Heggan, Christiane

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HEGGAN, Christiane

PERSONAL: Born in Nice, France; immigrated to United States; naturalized U.S. citizen; married; husband's name, Bob. Hobbies and other interests: Traveling.

ADDRESSES: Home—P.O. Box 251, Medford, NJ 08055.

CAREER: Writer.

AWARDS, HONORS: Reviewers Choice Award, Romantic Times, for Gloss; Award of Excellence for Passions; National Readers' Choice Award for Silver Lining.

WRITINGS:

ROMANTIC THRILLERS

Cannes, Onyx (New York, NY), 1990.

Gloss, Onyx (New York, NY), 1991.

Passions, Onyx (New York, NY), 1993.

Betrayals, Onyx (New York, NY), 1994.

Silver Lining, Onyx (New York, NY), 1995.

Never Say Never, Onyx (New York, NY), 1996.

Suspicion, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1997.

Deception, Mira (New York, NY), 1998.

Enemy Within, Mira (New York, NY), 2000.

Blind Faith, Mira (New York, NY), 2001.

Moment of Truth, Mira (New York, NY), 2002.

Deadly Intent, Mira (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: Christiane Heggan is a prize-winning novelist who is known for her romantic thrillers.

Her 1997 offering, Suspicion is the story of defense attorney Kate Logan, who must defend her ex-husband, the primary suspect in the killing of a blackmailing prostitute. While trying to aid her former spouse, Logan also mounts a legal defense for a client wrongfully convicted of committing a murder. Logan, with the assistance of a police detective who becomes her lover, eventually learns that her two cases are related to a suspicious senator eager to maintain a career-threatening secret. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly noted that Heggan "creates believable characters and spins a pleasant romance."

Deception, which Heggan published in 1998, concerns young architect, Jill Bennett, who suspects that the death of her father, a fellow architect, was the result of mayhem. After she also finds herself marked for death, she reluctantly agrees to the protection of her ex-husband, Dan Santini, who had worked as a homicide investigator. While Jill attempts to stay alive and sustain the family's architecture business, she once again finds herself drawn to Dan. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that Deception contains "enough twists to keep readers guessing."

In Blind Faith, reporter Kelly Robolo is recuperating from a gunshot wound when a friend asks her to look into the disappearance of her husband, who she fears is dead. In a story that includes a police department that blames Kelly for one of its officers getting shot, a mysterious character with possible mob ties, and a female impersonator with important information, a Publishers Weekly reviewer called Blind Faith "an addictive read."

In an interview with Writers Write, Heggan gave some advice for aspiring mystery writers: "Write what you want and don't listen to those who say write only what you know. Look at Agatha Christie and Mary Higgins Clark, such proper ladies. They had no knowledge of criminology, or of the deviant mind. They just let their imagination soar and they did their research."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Publishers Weekly, November 24, 1997, review of Suspicion, p. 70; August 17, 1998, review of Deception, p. 69; January 10, 2000, review of Enemy Within, p. 49; December 11, 2000, review of Blind Faith, p. 68; November 26, 2001, review of Moment of Truth, p. 45.