Maddison, Lauren

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Maddison, Lauren

PERSONAL:

Education: J.D.

ADDRESSES:

Home—CA.

CAREER:

Writer. Former district attorney.

WRITINGS:

"CONNOR HAWTHORNE" SERIES; MYSTERY NOVELS

Deceptions, Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 1999.

Witchfire, Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 2001.

Death by Prophecy, Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 2002.

Epitaph for an Angel, Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 2003.

The Eleventh Hour, Alyson Books (Los Angeles, CA), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

A former district attorney, Lauren Maddison turned to a career as a mystery writer and created the "Connor Hawthorne" series. Like Maddison, Connor is a former district attorney turned mystery writer. The mysteries in each of the novels include supernatural and mystical elements. In the first installment, Deceptions, Connor is on the trail of the person who murdered her lover, Ariana. Complications arise when Connor's father, ex-U.S. senator and presidential advisor Benjamin Hawthorne, begins a cover-up to keep the identity of his lesbian daughter a secret. Soon Connor discovers that she is being tracked by a hit man. Along with Laura Nez, a Native American hired by her father to protect her, Connor ends up in a Navaho ceremonial center, where they encounter ancient mystical powers. Library Journal contributor Rex E. Klett felt that the novel is "rich in … incredible psychological suspense … and delicate layers of deceit." Witchfire finds Connor heading off to England to investigate why two grave robbers are found murdered and the coffin of her deceased grandmother is filled with rocks and no body. Assisted by her girlfriend Laura Nez, her father, and her policeman friend Malcom, Connor discovers that her grandmother was a good "witch" and the grave robbers were looking for a powerful talisman that is destined to play an important role in a battle between good and evil. Writing in the Lambda Book Report, Julia Sarkessian observed: "The author has the English idioms and speech patterns down, and all that talk of scones and jam was enough to make any reasonable reader want a proper English ‘tea.’"

Maddison's third book in the series, Death by Prophecy, finds Connor and Laura using their spiritual gifts to help them solve the murder of a priest that they recently met. It seems the priest was considered a potential heretic by the Vatican and may have had information on a long-lost artifact that could change the Catholic Church's history. "Maddison creates edgy, moody settings very well," wrote Whitney Scott in Booklist. Library Journal critic Klett commented that the author "once again serves up entrancing prose, intricate plotting, and masterly characterizations." Lambda Book Report contributor Sandra de Helem noted that the book is not the usual mystery, stating: "It's long and densely written like a rich tapestry; this is a book to take to bed with you on long winter nights."

Connor investigates three deaths, including her mother's murder, in Epitaph for an Angel. Connor traces the mystery of the murders back to Colonial America and also discovers ties with Hitler's Third Reich. Boston Phoenix contributor David Valdes Greenwood praised the book and wondered "how Maddison can top this." The Eleventh Hour finds Connor and Laura investigating a friend's death and ending up in England, where they encounter a cult led by a woman with supposed healing powers. Connor soon learns that Sister Sonia may be delving into ancient rites and powers that could seriously backfire on her and those around her. A contributor to the GLBT Fantasy Fiction Resources Web site called The Eleventh Hour a "great thriller."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 1999, Whitney Scott, review of Deceptions, p. 1481; May 15, 2001, Whitney Scott, review of Witchfire, p. 1736; November 15, 2002, Whitney Scott, review of Death by Prophecy, p. 581.

Lambda Book Report, March, 1999, Lynne Maxwell, review of Deceptions, p. 19; November-December, 2002, Sandra de Helem, review of Death by Prophecy, p. 31; January, 2002, Juliet Sarkessian, review of Witchfire, p. 26; November, 2002, Sandra de Helem, review of Death by Prophecy, p. 31.

Library Journal, April 1, 1999, Rex E. Klett, review of Deceptions, p. 132; November 1, 2002, Rex E. Klett, review of Death by Prophecy, pp. 131-132.

Publishers Weekly, April 26, 1999, review of Deceptions, p. 59; May 28, 2001, review of Witchfire, p. 54.