CLARKE, Anna (Emilia) 1919-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE— See index for CA sketch: Born April 28, 1919, in Cape Town, South Africa; died November 7, 2004, in Brighton, East Sussex, England. Author. Coming to the profession of fiction writer late in life, Clarke was a popular writer of detective novels. Earning a B.Sc. from London External in 1945 and a B.A. from Open University in 1973, she originally intended to be a mathematician, but a job as a secretary for the publisher Victor Gollancz in the late 1940s sparked her interest in the industry. She worked briefly as a secretary at the Eyre & Spottiswoode publishing company in London, and then for the British Association for American Studies from 1956 to 1962. Suffering from a severe illness and claustrophobia, Clarke had to leave her job and seek therapy for a time. When she had recovered, she found herself in need of an income and so tried her hand at writing. At first, she attempted to publish straight fiction, but she found no publishers for her more serious novels; therefore, she turned to mystery novels. Specializing in what are commonly referred to as "cozies," Clarke wrote stories with a distinct literary sensibility. Her series character Professor Paula Glenning is an intellectual who solves crimes with research, dialogue, and brains rather than muscles and violence. Among the over two dozen novels produced by Clarke are The Darkened Room (1968), Legacy of Evil (1976), Soon She Must Die (1984), and The Case of the Anxious Aunt (1996).

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PERIODICALS

Independent (London, England), December 28, 2004, p. 33.