, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1983.

A Fool for Murder, Collins (London, England), 1983, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1984.

The Cruise of a Deathtime, Collins (London, England), 1983, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1984.

A Trail of Ashes, Collins (London, England), 1984, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1985.

Death Swap, Collins (London, England), 1984, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1985.

Death in Fashion, Collins (London, England), 1985, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1986.

Weekend for Murder, Collins (London, England), 1985, published as Murder on a Mystery Tour, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1987.

Fatal Fortune, Collins (London, England), 1987, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1991.

Guilty Party, Collins (London, England), 1988.

Past Regret, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1990.

Nine Lives to Murder, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1992.

The Diamond Cat, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1994.

(With Stephen Dobyns and Walter Satterthwait) Saratoga Fleshpot, Newfield Publications (Columbus, OH), 1995.

(With Jon Cleary and Gwendoline Butler) Winter Chill, The Detective Book Club (Woodbury, NY), 1996.

Canapés for the Kitties, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1997.

Paws for Alarm, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1998.

The Company of Cats, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1999.

To Catch a Cat, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 2000.

Deadly Deceit, Constable (London, England), 2001.

The Cat Next Door, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 2002.

Please Do Feed the Cat, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Retreat from Murder, Constable (London, England), 2004.

Only the Cat Knows, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 2007.

"PERKINS & TATE" MYSTERY SERIES

Cover-up Story, Collins (London, England), 1971, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1988.

Murder on Show, Collins (London, England), 1972, published as Murder at the Cat Show, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1989.

Tourists Are for Trapping, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1989.

In the Teeth of Adversity, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1990.

"TRIXIE AND EVANGELINE" MYSTERY SERIES

Reel Murder, Collins (London, England), 1986, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1987.

Encore Murder, Collins (London, England), 1989, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1991.

Shadows in Their Blood, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1991.

Even Yuppies Die, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1993.

Break a Leg, Darlings, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1997.

The Cat Who Wasn't a Dog, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 2003.

OTHER

Also author of audiobook The Multiple Cat, Chivers, 2000. Contributor to Woman's Realm and Woman's Own.

SIDELIGHTS:

Marian Babson, an expatriate American living in London, has earned a wide readership on both sides of the Atlantic for her mystery and suspense novels. Babson employs many of the staples of mystery writing, from using series detectives to mixing suspense and comedy, but all of her novels "are remarkably even in their high quality," attested Mary Jean DeMarr in the St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers. Demarr added that Babson's books "are always tautly plotted, with believable and interesting characters, and are written in a smooth and polished style."

Babson began her publishing career in 1971, quickly releasing Cover-up Story and Murder on Show (later published in the United States as Murder at the Cat Show). Both of these stories feature an unlikely detective named Douglas Perkins, who earns a living working in a public relations firm. Two other books, Tourists Are for Trapping and In the Teeth of Adversity, are part of this series. As early as her second novel, Babson began including cats in her books, and she has extended and deepened her interest in feline characters. In Nine Lives to Murder, for instance, a human and a feline exchange consciousness—with both comic and suspenseful results. The Diamond Cat revolves around four transient cats and a sitter, Bettina Bilby, who finds herself burdened with a cache of diamonds lifted from a dead carrier pigeon in the back yard.

In 1997's Canapés for the Kitties, the reader is introduced to Lorinda Lucas, a well-known mystery writer who lives in Brimful Coffers, an English village that is home to several mystery writers. While Lucas is dreaming up ways of killing off her popular fictional heroines, several of the community's writers start falling prey to gruesome deaths. With the writers too shaken up to take action, it takes a trio of cats, Had-I, ButKnown, and Roscoe, to catch the murderer. A Publishers Weekly critic felt that Babson's "lighthearted good humor and skewed view of the world enliven every page of this charming morsel of a mystery." In Please Do Feed the Cat, published in 2004, Lorinda is back again, and she has just returned to the village of Brimful Coffers after a demanding book tour. Lorinda does not have much time to rest before more mayhem hits her community. While rival authors Adele Desparta and Opal Duquette are visiting friends in the neighborhood, Opal is run over by a car in the same place a little girl was hit by a car not long before, and Adele is pegged as the most likely suspect. In this feline caper, Babson "writes a work where all the clues are part of the story, leaving it to readers to put the investigation together. This is an engaging and charming mystery," mused Harriet Klausner in Blether.

In 1999's The Company of Cats, gossip columnist Annabel Hinchly-Smythe is mistakenly hired by millionaire Arthur Arbuthnot to redecorate his home—a job she takes on because of the man's willingness to pay her a small fortune for the work. When the millionaire dies accidentally, Annabel suddenly finds herself the target of Arbuthnot's family and friends, all of whom want her and Arbuthnot's cat out of the way. She must solve the riddle of his death to save her own life. "The humor," a Publishers Weekly critic reported, "is playful rather than clawed in this slinky feline extravaganza." Jenny McLarin, writing in Booklist, praised Babson's "portrayal of the kindhearted, martini-swigging Annabel."

