Mary Monica Pulver
Mary Monica Pulver
Mary talks about her hats
The Peter Brichter Series
Mary Monica Pulver is an incidental Hoosier -- Terre Haute, Indiana, had the hospital closest to her parents' home in Marshall, Illinois. She spent the later part of her childhood and early adult life in Wisconsin, graduating from high school in Milwaukee. She was a journalist in the U.S. Navy for six and a half years (two in London), and later attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Mary Monica sold her first short story, "Pass the Word," to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, in 1983, and has since sold more than two dozen short stories to anthologies and magazines, including some in Germany, England, Italy and France. She has appeared in such anthologies as The Mammoth Book of Historical Detectives, The Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits, The Mammoth Book of Historical Detectives, Shakespearean Mysteries, Royal Whodunnits, Unholy Orders, Murder Most Crafty, and Silence of the Loons.
Her first mystery novel, Murder at the War, appeared from St. Martin's Press in 1987 and was nominated for an Anthony as Best First Novel. The Unforgiving Minutes and Ashes to Ashes followed in 1988; but Original Sin was sold to Walker, who also presented the fifth book, Show Stopper, in May of 1992. Berkley Diamond brought these mysteries out in paperback. They feature detective Peter Brichter - a cop one reviewer said was "a hardboiled sleuth who's somehow landed in a cozy mystery."
Berkley published six medieval mysteries Mary Monica wrote in collaboration with Gail Frazer under the pseudonym Margaret Frazer: The Novice's Tale, The Servant's Tale (nominated for an Edgar as Best Original Paperback of 1993), The Outlaw's Tale, The Bishop's Tale, The Boy's Tale, and The Murderer's Tale. The detective in the mysteries is a nun, Dame Frevisse, a niece by marriage of Thomas Chaucer, the legendary Geoffrey's son. The stories take place in England in the 1430s. Gail presently continues the series alone.
In 1998 Mary Monica began writing a new series for Berkley featuring amateur needleworking sleuth Betsy Devonshire. Set in Excelsior, Minnesota, Crewel World came out in March and was followed by Framed in Lace, A Stitch in Time, Unraveled Sleeve, A Murderous Yarn, Hanging by A Thread, Cutwork, Crewel Yule, Embroidered Truths, Sins and Needles, Knitting Bones, Thai Die, Blackwork, Buttons and Bones, Threadbare, And Then You Dye, The Drowning Spool, and Darned If You Do. The first six were paperback originals, the last are hardcovers to be followed by paperback editions. These light and traditional novels are written under the pseudonym Monica Ferris, and all have gone to multiple printings – the first one is in its thirteenth printing!
Mary Monica has taught courses on mystery writing to children at North Hennepin Community College, gifted children in District #287, and adults at one-evening seminars at Hennepin and Ramsey County libraries. She does lectures and signings, and has appeared on panels at mystery and science fiction conventions, including Bouchercon, Minicon, Diversicon, Magna Cum Murder, and Malice Domestic. She has spoken to stitchery guilds on local, state, and national levels. She has won a place on national and local best-seller lists, including USA Today and the independent mystery bookstore compilation. She is a member of Sisters in Crime (a national organization that promotes women who write mystery fiction), remains a paid speaker on the life of a mystery author.
Police officer Otto Peter Brichter is an outstanding detective, though socially awkward. An investigation of a local crime ring brings him to Tretower Ranch, where he meets Nick Tellios and his niece, Katherine McLeod Price. Kori, as she is called, is a young reclusive woman whose primary interest is in the horses on the ranch. Brichter falls head over heels in love with her, but the trauma of her parents’ murder as a young child still haunts her and makes her distant. As Brichter’s investigation continues, he finds that Tellios is linked to the local organized crime syndicate, and that Tellios is exploiting Kori and keeping her a virtual prisoner. When Kori is kidnapped, the evidence increasingly points to Tellios being behind it. Brichter finds that this is just the beginning of a mystery with far-reaching implications, some of which go back to the unsolved killing of Kori’s parents.
