O'DONNELL, Lillian

Born 15 March 1926, Trieste, Italy

Daughter of Zoltan D. and Maria Busutti Udvardy; married J. Leonard O'Donnell, 1954

Lillian O'Donnell is a New Yorker; she grew up in the city, where she attended parochial and public schools, pursued a career in the theater, married, and continues to live in the city. With a minor role in Pal Joey, O'Donnell became involved in Broadway productions as an actress and dancer. Later she appeared in television productions, and then moved on to direct summer stock, becoming one of the first women managers. After her marriage, she left the theater and decided to try writing novels.

O'Donnell's early mystery stories reflect a gothic dimension in exotic settings, country estate motifs, and genteel characters. Death Schuss (1963), for example, takes place in Canada at the height of the ski season amid the luxurious environs of an heiress's home. This unlucky young lady becomes the victim in this murder puzzle which is fraught with romantic entanglements and glamour. These early works are too filled with cliches to be unique.

The turning point in O'Donnell's literary career occurred when she cast off the trappings of the mystery-cum-gothic style and moved into the real world of the police thriller to create Norah Mulcahaney of the New York City Police Department as her serial heroine. Mulcahaney is a credible character; O'Donnell gives her heroine ethnic roots and a strong moral fiber. Norah is also appropriately attractive: tall and slim, with long dark tresses. Norah makes her first appearance in The Phone Calls (1972); she is just learning the ropes in the department when she is assigned to the case of a psychopathic killer who preys on women. In Don't Wear Your Wedding Ring (1973), Detective Mulcahaney becomes more self-assured; this time she is in pursuit of a female prostitution ring. "The chase" as well as the nature of the crime lives up to the tradition of the thriller as Norah eludes a murderous gang. Her relationship with Sgt. Joe Capretto develops in this case; the reader perceives a match is in the making. (Ultimately Norah marries Joe, but she neither retires nor loses her individuality; they do not become a "crime team.")

The crimes which O'Donnell chooses for her heroine are usually crimes against women, such as rape (Dial 577 R-A-P-E,1974). Mulcahaney meets all challenges with conviction—she is a feminist who is concerned with the plight of other women (other policewomen in No Business Being a Cop, 1978).

O'Donnell learned about the inner workings of the police world through observation and careful research. Amid growing concern for the victims of crime, O'Donnell chose another dimension to investigate and a different kind of heroine. Mici Anhalt, an investigator for the New York City Victim/Witness Project, makes her debut in Aftershock (1977). A combination social worker and detective, she often experiences personal danger. She too is attractive; though a liberated thirtyish female, she has the youthfulness and enthusiasm of a teenager.

In both Aftershock and Falling Star (1979), Mici does her sleuthing by assignment and under less than optimum conditions. She experiences on-the-job harassment and departmental jealousies, not to mention the perils of attack from malevolent assailants. But, like Norah Mulcahaney, she endures, proving that a resilient female can make her own way in a tough world.

O'Donnell's novels have achieved success not because her characters are profound or unusual, or because her plots are mindboggling or aesthetically interesting. Hardcore realism, neither sweetened by gingery femininity nor leavened by blood or brutality, is O'Donnell's metier. Her unadorned literary style is honest and appropriate to the street crimes she depicts.

Other Works:

Death on the Grass (1959). Death Blanks the Screen (1960). Murder Under the Sun (1964). Death of a Player (1964). The Babes in the Woods (1965). The Sleeping Beauty Murders (1967). The Tachi Tree (1968). The Face of the Crime (1968). Dive into Darkness (1971). The Baby Merchants (1975). Leisure Dying (1976). Wicked Designs (1980). The Children's Zoo (1981). Cop Without a Shield (1983). Lady Killer (1984). Casual Affairs (1985). The Other Side of the Door (1987). A Good Night to Kill (1989). A Wreath for the Bride (1990). A Private Crime (1991). Pushover (1992). Used to Kill (1993). Lockout (1994). The Raggedy Man (1995, 1997). Blue Death (1998). The Goddess Affair (1998).

The papers of Lillian O'Donnell are housed in the Mugar Memorial Library of Boston University.

Bibliography:

Bakerman, J. S., ed., And Then There Were Nine—More Women of Mystery (1985). Klein, K. G., ed., Great Women Mystery Writers: Classic to Contemporary (1994).

Reference works:

Detecting Women (1994). Encyclopedia Mysteriosa (1995). St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers (1996).

Other references:

Booklist (15 July 1977). KR (1 July 1979). LJ (Aug 1973). Ms. (Oct. 1974). NYTBR (8 Aug. 1976). SR (29 Jan. 1972).

—PATRICIA D. MAIDA