DAMS, Jeanne M(artin) 1941-

PERSONAL: Born October 19, 1941, in South Bend, IN; daughter of Lawrence (a teacher) and Mildred (Anderson) Martin; married Edward Dams, June 19, 1971. Ethnicity: "White." Education: Purdue University, B.S., 1963; University of Notre Dame, M.A., 1970. Politics: Independent. Religion: Episcopalian. Hobbies and other interests: Music, hats, miniatures, cats, Victoriana.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Kimberley Cameron, Reece Halsey North, 98 Main St., Suite 704, Tiburon, CA 94920. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer.

AWARDS, HONORS: Agatha Award for best first novel, Malice Domestic, 1995, for The Body in the Transept.

WRITINGS:

"DOROTHY MARTIN" SERIES; MYSTERY NOVELS

The Body in the Transept, Walker (New York, NY), 1995.

Trouble in the Town Hall, Walker (New York, NY), 1996.

Holy Terror in the Hebrides, Walker (New York, NY), 1997.

Malice in Miniature, Walker (New York, NY), 1998.

The Victim in Victoria Station, Walker (New York, NY), 1999.

Killing Cassidy, Walker (New York, NY), 2000.

To Perish in Penzance, Walker (New York, NY), 2001.

Sins Out of School, Walker (New York, NY), 2003.

Winter of Discontent, Tor (New York, NY), in press.

"HILDA JOHANSSON" SERIES; HISTORICAL MYSTERY NOVELS

Death in Lacquer Red, Walker (New York, NY), 1999.

Red, White, and Blue Murder, Walker (New York, NY), 2000.

Green Grow the Victims, Walker (New York, NY), 2001.

Silence Is Golden, Walker (New York, NY), 2002.

Crimson Snow, Perseverance (McKinleyville, CA), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Jeanne M. Dams is the author of two popular series of mystery novels; the "Dorothy Martin" series and the "Hilda Johansson" series. Martin is an expatriate and amateur sleuth reminiscent of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. She is widowed, in her sixties, and as a reviewer for Publishers Weekly puts it, "known for her eccentric hats and snoopy nature."

In Dams' first novel, The Body in the Transept, Martin has just moved from America to England to settle in the fictional university town of Sherebury. She soon discovers a new romantic interest in the town's Chief Constable, Alan Nesbitt, and also a dead body during a Christmas Eve service in Sherebury's historical cathedral. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented, "Dorothy charmingly insinuates herself into village life . . . talking to neighbors and befriending others . . . and determinedly pursuing the killer even as she puts herself in danger."

Trouble in the Town Hall, the second Martin mystery, revolves around a conflict as to whether Sherebury's ancient town hall building should be renovated or turned into a shopping mall. After discovering the dead body of a vagrant in the building's broom closet, Dorothy again relies on village gossip for most of her clues in bringing the killer to justice. Convinced that the murder has something to do with the debate over the disposition of the town hall, she interviews some of Sherebury's most eminent citizens, including a wealthy builder and an ardent historical preservationist. In Booklist, Emily Melton described the book as "quaint, old-fashioned, and charming" and maintained, "this gentle British cozy is sure to be popular."

In Holy Terror in the Hebrides Dorothy Martin goes on holiday to the Scottish Isle of Iona and finds herself inadvertently in the company of a multi-denominational tour group of religious leaders from America. The fractious group includes a rabbi, a Catholic nun, a Lutheran organist, a Baptist choir director, and a Methodist youth organizer. When the Methodist "accidentally" falls to his death, Dorothy has her suspicions and must pursue them until the truth is uncovered. John Rowen stated in his Booklist review, "Dams' third novel freshens the English whodunit with a clever plot, snappy pace, and spirited dialogue. The book exudes the atmosphere of the British Isles quiet village churches, chases across moors, and stormy nights with trees crashing through stout, shuttered walls."

As Malice in Miniature opens, Dorothy has just married Sherebury Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt and the newlyweds are living together in a seventeenth-century cottage. Their charwoman's son, Bob Finch, is accused of stealing from a local miniatures museum and Dorothy agrees to help prove his innocence. Although Bob is cleared of the theft, he soon becomes a suspect in a murder. A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that Malice in Miniature will "delight cozy fans anew," and noted, "Martin manages to get around the British reserve of most of the villagers as she steers this tightly paced, thoroughly entertaining tale to its unpredictable finale."

The Victim in Victoria Station takes Dorothy to London after her husband Alan leaves on a business trip to Africa. When Dorothy discovers that the young businessman with whom she conversed earlier has died and sees no mention of his death in the newspapers, she decides to investigate. She learns that the young man was the CEO of a burgeoning software company and finds several suspects in his company, where she works undercover as a temporary secretary. The tension rises when Dorothy stumbles into another murder mystery. A Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked, "Although the finale is not especially surprising, it is gratifying."

