Barbieri, Maggie 1963(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1963; daughter of Ken Scarry (a police officer); married Jim Barbieri; children: one son, one daughter.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Croton-on-Hudson, NY.

CAREER:

Freelance textbook editor.

WRITINGS:

(With Anne Marie Radaskiewicz) The Houghton Mifflin College Reading Series: Book Three, 2nd edition, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2005.

Murder 101 (mystery novel), St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

After years working as a freelance textbook editor, Maggie Barbieri decided at the age of forty-three to write her first mystery novel, Murder 101. The main character, a divorced English professor named Alison Bergeron, was a "character I've had in my head for a long time," Barbieri told Journal News writer Robert Marchant. "She's funny, flawed, she's got my sense of humor. But she's also taller and thinner. She's the representation of every female insecurity there is, afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing." Bergeron winds up a murder suspect after her car is stolen and the dead body of a student is later found in the trunk. She is not the only suspect, however, for her ex-husband had an affair with the victim. While trying to clear her own name, Bergeron also becomes a love interest of detective Bobby Crawford and tries to help the victim's family, all while in the midst of teaching and grading papers on Shakespeare. Reviewers of Murder 101 considered the book a pleasant distraction, especially for readers who enjoy murder mysteries in an academic setting. "This is an entertaining debut and a series to follow for fans of gentle academic mysteries," reported Barbara Bibel in her Booklist assessment, while a Publishers Weekly critic concluded: "Romance, humor and suspense blend perfectly in this exceptional cozy."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2006, Barbara Bibel, review of Murder 101, p. 30.

Journal News (Westchester, NY), November 25, 2006, Robert Marchant, "Croton Writer Pens Mystery-Romance Novel."

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2006, review of Murder 101, p. 809.

Publishers Weekly, September 25, 2006, review of Murder 101, p. 47.

ONLINE

New Mystery Reader,http://www.newmysteryreader.com/ (January 6, 2007), Stephanie Padilla, review of Murder 101.