O'Neill, Dorothy P.

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O'Neill, Dorothy P.

PERSONAL:

Born on Staten Island, NY.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Greensboro, NC.

CAREER:

Novelist. Former advertising copywriter and columnist for the Staten Island Register.

WRITINGS:

ROMANCE NOVELS

Change of Heart, Avalon Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Heart's Choice, Avalon Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Beyond Endearment, Avalon Books (New York, NY), 1994.

"L" Is for Love, Avalon Books (New York, NY), 1999.

"LIZ ROONEY" MYSTERY SERIES

Double Deception, Avalon Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Fatal Purchase, Avalon Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Ultimate Doom, Avalon Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Smoke Cover, Avalon Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Final Note, Avalon Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Grim Finale, Avalon Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to Good Housekeeping and other magazines.

SIDELIGHTS:

Dorothy P. O'Neill is a writer who transitioned from romance novels to mysteries with her "Liz Rooney" series, which stars a coroner's assistant and her boyfriend, Ike Eichle, a New York City police detective. The series begins with Double Deception, in which billionaire playboy Theodore Van Brundt Ormsby is found poisoned to death. Is the culprit the butler, Judson, a primary beneficiary of Ormsby's will, or one of the bachelor's many spurned girlfriends? Liz is convinced of Judson's innocence and takes it upon herself to investigate, ultimately facing danger from both sides of the law.

In Fatal Purchase, U.S. Senator Jason Ritchie is shot to death in his hotel suite along with a woman who is not his wife. Liz investigates a host of suspects, including the senator's wife, the dead woman's jealous boyfriend, and a Puerto Rican activist with a grudge against the senator. Along the way she is forced to put aside her rivalry with Detective Ike Eichle so they can solve the crime together. No such cooperation takes place in Smoke Cover, the case of Countess Harriet Hunterdon Zanardi. Liz knows the countess's death is murder, but Ike, the detective in charge of the investigation, will not listen to her suspicions. So Liz takes a position as a chambermaid in the countess's house in order to investigate. In addition to discovering that everyone hated the countess, she drives a wedge between herself and Ike.

Final Note concerns country music star Buford Doakes, who is found dead in a hot tub at a Poconos resort where Liz and her friend Sophie are enjoying an all-expenses-paid weekend. In fact, Liz and Sophie had been in Doakes's room the night before and witnessed the events that preceded his demise. It is quickly apparent that Doakes's debauched lifestyle had spun out of control, but who, exactly, is the culprit? Ike, concerned for Liz's safety in the aftermath of the scandal, appears on the scene to help out the investigation. Jenny McLarin, writing in Booklist, called the book "a pleasant outing for fans of lite mystery." O'Neill's next book, Grim Finale, meshes an al-Qaeda terrorist plot with the case of a strangled Manhattan prep school teacher. Liz divides her time between planning her wedding to Ike and helping him with the case until she is kidnapped by members of a terrorist cell who intend to exchange her for their imprisoned leader. Barbara Bibel, writing in Booklist, called the story "an unlikely but engaging mix of … elements."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2004, John Charles, review of Smoke Cover, p. 214; October 1, 2005, Jenny McLarin, review of Final Note, p. 39; October 1, 2006, Barbara Bibel, review of Grim Finale, p. 42.