Ellen Hart

I first read a mystery by Ellen Hart when Immaculate Midnight came in a box of books to review for Mystery News. One of the joys of reviewing is being exposed to new writers. Although Ellen Hart had been writing critically acclaimed mysteries for years, I had not read one. I was a bit disappointed in Immaculate Midnight but the next three of Ellen's books were stellar and I gave all of them “4-quills” (out of a possible 5), a very good rating. That taught me something: even great authors with a top-notch series can produce a book that doesn't connect with an individual reader. If that happens with the first book they've read by that author ... and readers don't pick up another for that reason ... they may miss some great books. Now I don't give up on an author (especially one who’s winning awards and writing characters I like reading about) after just one book. I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on Ellen Hart's mysteries.  (I know one reader who will give up totally on an author if she finds a single grammatical error in a book – not many writers make that cut!)

Sophie Greenway Mysteries

Jane Lawless Mysteries


Author Profile:

Ellen Hart is the author of twenty-one crime novels.  She has also published several short stories: “Sight Gag” in the award winning anthology Murder She Wrote, (Berkeley Publishing Group; edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Elizabeth Foxwell); “Norwegian Noir” in the Minnesota Mystery Anthology, “The Silence of the Loons,” (Nodin Press) and “Blind-Sided” in the new noir anthology, Twin Cities Noir.

With the acquisition of the Jane Lawless books by the Ballantine Publishing Group in 1993, her series became one of the first ever to go from a small feminist press directly to a New York publisher.  Ellen’s novels have received five Lambda Literary Awards for Best Lesbian Mystery and two Minnesota Book Awards for Best Mystery & Crime Fiction. Last year she was the recipient of the Golden Crown Literary Award.  She was also made an official GLBT Literary Saint at the Saints and Sinners Literary convention in New Orleans.  She was also recently honored with the 2005 Alice B. Medal, a career achievement award.  Entertainment Weekly named her one of the “101 movers and shakers in the gay entertainment industry.”  She is currently working with an independent producer in Hollywood to turn An Intimate Ghost into a full-length feature film.

Ellen received her B.A. in Theology from Ambassador University in 1971, and worked as a professional chef for 14 years before beginning her writing career.

Since the publication of her first work in 1989, Ellen has spoken at conventions, conferences, libraries, bookstores, colleges, and writer’s workshops all over the country. For the past ten years she has taught mystery writing through the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.  Her novels are published in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Germany and France.  Ellen, and her partner of 28 years, Kathy, have two daughters, two sons-in-law, five grandchildren, and live in Minneapolis with their two poodles, Busby and Newton.

Photo and profile courtesy of the author. Used with permission

Author’s websites http://www.cozylibrary.com/www.ellenhart.com and http://www.cozylibrary.com/www.minnesotacrimewave.org