Mertz, Barbara (Gross) 1927-

views updated

MERTZ, Barbara (Gross) 1927-

(Barbara Michaels, Elizabeth Peters)

PERSONAL: Born September 29, 1927, in Canton, IL; daughter of Earl D. (a printer) and Grace (a teacher; maiden name, Tregellas) Gross; married Richard R. Mertz (a professor of history), June 18, 1950 (divorced, 1968); children: Elizabeth Ellen, Peter William. Education: University of Chicago, Ph.B., 1947, M.A., 1950, Ph.D. (Egyptology), 1952. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, needlework, cats, music, football, gardening, and long conversations with fellow mystery writers.

ADDRESSES: Home—Frederick, MD. Home and offıce—P.O. Box 180, Libertytown, MD 21762-0180. Agent—Dominick Abel Literary Agency, 146 West 82nd St., Suite 1B, New York, NY 10024.

CAREER: Historian and writer. Member of editorial advisory boards, KMT: Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt and The Writer; Board of Governors of the American Research Center in Egypt.

MEMBER: American Crime Writers League, Egypt Exploration Society, James Henry Breasted Circle of the Oriental Institute, Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, National Organization for Women, Malice Domestic mystery writers' convention (founding member).

AWARDS, HONORS: Grandmaster Award, Bouchercon, 1986; Agatha Award for best mystery novel of 1989, Malice Domestic Convention, for Naked Once More; D.H.L., Hood College, 1989; Grand Master, Mystery Writers of America, 1998; Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award, 2003.

WRITINGS:

Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs: The Story of Egyptology, Coward (New York, NY), 1964, new revised edition, Peter Bedrick (New York, NY), 1990.

Red Land, Black Land: The World of the Ancient Egyptians, Coward (New York, NY), 1966, new revised edition, Peter Bedrick, 1990.

(With husband, Richard R. Mertz) Two Thousand Years in Rome, Coward (New York, NY), 1968.

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE NOVELS; UNDER PSEUDONYM BARBARA MICHAELS

The Master of Blacktower, Appleton (New York, NY), 1966.

Sons of the Wolf, Meredith Press (New York, NY), 1967, published as Mystery on the Moors, Paperback Library (New York, NY), 1968.

Ammie, Come Home, Meredith Press (New York, NY), 1968.

Prince of Darkness, Meredith Press (New York, NY), 1969.

Dark on the Other Side, Dodd (New York, NY), 1970.

The Crying Child, Dodd (New York, NY), 1971.

Greygallows, Dodd (New York, NY), 1972.

Witch, Dodd (New York, NY), 1973.

House of Many Shadows, Dodd (New York, NY), 1974.

The Sea King's Daughter, Dodd (New York, NY), 1975.

Patriot's Dream, Dodd (New York, NY), 1976.

Wings of the Falcon, Dodd (New York, NY), 1977.

Wait for What Will Come, Dodd (New York, NY), 1978.

The Walker in the Shadows, Dodd (New York, NY), 1979.

The Wizard's Daughter, Dodd (New York, NY), 1980.

Someone in the House, Dodd (New York, NY), 1981.

Black Rainbow, Congdon & Weed (New York, NY), 1982.

Here I Stay, Congdon & Weed (New York, NY), 1983.

Dark Duet, Congdon & Weed (New York, NY), 1983.

The Grey Beginning, Congdon & Weed (New York, NY), 1984.

Be Buried in the Rain, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1985.

Shattered Silk, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1986.

Search the Shadows, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1987.

Smoke and Mirrors, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1989.

Into the Darkness, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1990.

Vanish with the Rose, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1992.

Houses of Stone, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1993.

Stitches in Time, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995.

The Dancing Floor, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1997.

Other Worlds, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

"AMELIA PEABODY" MYSTERY NOVELS; UNDER PSEUDONYM ELIZABETH PETERS

Crocodile on the Sandbank, Dodd (New York, NY), 1975.

The Curse of the Pharaohs, Dodd (New York, NY), 1981.

The Mummy Case, Congdon & Weed (New York, NY), 1985.

