Mignon Eberhart
Mignon G. Eberhart (1899–1996) wrote dozens of mystery novels over nearly sixty years. After attending the Nebraska Wesleyan University, she began writing fiction during the 1920's in her spare time, publishing her first novel, The Patient in Room 18, in 1929. With the follow-up, While the Patient Slept (1931), she won a $5,000 Scotland Yard Prize, and by the end of the 1930s was one of the most popular female mystery writers on the planet.
Before Agatha Christie ever published a Miss Marple novel, Eberhart wrote romantic crime fiction with female leads. Eight of her books, including While the Patient Slept and Hasty Wedding (1938), were adapted for film. Elected a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master in 1971, Eberhart continued publishing roughly a book a year until the 1980s. Her final novel, Three Days for Emeralds, was published in 1988.
“One of the most thorough and ingenious plotters in the trade.” - The New Yorker
“Mignon Eberhart’s name on mysteries is like sterling on silver.” - Miami News
“One of America’s favorite writers.” - Mary Higgins Clark
“One of the best mystifiers in America.” - Gertrude Stein
