Evans, Liz

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Evans, Liz
(Patricia Grey)

PERSONAL:

Born in London, England.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Orion Publishing Group, Orion House, 5 Upper Saint Martin's Ln., London WC2H 9EA, England.E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer. Also worked in plastic molding manufacturing, banking, in film production, and for BBC Radio.

WRITINGS:

"GRACE SMITH" MYSTERY SERIES

Who Killed Marilyn Monroe?, Oriel (London, England), 1997.

JFK Is Missing!, Oriel (London, England), 1998.

Don't Mess with Mrs. In-Between, Orion (London, England), 2000.

Barking!, Orion (London, England), 2001.

Sick As a Parrot, Orion (London, England), 2004.

Cue the Easter Bunny, Orion (London, England), 2005.

Contributor of short stories to anthologies, including Tart Noir, edited by Stella Duffy and Lauren Henderson, Pan (London, England); The Mammoth Book of Future Cops, Constable Robinson (London, England); The Mammoth Book of Comic Crime, edited by Maxim Jakubowski, Constable Robinson (London, England).

NOVELS; AS PATRICIA GREY

Balaclava Row, Headline Books (London, England), 1994.

Junction Cut, Headline Books (London, England), 1994.

Good Hope Station, Headline Books (London, England), 1997.

Cutter's Wharf, Headline Books (London, England), 1998.

ADAPTATIONS:

Sick As a Parrot, Cue the Easter Bunny, and Junction Cutwere adapted for audio cassette.

SIDELIGHTS:

British writer Liz Evans has penned novels set in London during the Second World War under the pseudonym of Patricia Grey; however, she is best known for her series of humorous crime novels featuring the "hip, zany PI, Grace Smith," as a reviewer forPublishers Weekly described the protagonist. Evans has produced half a dozen of her "Grace Smith" novels since the series' inception in 1997. Booklist contributor Emily Melton praised the series for its "wild and weird plots and a heroine … who is … spunky, sassy, and wacky."

In Don't Mess with Mrs. In-Between, Smith is hired to track down a group of anonymous people photographed at a grocery store, one of whom may stand to inherit considerable wealth. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented that the ensuing investigation "provides plenty of laughs, fast-moving action and suspense." In Barking!, Smith becomes involved in a case dealing with an accountant who believes he is the reincarnation of a murderer. Melton felt the book offered "great fun and good laughs." A Publishers Weekly contributor also found the same title "slightly zany."

In Sick As a Parrot, Smith gets momentarily derailed from her search for the killer of a teacher by the eponymous bird. A Kirkus Reviews critic dubbed this series addition a "clever puzzle." Similarly, Margaret Cannon, reviewing the same title in the Globe and Mail,felt it provided "lots of fun and a good, solid plot."Cue the Easter Bunny finds Smith hitting a dry spell in cases. She takes short-term employment with the local tourist agency of the seaside town in which she resides, wearing a bunny costume for such work. This lands her a case investigating the death of a soap-opera star's husband and a teenage girl in this "madcap" installment, as a Publishers Weekly contributor called it. AKirkus Reviews critic concluded that, while Cue the Bunnywas not the "most mystifying adventure" Smith had embarked upon, it might be the "most dryly amusing." Library Journal reviewer Roland Person, had higher praise for this sixth addition in the series, praising the "witty, wisecracking heroine, … hilarious, often improbable situations, … and snappy dialogue … [in this] very fun read."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2002, Emily Melton, review ofBarking!, p. 817.

Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), October 30, 2004, Margaret Cannon, review of Sick As a Parrot, p. D26.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2004, review ofSick As a Parrot, p. 780; December 15, 2005, review of Cue the Easter Bunny, p. 1301.

Library Journal, January, 2002, Rex Klett, review of Barking!, p. 157; October 1, 2004, Deborah Shippy, review of Sick As a Parrot, p. 65; January 1, 2006, Roland Person, review of Cue the Easter Bunny, p. 80.

Publishers Weekly, December 24, 2001, review of Barking!,p. 46; May 2, 2002, review of Don't Mess with Mrs. In-Between, p. 53; December 5, 2005, review of Cue the Easter Bunny, p. 35.