Lion in the Valley, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1986.

Deeds of the Disturber, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1988.

The Last Camel Died at Noon, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1991.

The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1992.

The Hippopotamus Pool, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Seeing a Large Cat, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1997.

The Ape Who Guards the Balance, Avon (New York, NY), 1998.

The Falcon at the Portal, Avon (New York, NY), 1999.

He Shall Thunder in the Sky, Avon (New York, NY), 2000.

Lord of the Silent, Morrow (New York, NY), 2001.

The Golden One, Morrow (New York, NY), 2002.

Children of the Storm, Morrow (New York, NY), 2003.

(Editor, with Kristen Whitbread) Amelia Peabody's Egypt: A Compendium to Her Journals, Morrow (New York, NY), 2003.

Guardian of the Horizon, Morrow (New York, NY), 2004.

"JACQUELINE KIRBY" MYSTERY NOVELS; UNDER PSEUDONYM ELIZABETH PETERS

The Seventh Sinner, Dodd (New York, NY), 1972.

The Murders of Richard III, Dodd (New York, NY), 1974.

Die for Love, Congdon & Weed (New York, NY), 1984.

Naked Once More, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1989.

"VICKY BLISS" MYSTERY NOVELS; UNDER PSEUDONYM ELIZABETH PETERS

The Camelot Caper, Meredith Press (New York, NY), 1969.

Borrower of the Night, Dodd (New York, NY), 1973.

Street of the Five Moons, Dodd (New York, NY), 1978.

Silhouette in Scarlet, Congdon & Weed (New York, NY), 1983.

Trojan Gold, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1987.

Night Train to Memphis, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1994.

OTHER MYSTERY NOVELS; UNDER PSEUDONYM ELIZABETH PETERS

The Jackal's Head, Meredith Press (New York, NY), 1968.

The Dead Sea Cipher, Dodd (New York, NY), 1970.

The Night of 400 Rabbits, Dodd (New York, NY), 1971, published in England as Shadows in the Moonlight, Coronet, 1975.

Legend in Green Velvet, Dodd (New York, NY), 1976, published in England as Ghost in Green Velvet, Cassell, 1977.

Devil-May-Care, Dodd (New York, NY), 1977.

Summer of the Dragon, Dodd (New York, NY), 1979.

The Love Talker, Dodd (New York, NY), 1980.

The Copenhagen Connection, Congdon & Lattes (New York, NY), 1982.

Elizabeth Peters Presents Malice Domestic: An Anthology of Original Traditional Mystery Stories, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1992.

ADAPTATIONS: Ammie, Come Home was broadcast by ABC-TV in 1969. The Golden One is available on audio cassette.

SIDELIGHTS: Through her alter-egos Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters, Barbara Mertz has been responsible for over fifty mystery and suspense novels and was acknowledged for the quality and quantity of her works by being awarded the Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award. Although Barbara Michaels is known primarily for quasi-supernatural tales of romantic suspense and Elizabeth Peters for humorous, often historical mysteries, in both cases Mertz uses her skill in setting, factual research, and subversion of the genre's conventions. In addition, as Dulcy Brainard described in Publishers Weekly, all of Mertz's books feature "female protagonists who survive danger and solve mysteries with wit, intelligence, good humor and, usually, good fortune in romance." Deirdre Donahue likewise observed in USA Today: "Few heroines are more bold—or hilarious—than the ones created by Barbara Mertz."

The characters in the Peters books, for instance, are women who "burst forth their corsets of self-doubt and outside denigration, and learn to make it on their own or as equal partners with their lovers," Sarah Booth Conroy wrote in the Washington Post. "All are opinionated, independent, strong, brusque, suspicious, quick to take offense, slow to ask for help, and funny." Among Peters's recurring characters are Amelia Peabody, an Egyptologist, Jacqueline Kirby, a librarian, and Vicky Bliss, an art historian. Amelia Peabody is a thoroughly modern Victorian who sets out on adventures with her archaeologist husband, precocious son, and shrewd cat companion. "Peters's female protagonists," wrote Kay Mussell in the St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers, "are intelligent, strong, and intrepid. Rarely overtly feminist, all are nevertheless independent women who relate to men from a position of equality and respect."

