Nancy G. West

Nancy's first Aggie Mundeen mystery, FIT TO BE DEAD, was Lefty Award Finalist for Best Humorous Mystery. DANG NEAR DEAD was named a "Must Read" by Southern Writers Magazine. When Nancy was seven years old, she and her mother wrote poems to each other on special occasions. The poems were pretty awful, but she learned if you wrote something, people had to pay attention. In high school, the Library Journal Pegasus published Nancy’s poem. Since journalists were underpaid and English majors were selling lingerie, she studied General Business at the University of Texas (Austin and Houston) and earned a BBA. A few years later, married, with two daughters, Nancy realized she had to study English literature and write. She read numerous books on writing fiction and wrote articles, poetry, and the biography of artist Jose Vives-Atsara. She founded Book Publishers of Texas, edited their trade journal and promoted their books for seven years. While earning her MA in English literature at University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, she began writing a story set at a university. NINE DAYS TO EVIL, a tale of psychological suspense, Shakespeare, and nonstop-action, won the Blether Gold Award. Her poem, Time to Lie, was featured by “Theme and Variations” and broadcast on NPR. She wrote book reviews for San Antonio Woman’s Book Shelf column for three years and articles for other publications. As West finished Meredith Laughlin’s story, NINE DAYS TO EVIL, Meredith’s “mature” graduate school friend, Aggie Mundeen, demanded that Nancy write a book about her. Or maybe a series. The result was the Aggie Mundeen mystery series.