Dorothy returns to Hillsburg, Indiana, in Killing Cassidy after spending three years in England. David Cassidy, an old friend, dies and leaves Dorothy 5,000 dollars if she can discover who killed him. Dorothy's husband helps her solve Cassidy's murder. "[Dorothy] Martin has a genuine knack for transplanting the gentle British mystery to American soil" concluded Pitt in a review of Killing Cassidy, who also added, "With its finely detailed (and immensely likable) characters and interesting but not convoluted plot, this is one of those mysteries that goes best with a blanket and a cup of tea." "Although cloying at times, Dams writes with a good ear for Midwestern dialogue and develops her characters lovingly," noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

In To Perish in Penzance Dorothy takes her retired constable husband, Alan, on a vacation to Cornwell, the site of a past unsolved murder that plagues him. Dorothy and Alan meet another couple interested in the same murder, which involved a woman with long blonde hair whose body was discovered in a cove in Penzance. When the couple's adopted daughter is found dead in the same cove, the situation escalates. "Dorothy is salty and strong-minded, but she always remembers her hats and her sunscreen; her British spouse is genial and gentle but always an ex-copper. Drug dealing, the antiques trade, and Cornwall itself, its beauty and its history of smuggling, all play roles in this lively cozy," observed Booklist's GraceAnne A. DeCandido. A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that in To Perish in Penzance, "Dams treats the vagaries of aging with a warm, companionable touch, and she's no slouch at plotting either."

The "Hilda Johansson" series takes place in South Bend, Indiana, in the early 1900s. "In a genre with no shortage of amateur sleuths in period costume, Hilda is one of the most memorable: a maid in the household of the fabulously wealthy Studebaker family, a Swedish girl still relatively new to the U.S. (and still fumbling with her English), a totally unlikely detective," observed David Pitt in Booklist, who also expressed that the secret to Dams' success with this series "is in the details: she plunks us firmly down in early-twentieth-century Indiana."

Death in Lacquer Red is the first in Dams' historical mystery series, which is set in South Bend, Indiana, at the beginning of the twentieth century. The series features Hilda Johansson, who is employed as a housemaid by the Studebakers. Hilda discovers the body of a female missionary in her employer's yard. "Hilda feels obligated to fight against narrow-minded police and typical social/cultural prejudice as she manages to unearth crucial clues," explained Rex E. Klett in a review of the book for Library Journal. Booklist's Pitt felt that the mystery is easy to solve, but added, "the world as seen through Hilda's eyes is a slightly unfamiliar place and readers will have a great time getting to know it."

Dams' next novel in the "Hilda Johansson" series, Red, White, and Blue Murder, was published in 2000. When President McKinley is assassinated, Hilda Johansson and others worry about the effect it will have on them as members of the working class. Having already solved one murder, Hilda investigates this one, a move that requires confronting anarchists. "Jeanne M. Dams brilliantly weaves the class structure and its impact on behavior inside the who done it," concluded Harriet Klausner on the Under the Covers Web site. In an interview published on the Writers Write Web site, Dams discussed the book's inspiration: "I wanted to base the book on a real historic event and keep it in chronology, which would place it in 1901. The most important world event in 1901 was the assassination of President McKinley. Since he actually had some South Bend ties, it seemed logical to build the book around his death." Klausner felt that the book "will appeal to fans of amateur sleuths mysteries as well as historical fiction buffs."

In Green Grow the Victims Hilda is asked by her family to help find her Uncle Dan, a flashy city council candidate who disappeared after talking to a political rival who was later discovered dead. Hilda's employer gives her a week off to investigate. A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that Hilda's sleuthing "methods are largely guesswork, the plot thin and improbable," but also remarked that "Dam's prose moves smoothly along." Writing in Booklist, Pitt found little about the book unworthy of praise. "This is the kind of book you don't just read, you step into," he concluded.

Dams returns to Dorothy Martin in Sins Out of School. When nine-year-old Miriam Day's schoolteacher mother is accused of fatally stabbing her father, Dorothy takes in the little girl, who quickly captures Dorothy's heart. Dorothy's husband encourages her to solve the murder. "An estranged father who is a major public figure; a religious sect leached of all kindness; and a lot of bad accounting keep Dorothy on track, even as she tries to produce an American Thanksgiving in England and not tread too heavily on the toes of the investigating officers, erstwhile colleagues of her spouse," wrote DeCandido. "Fan of the English cozy will put the kettle on, snuggle under a lap rug, and sigh contentedly while Dorothy chats up village eccentrics, meddles her way from pub to church manse, and resolves matters with Miss Marple flair," concluded a contributor in Kirkus Reviews.

