| Susan Dunlap | |
| Birth Name: | Susan D. Sullivan |
| Birth Date: | June 20, 1943 |
| Birth Place: | Kew Gardens, Queens, New York |
| Occupation: | Mystery writer, social worker |
| Education: | |
| Notablework: | --> |
| Spouses: | Newell Dunlap (1970) |
| Awards: | |
| Website: | Susan Dunlap |
Susan Dunlap (born June 20, 1943) is an American writer of mystery novels and short stories. Her novels have mostly appeared in one of four series, each with its own sleuthing protagonist: Vejay Haskell, Jill Smith, Kiernan O'Shaughnessy, or Darcy Lott. Through 2020, more than two dozen of Dunlap's book-length mysteries have appeared in print. She has also edited crime fiction and has contributed to anthologies, including A Woman's Eye (1991), and to periodicals such as Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.[1] Her short story "Checkout" won a Macavity Award and an Anthony Award in 1994.[2] [3]
Dunlap was a founding member of Sisters in Crime and served as its president in 1990–91. Before becoming a full-time writer in 1984, she was a social worker in Baltimore (1966–67), New York City (1967), and Contra Costa County, California (1968–84). She has also worked as a paralegal, private investigator, and yoga teacher.[1]
Born in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York, Dunlap graduated from Bucknell University with a B.A. in 1965 and from the University of North Carolina with a Master of Arts in Teaching in 1966. She married Newell Dunlap in 1970.[1] In 2020, the Dunlaps live near San Francisco.[4]
Carol M. Harper in St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers said in 1996 that "Dunlap has coupled authenticity in setting with a bizarre sense of humor appropriate for Northern California. Her series feature radically different heroines (amateur detective, police officer and licensed private detective) from three different backgrounds (rural northern California, urban northern California, and East Coast transplant to urban Southern California) to create three eminently readable series." Harper also praised Dunlap for her abilities as a writer of short stories and an editor of crime-story anthologies.[5]
Kirkus Reviews praises Time Expired, featuring Berkeley, California, homicide detective Jill Smith, as "an adroitly plotted, consistently interesting police procedural."[6]
Pious Deception (1989) and Rogue Wave were finalists for the Anthony Award for Best Novel. [7]
Vejay Haskell
Jill Smith
Kiernan O'Shaughnessy
Darcy Lott