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Sheila Connolly

After collecting too many degrees and exploring careers ranging from art historian to investment banker to professional genealogist, I began writing mysteries in 2001, and now I'm a full-time writer. I wrote my first mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime under the name Sarah Atwell, and the first book, Through a Glass, Deadly (March 2008), was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel; Pane of Death followed in November 2008, and Snake in the Glass in September 2009. Under my own name, the Orchard Mystery Series (Berkley Prime Crime) debuted in 2008 with One Bad Apple, followed by Rotten to the Core in July 2009, Red Delicious Death in March 2010, and A Killer Crop in December 2010. The fifth book in the series, Bitter Harvest, will appear in August 2011. My new series, the Museum Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), opened with Fundraising the Dead in October 2010, and the second book, Let's Play Dead, will be published in July 2011. I'm a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of American and Romance Writers of America. I'm currently President of Sisters in Crime-New England, and co-chair for the 2011 New England Crime Bake conference. In what little spare time I can scrounge from writing, I enjoy filling in my family tree and visiting as many restaurants as possible. I live in southeastern Massachusetts with my husband, daughter, and three cats.

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4 comments posted.

Re: Ladle to the Grave (7:45am March 4, 2015):

Hi, Peggy--I think you nailed it. Our characters become real
to us, like old friends (and at least the less-nice ones are
familiar). Don't you find yourself saying, "But she would
never do that!" just to make your plot work? I've had people
ask, "how do you keep your characters straight?" And I look
blankly at them: "Because they're all people, not just
cardboard cutouts filling space!" (Well, I say it more nicely
than that.)

Re: An Early Wake (9:13am February 10, 2015):

Thanks so much for having me here! People--both readers and
reviewers--have said such nice things about An Early Wake. I'm
so glad I could share that "magic" with others.

Re: Buried In A Bog (10:05pm March 17, 2013):

I forgot to mention that I have indeed kissed the Blarney Stone--I guess it worked!

Re: Buried In A Bog (2:53pm March 17, 2013):

Thank you all for your comments. I first went to Ireland not knowing what to expect, looking mainly to see where my father's family had come from. And look what happened! I'll confess I've borrowed a lot of real details. The pub I called Sullivan's was actually Connolly's when I first saw it. Knockskagh is real, as is Bridget Nolan's house there. And Drombeg definitely is, and is mystical--I visit there every time I'm in West Cork, and it's always different. The Keohanes' house is based on the bed and breakfast where I stayed--where the landlady put me in touch with a second cousin (whose daughter's name is Grainne), who she claimed as a "cousin" too, not that she could explain how. The place continues to surprise me (and a lot of that ends up in the books!).