While combining the "comic detective story" with the "period whodunit" can be very challenging, as Kevin Moore asserted in a Chicago Tribune Books review of The Deeds of Disturber, "no one is better at juggling torches while dancing on a high wire than Elizabeth Peters." The Peabody novel Lion in the Valley is a "heady melange of excitement and merriment, enhanced by the Victorian locutions in the peppery archeologist's journal," Publishers Weekly critic Sybil Steinberg stated. And while the "superhuman" characters of Lion in the Valley are somewhat unbelievable, a Toronto Globe and Mail reviewer stated, nevertheless the author's "use of the setting and the archaeological information is first rate." As the Amelia Peabody series has developed, Peters has added to the humor and mystery of the books a thread that highlights the personal lives of her characters and their relationships—some intimate, some familial, some collegial, and some adversarial. A Publishers Weekly contributor said of the 1997 Seeing a Large Cat, "Peters's fans will relish this latest adventure that explores mysteries of the heart as well as murder."

In an interview with Jean Swanson in Publishers Weekly, Mertz explained that the "Peabody Series" has changed over the course of it's lifetime: "It started out being a rather giddy, frivolous sendup of various forms of genre fiction: the detective story, the gothic novel. . . . I had a very jolly time with it. Then, as time went on, not only did the characters change, but I thought I should introduce a new viewpoint. And then Amelia had a baby . . . Ramses the terror—he was described by someone as the most awful child in mystery fiction, which I thought was a huge compliment!"

Eventually, Ramses becomes a teen, and Mertz introduces what she calls a "second point of view." She commented to Swanson: "I'd been giving his mother's view of him all these years, which is a little unfair. I thought it'd be fun to show what he thought of her, and what he was doing on the side." So, by the time Mertz wrote He Shall Thunder in the Sky,—which finds the extended Peabody-Emerson family excavating an archeological site in Cairo as World War I begins and in which even Lawrence of Arabia makes an appearance—Ramses has been transformed into a "grown heartbreaker," according to a review by Deidre Donahue in USA Today. "Some big surprises are in store for readers while Peters deftly ties her subplots together," commented Jeff Zaleski in a Publishers Weekly review, "but a few threads are left dangling enticingly at the end, leaving fans to expect another installment in this extraordinary series." And, of course, The Golden One and Children of the Storm pick up on those threads.

In the Peters books that feature librarian-turned-romance novelist Jacqueline Kirby, the author makes effective use of her various backdrops. The early Kirby novel The Murders of Richard III, for instance, takes place during a role-playing conference conducted by aficionados of the fifteenth-century English king. The mystery includes a debate over Richard's actual historical role—as well as a murder—and "Peters has researched her material carefully and rearranged the implausible into the likely," a New Republic critic remarked. The result is that the book has "sustained her well-earned superior reputation." And Die for Love is set in a romance writers' convention. Nevertheless, it is the protagonist that gives the series its style and humor; Jacqueline's "hilarious habit of lapsing into exquisitely crafted romance cliche" is particularly commendable, Carolyn Banks noted in a Washington Post review of Naked Once More. And although some critics, such as New York Times Book Review contributor Joanne Kaufman, find the satire in the Kirby books "not consistent enough in style to work as parody," "nonetheless Elizabeth Peters manages to pull this . . . out," Florence King wrote in another New York Times Book Review article. In the course of the mystery, the author "makes some valid points about the importance of being selfish for women in the creative arts, delivers some hilariously cynical reflections on book tours and literary fans and wisely avoids the gratuitous sex scenes that spoil so many mysteries," the critic concluded.

Vicky Bliss, Peters's third series character, faces a world where it is a curse to be tall, blonde, and smart. But this American art historian—who works for the Munich National Museum in Germany, and who travels to exotic locations in search of art, mystery, and love—manages because of her strong self-reliance. In Night Train to Memphis, Vicky voyages up the Nile to help the Munich police foil a plot by art thieves. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly observed that this "quirky, lighthearted novel sports some harrowing moments . . . but with its emphasis on Vicky's love life, the story remains essentially a spirited soap opera interspersed with guidebook descriptions."