“In her prequel to the wonderful Murder at the War, Mary Monica Pulver has exceeded herself. The Unforgiving Minutes is a spine-tingling thriller, and the characters are brilliantly developed. I loved every page.” –Elizabeth Peters
“Fascinating characters fill the novel…. The reader will feel satisfied by the gripping ending in the second mystery by Pulver. I hope she has a third story in the works.” –Houston Chronicle
“The second in a highly unusual, exceptionally erudite mystery series…[Brichter’s] transformation…is handled with a seamless artistry and a narrative finesse.” –Minneapolis Star Tribune
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FIRST PLACE, Midwest Book Awards, 2001
The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is having a lovely re-enactment of a Medieval war...until one of the participants is actually murdered. It is up to Detective Peter Brichter and his wife Kori (whose SCA names are Lord Stefan von Helle and Lady Katherine of Tretower) to solve the crime!
The Society for Creative Anachronism is an odd mixture of pedantic realism and idealistic fantasy, full of complex individuals who have succeeded in living a dream without losing their hold on reality. Such a subculture provides a gold mine of unique and colorful creatures, motivations, and methods for crime, and Pulver has made brilliant use of her material. With clarity and compassion, she follows her characters to the solution of a most unusual murder mystery." --Diana L. Paxson, originator of the Society for Creative Anachronism and author of the Brisingamen and Westria series
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A body is found in “Crazy Dave” Wagner’s appliance store after the store is destroyed by a fire. Detective Peter Brichter is called in because local organized crime is thought to be involved. Brichter consults arson investigator Captain Isaac (Zak) Kader, and other officers in the police department, but no matter how many suspects they interview, they seem no closer to solving the case. Meanwhile, at home, Kori Brichter struggles with the right timing to tell Peter that she’s pregnant, after they agreed they would not have children.
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Kori Price Brichter planned on a wonderful Christmas. She and her police officer husband, Peter Brichter, had invited their friends, Frank and Mary Ryder and Gordon Ramsey, to spend the holiday with them, their son Jeep, and their nanny, Jill. Most important, Kori had invited Evelyn Biggins to join them. Having believed that all of her relatives had died, Kori was particularly thrilled to have found Evelyn, now her only living relative, to tell her of her family history. But Evelyn had only been in the house for a few hours when she was found, dead, in the library of the house, victim of an apparent murder. Since the guests were now isolated in house because of a blizzard, the only possible conclusion is that one of them had killed Evelyn. But who?
“A bright gleam of the golden age peeks through in Original Sin and brings the word classic right up to date. All are party to a death that couldn’t have been committed by any of them. With astute misdirection and a cleverly concealed motive, Pulver has constructed a mystery of legendary proportions.” –Ellen Nehr, Murder ad lib
“In Original Sin, Mary Monica Pulver offers a delightful 1990s version of the classic traditional mystery. The setting is a country mansion (in the American Midwest) at Christmas, isolated by a snowstorm, with a group of people hiding various guilty secrets. The plot is beautifully and fairly constructed, and readers who enjoy good puzzles will find a great one here. But those who prize interesting characters won’t be disappointed. Further acquaintance with Kori and Peter Brichter and new baby Jeep will only whet the appetite for more books in the series. Altogether, Original Sin is a sparkling, thoroughly enjoyable novel—absolutely perfect holiday reading!” –Dean James, Manager, Murder by the Book
“Mary Monica Pulver is one of the best-kept secrets in mystery… She turns out some of the finest books going. Original Sin is so elegant it takes your breath away.” –Drood Review of Mystery
“Clever trickery in the John Dickson Carr classic locked-room puzzle-mode…. A clever, cozy read.” –American Bookseller
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When Kori Brichter took her horses to the Fourth Annual Lafite Class-A All-Arabian Horse Show, she wasn’t expecting murder. But the next morning, an unpopular horse trainer is found dead in one of her stalls, and her 18-year-old groom is the prime suspect. Convinced of the groom’s innocence, she sets out to solve the crime herself.
A delightful mystery, particularly for horse fanatics. Kori Brichter is a horse farm owner, whose Arabian filly is competing in a local show. There, her 18-year-old groom is accused of murdering another groom, a man noted for his cruelty both to animals and his fellow humans. When the police delay the show in order to investigate, Kori decides to get it going by solving the crime herself. There is a lot of detail about horses, shows, and trading in this story that's sure to hold the attention of animal fans as well as mystery lovers. —Susan McFaden, Fairfax County Library, VA (School Library Journal)
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