Marti MacAlister Books In Order

Publication Order of Marti MacAlister Books

leanor Taylor Brand is famous for writing some of the most thrilling and exciting crime novels having the name Marti Macalister. Born on December 31, 1944, this gifted African American writer passed away on June 2, 2010 when she was aged around sixty six. However, during this period she has made a name for herself with some of the most wonderful and exciting crime thriller books which have captured the heart and imagination of thousands of her fans and she also has won quite a few awards and recognitions. She had still quite a few years of writing left of her but she had to leave this world a bit premature. She was famous for creating the famous Lincoln Prairie sleuth cop Marti Macalister. Hence she is better known for her Marti Macalister (series by Eleanor Taylor Bland) series.

Her Personal Life

Born in Boston, Massachusetts she got married at the early age of 14. However, before her marriage she moved to Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, Illinois. After her marriage her husband Walter Bland had to work in the US Navy at that point of time. She had a great married life for 31 years before she parted ways with Walter Bland. Though she was a great writer she had health challenges. In 1970 it was found out that she was down with Gardner Syndrome and this presumably gave her not much time to live. However, she came successful with her grit and determination and this was perhaps the guiding force behind her writing career. She obtained a BA Degree after having enrolled in the University Of Illinois in the year 1981. She had to work to earn a living and her career started and worked as an accountant. Eleanor Taylor Bland was the mother of two children and she had several grandchildren. She spent the last part of her life in Waukegan, Illinois. Eventually Gardner Syndrome took the better of her and she died on June 2, 2010 in East Waukegan.

A Look At Her Works

She started her writing career in right earnest with Dead Time which was her first novel and it hit the retail book stands in 1982. This was the first time she introduced the sleuth Marti MacAlister to her readers and since then there has been no looking back. The character of Marti is about a police detective belonging to the African-American origin. He has been recently moved out of Chicago and is now settled in the small little place of Illinois. In fact it would be pertinent to mention here that her second book was her first book. In other words she wrote Slow Burn Before Dead Time, but unfortunately there were no takers for this book and it never got published. However, the success of Dead Time opened the floodgates and took her career to the next higher level. In fact Marti has an accomplice working for her in all her books and the name of the character is Vik Jessenovik. He is a Polish American by birth and they have different styles which at times also are complementary to one others needs and requirements.

Look At Her Books

She has written thirteen top of the line crime thrillers during her career. As mentioned above she started with Dead Time in 1992 and her last book was Suddenly A Stranger which was penned in the year 2007. Over the next few lines we will try and have a look at two of her works because it would be simply not possible to review all the books written by her during her writing career.

Dead Time

There is no doubt that Dead Time is arguably one of the best mystery books written ever by an African-American woman. It is a book which will well and truly take you through the streets of Chicago and the ride will certainly not be ordinary to say the least. The main character of course is Marti MacAlister and this widowed lady is also a mother of two. She has a partner who is not very sure whether a female cop can do the job properly and how useful will she be. The murder of a person at Cramer Hotel which shelters the poor, elderly and mentally unstable people is the main theme around which this book revolves. In the process of investigating the crime both Marki and her accomplice Vik come to know that two children could have seen the killer. This certainly adds a new twist to the case because the killer could be on the prowl wanting to get rid of any witnesses who might have seen the crime. It is about saving the life of two small and innocent children and also tracking down the murder and finding out the motive.

Fatal Remains

The book Fatal Remains starts with a shocking event when Vik and Marti are asked to urgently respond to news that some strange skeletal remains have been found on a piece of land. The detective pair simply do not have any idea about it. It could be a case of convoluted murder which could have been the result of some conspiracy. The murder could have taken place hundreds of years back given the fact that only skeletal remains have been found. The skeletal remains is in itself a big mystery. The detectives also have to handle curious groups of North Americans and so-called historians making a beeline to have a look at the skeletal remains. However, as they uncover and unravel the mystery, the detective pair comes to know that this is not a one-off murder which could have happened many years ago. They come across many such deaths seemingly caused by accidents and other such mishaps which again are mysterious to say the least. This certainly is an extremely well research, to the point and highly interesting murder mystery which will keep the readers on tenterhooks throughout.

Conclusion

At the end of the day there are reasons to believe that when it comes to penning mystery murders and crimes, Eleanor Taylor Bland stands apart from the rest of the crowd. She has her own juicy, interesting and captivating style of writing which cannot be replaced or substituted.