The Barbara Michaels novels also feature independent women solving puzzles—often personal ones—and provide each heroine with a chance to discover romance. "In the Michaels books," Conroy detailed, "customarily the woman has just broken up with (or, notably in the delightful 'Devil-May-Care,' is about to break up with) her current lover, or her husband has been removed from the cast before the book opens by divorce or death." Most Michaels books, however, differ from a Peters in tone, for they are more serious and contain more supernatural elements—a side that has led some to classify them as "modern Gothics." Mertz disputes this term as inaccurate, however: "Gothics are a type of fiction popular around the turn of the 19th century," she told Brainard. "They were supernatural horror stories with ghosts. The only things those novels and some of the things I've done have in common is setting—ruined castles off in the mists. Gothics have nothing to do with the moderns, which are suspense stories."

Search the Shadows, for instance, follows Haskell Maloney as she searches for the truth about her parentage. Her investigation leads her to the University of Chicago, where her mother studied Egyptology, and eventually to a spooky mansion-museum. "Michaels follows the form" of the genre, wrote Washington Post contributor Bruce Van Wyngarden, "but manages for the most part to transcend the formula," due in particular to her "strong characterizations." Be Buried in the Rain similarly deals with personal ghosts and family skeletons. The Michaels mysteries also avail themselves of Mertz's skill with setting and prose style. In Here I Stay, for instance, small-town life in Maryland is portrayed as vital and interesting.

Mertz's comfort with the formal aspects of the romantic suspense genre, her feel for the power of setting, and her command of style have served her well in maintaining a consistent level of quality and reader interest in a body of works written over a period of three decades. Yet, perhaps the main reason she has been able to keep her writing fresh is due to her strong, compelling characters. Writing about the Michaels book Vanish with the Rose—a novel that involves Diana Reed, a lawyer-turned-amateur detective trying to find her missing brother—a Publishers Weekly reviewer commented, "Michaels once again offers a witty, intricate and ultimately surprising story, with strong characterizations that keep the sparks flying."

No matter which pseudonym, series character, or subject Mertz uses, "the suspense is the most important element," the author said in Love's Leading Ladies. While the romantic and humorous elements are important, especially in pacing, she added, "the part I enjoy is the mystery; I read books like this long before I started to write them." As a result, a USA Today critic concluded, "In the skilled hands of Barbara Mertz, murder can be terrifying. Or it can be laugh-aloud hilarious, particularly when one of Mertz's wonderful heroines takes control."

The woman behind Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels is not only the source for insight into their characters, but she is also the source for their extensive knowledge of the disciplines and settings explored in their novels. Mertz earned a Ph.D. in Egyptology in 1952 from the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. Before she established herself as a mystery and romance novelist, she published a pair of well-received nonfiction books on ancient Egyptian culture and the search for its relics. Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs: The Story of Egyptology, first published in 1964, represents "a delightful introduction to the field," commented Phoebe Adams in the Atlantic Monthly. According to William Albright of Book Week, Mertz "knows how to recapture the life of the ancient Egyptians as well as to describe some of the colorful figures who created the science in which she specializes . . . her book is highly recommended to all serious amateurs . . . without being pedantic, she explains such things as Egyptian writing and archaeological methods clearly and tersely."

In Red Land, Black Land: The World of the Ancient Egyptians, Mertz offers "a witty and informative excursion into the world of the ancient Egyptian," wrote A. R. Shulman in Natural History. The reviewer believed that the book "takes the mummies out of the tombs and turns them into what they once were—living, thinking, feeling human beings." Another merit of the book, in the view of a critic for the Economist, is that Mertz avoids lecturing the reader. She "is so well versed in the countless rival theories and pieces of guesswork of her colleagues that she never thrusts judgments upon the reader; she gives him all the variants and leaves him to think what he likes."

