Sharon L. Dean

Sharon L. Dean grew up in Massachusetts where she was immersed in the literature of New England. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of New Hampshire, a state she lived in until moving to Oregon. In New Hampshire, she taught writing and literature at Rivier University. After giving up writing scholarly books that required footnotes, she reinvented herself as a writer of mysteries. Her first mystery series features retired professor Susan Warner, who has a different color streak in her hair for each of the three novels. A stand alone novel, Leaving Freedom, follows thirty-year-old Connie Lewis, who sees only irony in the name of the town where she grew up, Freedom.

The Barn, the first in a new mystery series, follows librarian and reluctant sleuth Deborah Strong as she solves a cold case with her friend Rachel. The second in the series, The Wicked Bible finds Deborah at a conference on the history of libraries where she must solve the theft of an antique Bible called The Wicked Bible because a typo says “Thou shalt commit adultery. The third in the series, Calderwood Cove, puts Deborah on the coast of Maine where she tries to solve the murder of her friend’s husband. Dean's collection Six Old Women and Other Stories explores settings in New Hampshire. Dean continues to find ways to integrate her knowledge of literary history into the intrigue of the mystery genre.