Pitt dubbed Silence Is Golden "a real corker." This Hilda Johansson mystery takes place in 1903 when the circus has come to town. Fritz, a friend of Hilda's younger brother Erik, decides to join the circus and become a trapeze artist. Things go awry when the real trapeze artists disappear. Fritz is found in a barn brutally beaten, but his injuries do not absolve him from suspicion. Later, when Erik also disappears, Hilda worries that she may have to tell her mother that she has lost her younger brother and that he may be the latest victim in a string of murders. Pitt felt the book has "great characters" and a "fascinating history" and is a "compelling mystery."

Dams once told CA: "I can't remember a time when I didn't write. It has always been my way of expressing myself. I write when I have to make a decision, when I have emotions to deal with, when there is a problem that needs hard thought. So, when I was trying to escape a killer job, of course I approached the problem by writing down my assets. It finally dawned on me that writing was my primary skill! My love of England and the English mystery made that genre a natural.

"After the usual tough apprenticeship—rejection after rejection, revisions, doubts, fears—my first novel was published to gratifying acclaim. I can, I think, ascribe most of my success to the wonderful writers who influenced me so much: Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and more recently Patricia Moyes and the American, Carolyn Hart. They've nurtured my love of words and taught me the basics of the classic mystery form. When I run dry, I can pick up one of their books, read a little, and come back to my own work refreshed."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 1, 1996, p. 482; September 15, 1997, p. 212; April 15, 1999, David Pitt, review of Death in Lacquer Red, p. 1470; August, 1999, Emily Melton, review of The Victim in Victoria Station, p. 2032; October 15, 2000, David Pitt, review of Killing Cassidy, p. 421; May 1, 2001, David Pitt, review of Green Grow the Victims, p. 1628; September 15, 2001, GraceAnn A. DeCandido, review of To Perish in Penzance, p. 198; April 1, 2002, review of The Victim in Victoria Station, p. 1348, review of Killing Cassidy, p. 1348; May 1, 2002, David Pitt, review of Silence Is Golden, p. 1475; December 15, 2002, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Sins Out of School, p. 737.

Chicago Tribune, November 25, 2001, review of To Perish in Penzance, p. 2.

Christian Science Monitor, February 25, 1999, Yvonne Zipp, review of Malice in Miniature, p. 17.

Drood Review of Mystery, January, 2002, review of To Perish in Penzance, p. 7, review of Green Grow the Victims, p. 7.

Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 1999, review of Death in Lacquer Red, p. 487; September 15, 1999, review of The Victim in Victoria Station, p. 1448; May 15, 2001, review of To Perish in Penzance, p. 1165; May 15, 2001, review of Green Grow the Victims, p. 707; August 15, 2001, review of To Perish in Penzance, p. 1165; May 15, 2002, review of Silence Is Golden, p. 706; November 1, 2002, review of Sins Out of School, p. 1569.

Kliatt, November, 1999, review of Malice in Miniature, p. 55; March, 2001, review of Death in Lacquer Red, p. 48; May, 2001, review of Red, White and Blue Murder, p. 54.

Library Journal, May 1, 1999, Rex E. Klett, review of Death in Lacquer Red, p. 116; August, 1999, Rex E. Klett, review of The Victim in Victoria Station, p. 145; June 1, 2000, Rex E. Klett, review of Red, White, and Blue Murder, p. 210; November 1, 2001, Rex E. Klett, review of To Perish in Penzance, p. 136.

New York Times Book Review, June 13, 1999, Marilyn Stasio, review of Death in Lacquer Red, p. 26.

Publishers Weekly, September 18, 1995, p. 116; August 26, 1996, p. 80; October 6, 1997, p. 77; August 24, 1998, p. 51; April 26, 1999, review of Death in Lacquer Red, p. 59; August 23, 1999, review of The Victim in Victoria Station, p. 51; October 9, 2000, review of Killing Cassidy, p. 77; April 16, 2001, review of Green Grow the Victims, p. 47; October 8, 2001, review of To Perish in Penzance, p. 47.

Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 2001, review of Green Grow the Victims, p. 274; December, 2001, review of Death in Lacquer Red, p. 332.

ONLINE

Jeanne M. Dams Web site, http://www.jeannedams.com (February 11, 2003).

Under the Covers Web site, http://www.silcom.com/~manatee/dams_red.html (February 11, 2003), Harriet Klausner, review of Red, White, and Blue Murder.

Writers Write Web site, http://www.writerswrite.com/ (February 11, 2003), Claire E. White, "A Conversation with Jeanne M. Dams."*