Of her life as a writer of nonfiction on Egyptology, mysteries, and romantic suspense novels, Mertz once told CA: "I'm rather proud of the fact . . . that my three alter egos are so different from one another. I know a lot of other people do different series under different names, but I do think mine are quite different. This is wonderful, because it gives me a chance to be all the different people I really am."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Falk, Kathryn, Love's Leading Ladies, Pinnacle Books (New York, NY), 1982.

Grape, Jan, and other editors, Deadly Women, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 1998.

Malling, Susan, editor, A-Z Murder Goes . . . Artful, Poisoned Pen Press (Scottsdale, AZ), 1998.

Mussell, Kay, St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers, 4th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.

Nicholas, Victoria, and Susan Thompson, Silk Stalkings: When Women Write of Murder, Black Lizard Books (Berkeley, CA), 1988.

PERIODICALS

Atlantic Monthly, May, 1964, review of Temples,Tombs, and Hieroglyphs: The Story of Egyptology, p. 142.

Book Week, April 12, 1964, William Albright, review of Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs: The Story of Egyptology, p. 8.

Booklist, April 15, 1999, Ilene Cooper, review of TheFalcon at the Portal,, p. 1484.

Boston Globe, May 13, 2002, Clea Simon, "Serial Mysteries Meet Domestic Bliss," p. D14.

Crime, April 20, 2003, Marilyn Stasio, review of Children of the Storm,, p. 22.

Denver Post May 7, 2000, Tom and Enid Schantz, review of He Shall Thunder in the Sky,, p. F-02.

Economist, December 2, 1967, review of Red Land,Black Land: The World of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 18.

Entertainment Weekly June 1, 2001, Rachel Orvino, review of Lord of the Silent,, p. 84.

Guardian (Manchester, England), September 29, 2001, Maxim Jakubowski, review of Lord of the Silent,, p. 12.

Globe and Mail (Toronto), August 30, 1986, review of Lion in the Valley.

Library Journal, March 15, 2003, Barbara Rhodes, review of The Golden One (audiobook), p. 131.

Los Angeles Times June 2, 1999, Margo Kaufman, review of The Falcon at the Portal,, p. 12.

Natural History, April, 1967, A. R. Shulman, review of Red Land, Black Land: The World of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 76.

New Republic, September 14, 1974, review of TheMurders of Richard III.

New York Times Book Review, June 24, 1984, Joanne Kaufman, review of Die for Love, p. 22; October 15, 1989, Florence King, review of Naked Once More, p. 46.

Publishers Weekly, March 7, 1986, Sybil Steinberg, review of Lion in the Valley, p. 85; October 23, 1987 (interview), Dulcy Brainard, "Barbara Michaels—Elizabeth Peters; Writing Romantic Suspense Fiction under One Pseudonym, and Mysteries under Another, She Often Uses Her Knowledge of Archeology in Both Genres," p. 39; June 1, 1992, review of Vanish with the Rose, p. 54; August 15, 1994, review of Night Train to Memphis, p. 89; May 5, 1997, review of Seeing a Large Cat, p. 201; May 1, 2000, Jeff Zaleski, review of He Shall Thunder in the Sky, pp. 43, 46; April 23, 2001 (interview), Jean Swanson, "Elizabeth Peters," p. 53; April 23, 2001, Peter Cannon, review of Lord of the Silent, p. 52; March 11, 2002, Peter Cannon, review of The Golden One, pp. 54-55.

Tribune Books (Chicago), April 24, 1988, Kevin Moore, "Whodunits with a Sprinkle of Laughter," p. 7.

USA Today, May 18, 2000, Deirdre Donahue, review of He Shall Thunder in the Sky, p. 6D.

Victoria, July 2002, Michelle Slung, "Sleuthing the Sahara," p. 7.

Washington Post, November 27, 1987, Bruce Van Wyngarden, "The High-Grade Heroine," p. G04; June 11, 1989, Sarah Booth Conroy, "The Triple-Threat Mystery," p. F1; October 10, 1989, Carolyn Banks, "Mystery Most Mirthful," p. C2; June 17, 2001, "Barbara Mertz: A Writer of Many Parts," p. WBK.3.