O'Brien, Charles 1927-

PERSONAL:

Born 1927; married; wife's name Elvy (an art historian). Education: Columbia University, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Williamstown, MA. E-mail—obrien@bcn.net.

CAREER:

Western Illinois University, Macomb, history teacher, 1964-1994; also once served as vicar of a small church. Military service: U.S. Army; served as a medic in Korea.

WRITINGS:

HISTORICAL MYSTERY NOVELS

Mute Witness, Poisoned Pen Press (Scottsdale, AZ), 2001.

Black Gold, Poisoned Pen Press (Scottsdale, AZ), 2002.

Noble Blood, Severn House Publishers (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2004.

Lethal Beauty, Severn House Publishers (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2005.

Fatal Carnival, Severn House Publishers (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2006.

Cruel Choices, Severn House Publishers (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2007.

Assassins' Rage, Severn House Publishers (Sutton, Surrey, England), 2008.

SIDELIGHTS:

Novelist, educator, and former clergyman Charles O'Brien turned to writing historical mystery novels when he retired as a history teacher in 1994. "I wanted to make another career, but still keep my interest in history alive," O'Brien reflected in an interview with Monica Whitebread in Publishers Weekly. After three years of training himself to "write a thriller instead of a research paper," O'Brien started his mystery series featuring recurring characters Anne Cartier and Colonel Paul de Saint-Martin. The first book, Mute Witness, is set in Paris, France, in 1786. Actress Anne arrives in Paris at Paul's request, determined to find the person who murdered her actor stepfather. As Anne works to perfect skills in her secondary career as a teacher of the deaf, she becomes involved in several more murders, a jewel theft, and the dark underworld behind the Parisian theater. "The plot is as circuitous as the streets of Paris, with something interesting lurking around every corner," commented Booklist reviewer Ilene Cooper.

Although a Publishers Weekly critic felt that the sequel, Black Gold, is "not quite up to the high standard set" by O'Brien's first book, the reviewer still praised its "fully realized characters,… complex plot and … surprise ending." In Black Gold, the characters Paul and Anne are planning for marriage, and Paul comes to see her while in Paris—where he is looking for accused rapist Captain Maurice Fitzroy. He finds out Fitzroy is the friend of the Rogers family, and Anne happens to be at the Rogers estate, tutoring eleven-year-old Charlie. There are plenty of suspicious elements in the home, including a strange relationship between Charlie's father and his slave, and the fact that Charlie looks suspiciously more like Fitzroy than his supposed father, Sir Harry. A Kirkus Reviews contributor felt the plot was unoriginal but remarked on the author's "careful, somber, measured prose and meticulous detail."

In the series' third installment, Noble Blood, Anne, now married to Paul, defends former deaf pupil Denise de Villers from charges of murdering Duchesse de Saumur, a friend of Marie Antoinette. A Publishers Weekly critic called the book "outstanding" and "first-class entertainment." O'Brien's fourth novel, Lethal Beauty, brings the couple to the Louvre, the famous Paris museum, where the death of a countess and the defacement of her portrait require the mystery-solving skills of the Saint-Martins.

Continuing the series are Fatal Carnival and Cruel Choices. Positive reviews were written of Fatal Carnival, in which Paul investigates the case of escaped prisoner Jean LeBrun. Paul suspects that LeBrun might have been wrongly convicted. When an army captain is killed, Anne begins an investigation that might help prove her husband is right. "Solidly written, carefully researched, and inventively plotted" was Booklist reviewer Emily Melton's assessment of the novel. A Publishers Weekly writer observed that this installment offers less in the way of the politics of the time, "but series fans will find the usual meticulous attention to period detail."

Cruel Choices presents the sleuthing couple searching for a missing girl, which leads them to a prostitution ring in Paris run by the Marquis de Bresse. The horrors of the forced sex trade disgust the pair, and then they find the Marquis murdered, apparently by one of his girls. It is up to Paul and Anne to find out who committed the likely justifiable crime. A Kirkus Reviews writer called Cruel Choices an "unusually uncomplicated mystery" that is "one of [O'Brien's] best efforts." Calling the novel "imperfect but entertaining," a Publishers Weekly critic felt that readers unfamiliar with the earlier books in the series might get a little lost, but praised the "well-pitched historical details" the author includes.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 2001, Ilene Cooper, review of Mute Witness, p. 1638; May 1, 2002, review of Black Gold, p. 1481; August 1, 2006, Emily Melton, review of Fatal Carnival, p. 51.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2002, review of Black Gold, p. 621; April 15, 2005, review of Lethal Beauty, p. 455; April 1, 2007, review of Cruel Choices.

Publishers Weekly, June 3, 2002, Monica Whitebread, "PW Talks with Charles O'Brien," p. 68; October 11, 2004, review of Noble Blood, p. 60; July 24, 2006, review of Fatal Carnival, p. 40; March 19, 2007, review of Cruel Choices, p. 47.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), July 7, 2002, review of Black Gold, p. 2.

ONLINE

Historical Mysteries by Charles O'Brien,http://www.mutewitness.com (January 9, 2008).