Annette Meyers (born Annette Brafman; January 31, 1934) is an American mystery writer. She also writes under the shared pseudonym Maan Meyers with her writing partner and husband, Martin Meyers.[1]

Biography edit

Annette Brafman was born in New York City on January 31, 1934. Her parents were farmers.[2] She grew up on a farm in Toms River, New Jersey.[3] As a youth, she enjoyed the Nancy Drew novels and books by Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.[4] She graduated in 1951 from Toms River High School (since renamed as Toms River High School South[5]) and attended Douglass College, where she earned an A.B. in English 1955.[4][2] She worked as a high school English teacher from 1955 to 1960 and as an assistant for Harold Prince from 1960 to 1976, raising funds to help him produce notable musicals including Fiddler on the Roof, Company, Follies, and A Little Night Music.[4][2] She married Martin Meyers, a writer an actor, on August 19, 1963; they have no children.[2][4]

Meyers quit working for Prince in order to focus on her writing career. However, she struggled to get her work published, so she worked as a recruiter on Wall Street. Then she had the idea to write a mystery that incorporated her theatre and Wall Street careers. The resulting book, The Big Killing, was released in 1989.[4]

Meyers is known for her Smith and Wetzon series and Olivia Brown series as well as the Dutchman series she wrote with her husband, Martin Meyers, published under the joint pseudonym Maan Meyers.[6] Leslie Wetzon is based on Meyers. Olivia Brown was inspired by Edna St. Vincent Millay.[4][7] Meyers has contributed to various story anthologies. Her books have been translated into several languages.[2]

She is a member of the Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, MENSA, Private Eye Writers of America, and the International Association of Crime Writers. She was once President of Sisters in Crime.[8] She lives in New York City.[2] Her favorite book is Moby Dick.[4]

Selected works edit

Smith and Wetzon series edit

  • The Big Killing, Bantam, 1989.
  • Tender Death, Bantam, 1990.
  • The Deadliest Option, Bantam, 1991.
  • Blood on the Street, Doubleday, 1992.
  • Murder: The Musical, Doubleday, 1993.
  • These Bones Were Made for Dancin', Doubleday, 1995.
  • The Groaning Board, Doubleday, 1997.[9]
  • Hedging, Five Star Press, 2005.

Olivia Brown mysteries edit

  • Free Love, Mysterious Press/Warner, 1999.[10]
  • Murder Me Now, Mysterious, 2001.[11]

Dutchman series, with Martin Meyers, under joint pseudonym Maan Meyers edit

  • The Dutchman, Doubleday, 1992.
  • The Kingsbridge Plot, Doubleday, 1993.
  • The High Constable, Doubleday, 1994.
  • The Dutchman's Dilemma, Bantam, 1995.
  • The House On Mulberry Street, Bantam, 1996.
  • The Lucifer Contract, Bantam, 1997.
  • The Organ Grinder, Five Star/Gale, 2008.

Further reading edit

  • Klein, Kathleen Gregory. Great Women Mystery Writers: Classic to Contemporary. Greenwood Press, 1994.

References edit

  1. ^ Husband, Janet G.; Husband, Jonathan F. (2009-07-30). Sequels: An Annotated Guide to Novels in Series. American Library Association. ISBN 978-0-8389-0967-6.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Annette (Brafman) Meyers." Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors. Gale, 2001. Gale Literature Resource Center. Accessed 5 June 2023.
  3. ^ Schmidhausler, Gretchen. "Wall Street proves fodder for foul play", Asbury Park Press, October 21,1990. Accessed June 5, 2023, via Newspaper.com. "Actually, it doesn't pay quite well enough for Annette Brafman Meyers to quit her full-time job not yet, at least. After waiting patiently for almost 50 years, Ms. Meyers, a former Toms River resident who now resides in Manhattan, is working on her third mystery novel and is ready to take her place on the shelf with the likes of mystery writers P.D. James, Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky."
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "The Mystery Novelist". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  5. ^ Hall of Fame: Annette Brafman Meyers, Toms River Regional Schools. Accessed June 5, 2023. "Toms River High School Class of 1951 Inducted in 1992"
  6. ^ "Playing in the Neighborhoood". The New York Times. 1998-01-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  7. ^ Barnett, Colleen (2010-12-31). Mystery Women, Volume Three (Revised): An Encyclopedia of Leading Women Characters in Mystery Fiction: 1860–1979. Sourcebooks, Inc. ISBN 978-1-61595-010-2.
  8. ^ "2020 Interview with Beth Wasson – Sisters in Crime". Sisters in Crime. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  9. ^ Stasio, Marilyn (July 13, 1997). "Crime". New York Times. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  10. ^ Stasio, Marilyn (October 17, 1999). "Crime". New York Times. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  11. ^ Stasio, Marilyn (January 14, 2001). "Crime". New York Times. Retrieved 2023-06-05.

External links edit