Calvert, Candy 1950-

PERSONAL:

Born 1950, in CA; married; children: two. Hobbies and other interests: Cruise travel, country dancing, bird-watching, cooking, hiking, Tai Chi.

ADDRESSES:

Home—TX. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Emergency room nurse and peer counselor.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Nursing award; Reader Views Award, 2007, for Dressed to Keel.

WRITINGS:

"DARCY CAVANAUGH" MYSTERY SERIES

Dressed to Keel, Midnight Ink (Woodbury, MN), 2006.

Aye Do or Die, Midnight Ink (Woodbury, MN), 2007.

Mai Tai to Murder, Midnight Ink (Woodbury, MN), 2007.

Work represented in anthologies, including Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul.

SIDELIGHTS:

Candy Calvert is an emergency room nurse who is also trained to counsel medical personnel and rescue workers traumatized by catastrophic events. One of Calvert's passions is taking cruises. The protagonist of her "Darcy Cavanaugh" series is similarly a nurse who enjoys cruises and who encounters mystery and intrigue in her travels. In an interview with Juanita Watson for Reader Views online, Calvert described the series as "a funny and romantic cruise mystery series, featuring a young, feisty, redheaded nurse involved in murder and mayhem during madcap adventures at sea. I often joke that the series is something like I Love Lucy meets ER on the Love Boat … to solve a murder."

The first book in the series, Dressed to Keel, finds Darcy on a cruise ship where her lesbian friend, Marie Whitley, is the ship's nurse. Darcy, who is taking a break from the stress of her work and the discovery that her boyfriend is married with children, finds romance with Luke, the handsome dance instructor. A series of burglaries and then a murder are committed, and the victims of the robberies are elderly women who claim they were incapacitated by mimosas and vitamin shots at the ship's spa, which the staff denies providing. Marie becomes a suspect, and Darcy is nearly killed. "Passionate embraces alternate with terror as Darcy and Luke bring the high-seas adventure to a whale of a conclusion," wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor.

Aye Do or Die reveals that Luke is not who he seemed to be, but is really an FBI agent. Darcy contemplates whether or not to move to Boston with him while serving as a bridesmaid, with Marie, for a fellow nurse whose wedding takes place on a cruise ship traveling from San Francisco to Vancouver. The groom is a firefighter, as are all his groomsmen, including Darcy's former boyfriend. Pranks by the men lead to more serious events, including a murder by a perpetrator who favors using staples. "Those with a taste for slapstick humor will be most rewarded," concluded a Publishers Weekly contributor. Booklist reviewer Marie Hatton wrote that Darcy is "entertaining, funny, and a real treat to spend some time with."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 15, 2006, Maria Hatton, review of Aye Do or Die, p. 24.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2006, review of Dressed to Keel, p. 112; December 15, 2006, review of Aye Do or Die, p. 1243.

Publishers Weekly, December 11, 2006, review of Aye Do or Die, p. 49.

ONLINE

Candy Calvert Home Page,http://www.candycalvert.net (July 9, 2007).

Reader Views,http://www.readerviews.com/ (July 9, 2007), Cherie Fisher, review of Dressed to Keel; Cathy Yanda, review of Aye Do or Die; Juanita Watson, "Interview with Candy Calvert."

Who Dunnit,http://www.who-dunnit.com/ (July 9, 2007), Alan Paul Curtis, review of Dressed to Keel.