Meredith, Marilyn 1933- (F. M. Meredith, a Pseudonym)

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MEREDITH, Marilyn 1933-
(F. M. Meredith, a pseudonym)

PERSONAL: Born August 24, 1933, in Glendale, CA; daughter of Murl (a master plumber) and Genevieve (a homemaker) Mitchell; married Arnold D. Meredith (retired from U.S. Navy); children: Dana Van Scoy, Lisa Aguilar, Mark (deceased), Lori Owens, Matthew. Education: Ventura College, A.A.. Religion: Protestant.

ADDRESSES: Home—34755 Highway 190, Springville, CA 93265. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Author of fiction and writing instructor. Formerly worked as an administrator in Springville, CA, for 21 years. Writers Digest School, OH, former instructor.

MEMBER: Sisters in Crime (San Joaquin chapter), Police Writer's Association, Mystery Writers of America, EPIC.

AWARDS, HONORS: Best Mystery/Suspense Award, Treble Heart Books, 2002, for Unequally Yoked, and 2003, for Guilt by Association.

WRITINGS:

MYSTERY NOVELS

The Choice (Christian horror), Appaloosa Pres (Nicholasville, KY), 1998.

Deadly Omen ("Tempe Crabtree" series), Golden Eagle Press (Bakersfield, CA), 1999.

(As F. M. Meredith) Final Respects, Fiction Works, 2001.

Unequally Yoked ("Tempe Crabtree" series), Golden Eagle Press (Bakersfield, CA), 2001.

Intervention ("Tempe Crabtree" series), Golden Eagle Press (Bakersfield, CA), 2002.

Deadly Trial ("Tempe Crabtree" series), Hard Shell Word Factory, 2002.

Deeds of Darkness (Christian horror), Treble Heart Books, 2003.

(As F. M. Meredith) Bad Tidings, Fiction Works, 2004.

Wing Beat ("Tempe Crabtree" series), Golden Eagle Press (Bakersfield, CA), 2004.

Also author of novels Trails to Glory, Leisure Books, Two Ways West, Kachima Spirit, The Astral Gift, Guilt by Association, and The Killing Vow. Former editor, California Residential Services Association newsletter.

SIDELIGHTS: Marilyn Meredith has a passion for writing. Next to her family—she has raised five children—Meredith calls writing her second love. After more than thirty years penning fiction, she continues to capture the interest of new readers with mysteries like Deadly Omen, Intervention, and Unequally Yoked.

Because of the realistic settings Meredith creates in her fiction, it makes sense that fictional towns like Bear Creek—home of the author's popular Native American protagonist Tempe Crabtree, featured in Deadly Omen and Intervention—are based on the author's home town of Springville, California. While her settings are the result of travels or research, they are strongly influenced by the Springville region, where Meredith's family has lived for several generations.

In Meredith's 1999 novel Deadly Omen, she introduces her popular sleuth, Detective Crabtree. Assigned to patrol the Yanduchi reservation near town during Pow Wow, Crabtree finds the body of Mariella Kelso, a local teen whom many thought would be crowned Pow Wow queen. When she thinks the local police are being remiss in their investigation of the native girl's death, Crabtree begins her own investigation, yielding surprising results. Harriet Klausner, reviewing Deadly Omen for the Midwest Book Review, called the novel "a brilliantly crafted and highly recommended mystery" that "not only introduces a fascinating protagonist, but also authentically captures the essence and history of California Native American tribal culture."

Crabtree appears in several other novels by Meredith, including Unequally Yoked, in which the resident police officer must investigate the murder of a three-year-old child in the Southern Sierras. Her marriage to a Christian minister begins to suffer the strain when her frustration over bringing the child's killer to justice prompts her to look for clues via ancient Yanduchi tribal rituals. Meredith's 2002 novel Intervention follows Deputy Crabtree as she gets trapped in a mountain lodge during a snowstorm, along with a group of people from Hollywood. When one of the vacationers—an Oscar-winning screenwriter—is suddenly murdered, readers must follow as Crabtree tries to solve the case.

With electronic publishing catching on, Meredith views the new opportunities that have opened up for genre novelists as a welcome change to publishing industry traditions that have made a writing career daunting to less-well-known authors. Readers can easily download any of Meredith's books right off the Internet, or buy an autographed copy from the author herself via Meredith's Web site.

Meredith told CA: "I've been writing since I learned how. As a child I wrote stories, published a magazine when I was in middle school, and wrote plays for the neighborhood children to perform. When my sister researched our family genealogy, I wrote two historical family sagas based on both sides of our family: Trail to Glory, published by Leisure Books, and Two Ways West, both now out of print. One of my sons-in-law was a police officer. My daughter didn't like to hear his stories, but I listened avidly and also went with him on ride-alongs. My 'Rocky Bluff P.D.' series emerged from those experiences.

"Moving to the foothills of the Southern Sierra opened new doors for me and I began my 'Deputy Tempe Crabtree' series. I teach a weekly writing class in my home and give writing seminars in various places in California, as well as participating in writing conferences and mystery conventions."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Fresno Bee, February 4, 2000, Mary Lou Aguirre, "Mystery Woman" (author profile), p. 1; January 5, 2001, Mary Lou Aguirre, "Author Reaps the Blessings of Her Imagination," p. 8; February 8, 2002, Mary Lou Aguirre, review of Deadly Trail, p. 10; May 31, 2002 Mary Lou Aguirre, review of Intervention, p. 8.