Not all of Babson's work is lighthearted. Her suspense novels often center on an innocent victim—sometimes a child or teen—caught in a mesh of life-altering danger. In The Stalking Lamb, for instance, an American teenager visiting London for the first time is victimized by a brute who plays upon the girl's naiveté. To quote DeMarr, "the terror felt by the likable protagonist of The Stalking Lamb is made excruciating for the reader because of her innocence and goodness." In To Catch a Cat, eleven-year-old Robin accidentally witnesses a man murder his wife. While the man claims to the police that his wife was killed by burglars, he quietly searches for Robin in order to silence the only witness to the crime. A critic for Publishers Weekly found that To Catch a Cat has "a swift and sure climax [that] leads to a clever and satisfying resolution."

Babson likes to center her mysteries on particular professions, with special fondness for the world of theater and film. Two recurring heroines are Trixie Dolan and Evangeline Sinclair, aging actresses who struggle to get the right roles while also solving perplexing murders. Reel Murder, published in 1986, marks their debut appearance in this series. In a Publishers Weekly review, the actress/sleuths are described as "entertaining," while a Library Journal reviewer found Break a Leg, Darlings "another crisp caper from a veteran." In 2003's The Cat Who Wasn't a Dog, Evangeline and Trixie are back again. When fellow thespian Dame Cecile Savoy calls the duo in a panic to tell them that her much loved Pekinese cat, Fleur de Lys, has died after twenty years, Evangeline and Trixie rush off to help their friend. Not long after a trip to the taxidermist with Fleur, they find themselves implicated in the murders of a taxidermist and a missing housekeeper. Babson "has written another witty whimsical cozy that will appeal to animal lovers and mystery readers who don't like blood and gore in their tales," praised Klausner in another Blether review. Booklist contributor Ilene Cooper also praised the book, noting that "genre veteran Babson can't be bothered much with investigatory details, but she has a sure hand at drawing-room farce, British style."

"Babson continues her string of feline tales … with an unlikely but enjoyable Gothic mystery that keeps you guessing" in Only the Cat Knows, according to a Kirkus Reviews critic. The book, published in 2007, follows female impersonator Vance as he impersonates his twin sister, Nessa, who is in a coma, in order to find the person responsible for her present condition. Nessa lapsed into a coma after a mysterious fall at her place of business, Friary Keep, home to wealthy businessman Everett Oversall. At Friary Keep, Vance finds there is no shortage of likely suspects. Only Nessa's Angora cat can see through Vance's ruse. A Publishers Weekly critic remarked that even though character development in the story is a "tad weak" the reviewer felt that "Vance's constant efforts to keep up his feminine persona will keep readers' attention."

DeMarr placed Babson "at the forefront of contemporary crime fiction writers" principally for her "skill at characterization and plotting, her variety of settings and backgrounds, her control of a mixture of themes and tones, and her finely crafted writing style." Speaking for herself, the author concluded: "I don't think writers ought to be too predictable. I also think they ought to let their work speak for them."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers, 4th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 1999, Jenny McLarin, review of The Company of Cats, p. 836; December 1, 2000, Jenny McLarin, review of To Catch a Cat, p. 695; September 1, 2003, Ilene Cooper, review of The Cat Who Wasn't a Dog, p. 67.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 1997, review of Canapés for the Kitties, p. 1259; December 1, 1998, review of The Company of Cats, p. 1699; November 1, 2000, review of To Catch a Cat, p. 1518; June 15, 2003, review of The Cat Who Wasn't a Dog, p. 834; April 1, 2007, review of Only the Cat Knows.

Library Journal, February 1, 1997, review of Break a Leg, Darlings, p. 111; August, 1997, Rex E. Klett, review of Canapés for the Kitties, p. 139; July, 2003, Rex E. Klett, review of The Cat Who Wasn't a Dog, p. 129.

Publishers Weekly, May 18, 1990, Sybil Steinberg, review of In the Teeth of Adversity, p. 72; August 31, 1990, Sybil Steinberg, review of Encore Murder, p. 51; October 11, 1991, review of Guilty Party, p. 51; March 22, 1993, review of Shadows in Their Blood, p. 73; February 17, 1997, review of Break a Leg, Darlings, p. 214; August 18, 1997, review of Canapés for the Kitties, p. 74; February 1, 1999, review of The Company of Cats, p. 79; November 20, 2000, review of To Catch a Cat, p. 50; July 14, 2003, review of The Cat Who Wasn't a Dog, p. 61; April 2, 2007, review of Only the Cat Knows, p. 41.