JAFFARIAN, Sue Ann 1952-

PERSONAL:

Born 1952, in MA.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Los Angeles, CA. Office—3500 Overland Ave., Ste. 110, PMB 82, Los Angeles, CA 90034. Agent—Whitney Lee, The Fielding Agency, LLC, 269 S. Beverly Dr., #341, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Works as a paralegal in CA.

MEMBER:

Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime (Los Angeles chapter president).

WRITINGS:

The Curse of the Holy Pail ("Odelia Grey Mystery" series), iUniverse, (Lincoln, NE), 2003.

Too Big to Miss ("Odelia Grey Mystery" series), Midnight Ink (Woodbury, MN), 2006.

Work represented in the anthology Love at Large, Draumr Publishing, 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Sue Ann Jaffarian writes mysteries featuring a protagonist who, like herself, is a plus-sized, middle-aged paralegal living in southern California. Jaffarian self-published The Curse of the Holy Pail, the first book of the series featuring Odelia Grey, and received good reviews. For instance, Barbara Franchi wrote in Reviewing the Evidence that the character of Odelia is "engaging." The critic added: "The big publishing houses made a mistake when they didn't grab Jaffarian's series." In the debut Odelia meets client Sterling Price at the law firm where she works. Sterling, who has a collection of vintage lunch boxes, shows her the one he calls the "holy pail," which has cursed all of its owners with untimely demises. Odelia, who has become fond of the gentle Sterling, wants to assist the police in finding his killer.

The corpse in Too Big to Miss is that of Sophie London, the star of her own Web site, an activist, and founder of a support group for large women. Odelia is shocked when she learns that the confident and successful Sophie committed suicide while performing on her sex site, so she investigates to uncover the truth about her demise. Library Journal reviewer Jo Ann Vicarel lauded Jaffarian for creating a believable character in Odelia, adding that this story is "beautifully plotted and carefully crafted."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2006, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Too Big to Miss, p. 68.

Library Journal, February 1, 2006, Jo Ann Vicarel, review of Too Big to Miss, p. 57.

ONLINE

Reviewing the Evidence,http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/ (September 12, 2006), Barbara Franchi, review of The Curse of the Holy Pail.

Sue Ann Jaffarian Home Page,http://www.sueannjaffarian.com (September 12, 2006).*