Joan Hess Reviews

Oh dear, this seems so private. I was born at Fayetteville, Arkansas, fortunately a blue dot in a crimson state. Did the kid things, averted the extended arm of law. I got a BA in art from the U of A, and a MS in early childhood development in Long Island University. I was teaching art at a kindergarten (pretty clever blend of the levels, correct?) When a friend suggested I write a romance book. I wrote ten unpublishable ones before I realized I needed a splash of blood and also a spoonful of humor in my prose and switched into puzzles. The Claire Malloy series arrived first, followed closely with the Maggody series. A third series, the Theo Bloomer puzzles, sputtered out after two novels, alas (it was definitely going to be my "traveling" string, requiring me to carry tax-deductible business trips to do the research).

Now I live in Austin, Texas (also a blue dot, but a larger one), a ten-minute driveway in my totally adorable twin grandfather Jack and Annabelle, shortly to become three years old. Please do not inquire if they're identical. Their gracious mother often allows me to drop whatever I am doing and dash around to babysit. And I do.

I am working in my forty-fifth ( or so) mystery, a Claire Malloy according to my brief experience from the jury pool. When I am not babysitting, that's.

Joan Hess Quality Chart