Melanie McGrath / M.J. McGrath Books In Order

Publication Order of Edie Kiglatuk Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Melanie McGrath is a British author that has made a name for herself writing for The Times, The Guardian, the Evening Standard and various other notable brands.

+Biography

Melanie McGrath was born in Romford, London. Peter and Margaret, her parents initially lived in East London. However, by the time Melanie was born, the couple had moved out.

Accordingly to Peter and Margaret, they were simply looking for a place with quiet surroundings and a lot more space. However, Romford didn’t seem to meet their expectations, or so one would assume because the pair moved around a lot during Melanie’s childhood.

It was one of the more significant aspects of her life. They lived in Basildon, Essex at one point. That was before heading to Germany, and then Kent. The pair moved all over the place, running to Buckinghamshire and Lancashire to mention but a few.

That isn’t the sort of lifestyle that a child enjoys, though Melanie adjusted. Her parents’ mobile lifestyle meant that Melanie had the chance to experiment with every type of school one can imagine, this including a German kindergarten.

Melanie McGrath somehow made it all the way to high school which she eventually graduated from. She had the fortune of snagging a place at Oxford. Melanie will tell you that she was looking for an opportunity to prepare adequately for real life. That is why she pursued subjects like Economics, Politics, and Philosophy.

The combination wasn’t nearly as grounding as she thought it would, instead driving her to write essays about notions and concepts she probably considered too silly and outlandish to be useful in the long run.

None the less, she made it through university, graduated and found a place in the book publishing industry. It was around this time that she began to write. Initially, the activity only consumed a small portion of Melanie’s life.

However, by her late 20s, Melanie was writing full-time. It took her a while to make that decision to give writing all her attention and she has expressed regret over the fact that she didn’t pursue writing the moment she left university.

She had dreamt about writing for a long time. However, she doubted her own ability to succeed in the industry. Even though some people might primarily know her for her crime fiction novels, Melanie actually started out by writing nonfiction.

In fact, she won an award called the John Llewellyn Prize in 1995 for one of her non-fiction books. It wasn’t until 2011 that Melanie began to produce crime fiction, kicking things off with ‘White Heat’.

Melanie McGrath has had the opportunity to travel. She has been to Alaska, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Iceland and Mexico to mention but a few. And it isn’t all just for fun. Sure, the locations and places Melanie writes about in her books are essential to her crime fiction stories.

However, Melanie is also a travel writer who has worked for the likes of the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian. Her journalistic work has earned her some recognition. She is also a book reviewer.

When she isn’t traveling, writing for newspapers and magazines or producing crime fiction, Melanie McGrath is teaching creative writing at Roehampton University and North Carolina University.

Some people might also be familiar with her work on TV and radio.

+White Heat

Edie Kiglatuk is a woman born on the harsh and beautiful terrain of Craig Island. While she is guiding two tourists around the vast landscape of the Arctic Circle as they hunt duck, one of them is shot dead, an occurrence that is dismissed as an accident.

The first story from Melanie McGrath set on Ellesmere Island introduces Edie Kiglatuk. The Inuit woman spends her days hunting and acting as a guide to tourists. When one of Edie’s charges is shot, she tries to get him back to the village where he can receive medical assistance.

However, the man dies before they get there. It is presumed that the man died from a ricocheting bullet from his own rifle. Edie frowns upon this conclusion. She knows it couldn’t possibly be accurate.

However, she cannot figure out why everyone is trying to cover the incident up. Soon, the bodies pile up, with those close to Edie being counted among the dead. Deciding that she cannot sit idly by, Edie begins to work the case.

A Police Sergeant on the island with his own issues aids her in her efforts. This book stands out primarily because of the setting. The mystery is mostly decent, but it isn’t anything to write about. Melanie McGrath stands out primarily because of her ability to immerse readers into Inuit culture. There are so many elements of Inuit lore scattered throughout this book.

In fact, this book succeeds more in its efforts to educate readers about Inuit culture than it does telling a great mystery.

+The Boy in the Snow

Edie Kiglatuk is an Inuit hunter trying to help her ex-husband win Iditarod. Edie and Sammy’s efforts to win the World famous Alaskan race are complicated when the body of an infant is found on land belonging to a Russian sect.

The small corpse is covered in odd markings. With election time just around the corner, the lead candidate for the position of Alaska governor wants Edie’s discovery to remain hidden.

That doesn’t stop Edie from investigating the corpse, her discoveries dragging her into a world of sex trafficking, religious intolerance and greed.

This book revolves around Alaska’s famous dogsled race. The event is complicated by the discovery of a frozen baby’s body. Despite the tragedy of the discovery, no one seems that interested in doing anything about it.

All eyes turn to an orthodox religious group who are suspected of the crime. However, Edie isn’t satisfied with the conclusions everyone is jumping to, and she begins her own investigation. The amateur sleuth knows that there is more going on than meets the eye.

This book shows you just how much research Melanie McGrath injected into her work. She does an amazing job of bringing this part of the world to life, not to mention the people populating the area and the lives they lead. The mystery isn’t mind blowing or anything, though there is an interesting twist near the end.

Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath is a British woman of letters with a series of books, standalone novels, and collections under her belt. Her niche is predominantly fiction, nonfiction, and journalistic type of work. She has been writing for over twenty years. Her legal name is Melanie McGrath but she writes under the pseudonym M. J. McGrath. She was born in 1964 in Essex County upon England, in the United Kingdom. McGrath, who is a quinquagenarian, has three other siblings. Her father Peter and mother Margret relocated occasionally during her childhood.

As such, McGrath lived a sort of nomadic life during her formative years; she lived and schooled in various places ranging from Basildon to Kent to Lancanshire to Buckinghamshire to Germany. She often travels to the Arctic region but she is domiciled in corporate London. For her O levels, Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath pursued especially arts while she took science for her A levels. She proceeded to University of Oxford wherein she pursued an interdisciplinary degree: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE).

Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath is a broadcaster, TV producer and presenter, radio hostess, and novelist, all rolled into one. Incidentally, McGrath has co-authored literary work with other female writers; they include Irish author Jane Casey, Nigerian-born novelist Tammy Cohen, Scottish scribbler Louise Miller, and British authors Erin Kelly and Alex Marwood and Helen Smith and Louise Voss. McGrath has traveled extensively ranging from several African countries to The Americas to nations in the Far East.

Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath headed to the book publishing industry hard on the heels of graduating from University of Oxford. By then she used to write during her free time. McGrath, who has since become full-time novelist, has lectured creative writing at the London-based Roehampton University, at the Wilmington-based University of North Carolina, and the UK-based charitable organization called The Arvon Foundation.

Section on Books
Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath debuted in May 1996. McGrath’s debut book, a standalone, is titled Motel Nirvana. Contextually, McGrath penned the Edie Kiglatuk series. There are three books in this series. The first book in the aforementioned series has more than 35 editions. The first edition of the first book in that trilogy was initially published in 2011, titled White Heat, and the series is shelved under the mystery, thriller, cultural, and crime genres.

Another early book in a series published by Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath is titled The Boy in the Snow. This is the second book in the Edie Kiglatuk series. There are over 20 editions of the said book and the first edition was originally published in October 2012. The featured protagonist in that series is named Edie Kiglatuk.

Edie Kiglatuk, the heroine in the series, is a licensed tour guide. Kiglatuk has both white and Inuit ancestry. She used to hunt polar bears previously but has since channeled her skills into tour guiding in a far-flung Inuit society in the arctic region; she doubles up as a part-time teacher. She is somewhat an alcoholic and has an ill-fated love life. She has a stepson called Joe.

The launching pad of the plot in the first book, White Heat, is the murder of a tourist under Kiglatuk guidance; the tourist has been shot dead and Inuit elders dismiss it as a self-involved gun accident. She starts sleuthing the reason behind the cover-up, triggering a series of killings amid missing persons. In the second, The Boy in the Snow, protagonist Edie Kiglatuk is assisting her former spouse so as to win a sled race when she chances upon the corpse of a baby; the corpse has ritual signs and is found in a neighborhood populated by Russian religious exiles. It is in the run-up to elections and Alaskan governor does not want media attention concerning the infant’s corpse. Kiglatuk’s impressive sleuthing pinpoints to organized crime but the ultimate answer is jeopardized by a grey area in her life.

Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath Awards
Author Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath has won a number of literary awards. In 1995, his debut book titled Motel Nirvana clinched the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize; this defunct literary award used to be awarded to British and Commonwealth writers aged 35 or below. In 2012, McGrath’s book titled The Boy in the Snow clinched the AudioFile Earphones Award for its outstanding presentation.

In 2015, McGrath was among the long-listed writers for the Goldsboro Gold, on of the daggers constituting the Dagger Awards which is proffered by the Crime Writers’ Association. She was awarded courtesy of her book The Bone Seeker; the novel was initially published in January 2014 and is the third book in the Edie Kiglatuk series.

Best Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath Books
The books in the bibliography of Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath are remarkable. However, the following are the best three books penned by author Melanie McGrath, by virtue of clinching literary prizes. The first one is called Motel Nirvana. This debut novel is more or less a travelogue; it chronicles the real-life sojourn of author Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath across the United States and the peculiar societies and people that she encountered.

The second one is titled The Boy in the Snow. Refer to a previous section for a description of this book. The third one is titled The Bone Seeker. This book wraps up the Edie Kiglatuk series. Hereby, protagonist Kiglatuk serves as a teacher during the summer in a Canadian school based in the arctic region; she chances upon the corpse of one of her learners in a poisonous lake and as he and the contagonist start sleuthing, they uncover hushed up secrets which might augur bad for their lives.

Other Book Series You May Like
Readers who enjoyed the books authored by Melanie McGrath/M.J. McGrath were left yearning for more suchlike books. Luckily, these series of books caught their attention. The first one is called the Jimm Juree series authored by English novelist Colin Cotterill. This trilogy features protagonist Jimm Juree; he used to work a Thailand-based newspaper as a crime report but is presently domiciled in his upcountry home, situated to the south of the country.

The second one is titled Mike Bowditch series penned by American author Paul Doiron. These crime novels revolve around protagonist Mike Bowditch, who works as a game warden in Maine, the US. The third one is titled Inspector Kari Vaara series and is penned by James Thompson. The featured protagonist is named Kari Vaara; he is a Finnish police chief, based in Lapland then a homicide inspector situated in Helsinki. His is a classic case of a good cop turned bad cop.