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Susan Oleksiw Books In Order

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Publication Order of Anita Ray Books

Under the Eye of Kali (2010)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Wrath of Shiva (2012)Description / Buy at Amazon
For the Love of Parvati (2014)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Secret of the Pulluvan Drum (2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Silver House (2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
When Krishna Calls (2016)Description / Buy at Amazon
In Sita's Shadow (2022)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Mellingham Books

Murder in Mellingham (1993)Description / Buy at Amazon
Double Take (1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
Family Album (1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
Friends and Enemies (2001)Description / Buy at Amazon
A Murderous Innocence (2006)Description / Buy at Amazon
Last Call for Justice (2012)Description / Buy at Amazon
Come About for Murder (2016)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of A Pioneer Valley Mystery Books

Below the Tree Line (2018)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Love Takes a Detour (2013)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

The Readers Guide to the Classic British Mystery (1989)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Anthologies

Undertow(2003)Description / Buy at Amazon
Seasmoke(2006)Description / Buy at Amazon
Quarry: Crime Stories by New England Writers(2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
Writes of Passage(2014)Description / Buy at Amazon
Bloodroot: Best New England Crime Stories(2021)Description / Buy at Amazon
Deadly Nightshade: Best New England Crime Stories 2022(2022)Description / Buy at Amazon

Susan Oleksiw is a renowned American writer of the mystery and thriller genres. She is popular for her two successful mystery series, the Anita Ray series, and the Mellingham series. The former features the chief protagonist in the form of an Indian-American named Anita Ray, while the latter contains the main protagonist in the role of Police Chief Joe Silva. Oleksiw has described Anita Ray as a photographer by profession, who resides in southern India with her aunt and helps her run her tourist hotel. In the Anita Ray books, Oleksiw has described the adventures of the protagonist as she takes the readers into the lesser-known world of the Indian life beyond the main streets and tourist hotel. Author Oleksiw has set the Mellingham novels is a small town called Mellingham in New England. Joe Silva is shown solving mysteries and chasing criminals with the assistance of the quirky residents of the small town.

Other than these two book series, Oleksiw has written extensively in various other genres like crime fiction, suspense, etc. Recently, she has started a new series called A Pioneer Valley Mystery series. Author Oleksiw was born and brought up in New England. She says that she has long been fascinated by the traditional people of New England and the different ways of life found in the region. She was raised in a family that loved telling stories. When Oleksiw was a teenager, she wished to become a writer and her father used to encourage her a lot. During her college, she used to write short stories and attempted to write her first novel in her junior year. However, it turned out to be quite bad. Oleksiw was not discouraged by the initial failure and continued to work towards improving her writing skills. Following her graduation, Oleksiw worked for various jobs to earn a livelihood and pay her bills, but writing novels was always at the back of her mind.

In the 1990s, Oleksiw gave a start to her writing career with the Mellingham series. She created and introduced her first lead protagonist, Joe Silva, through this series. Joe Silva is shown going through various ups & downs in his personal and professional lives. He starts as a bachelor and goes on to become a step-father to a son, whom he teaches various tricks to save his life in a troublesome situation. Author Oleksiw resided in India once in 1976 and then again in the 80s. She used to experience living in India to create the character of her second protagonist Anita Ray. In addition to featuring Anita Ray in her second novel series, Oleksiw made her appear in numerous short stories later. Oleksiw’s latest book series and various short stories are set in the West Woodbury community. She has shown the people of this community as owning small farms. During the 30s and 40s, Oleksiw’s parents used to own a dairy farm. Later, they bought a tiny farm and rented its fields to a local peasant.

Oleksiw’s ancestors on her mother’s side have lived on farms for around 200 years. This is the reason why farmers and farming have been an integral part of her world. However, Oleksiw had never thought that she would end up writing about them one day. Oleksiw’s short stories have featured in numerous anthologies and several well known literary magazines such as the Alfred Hitchcock magazine. In 1988, Oleksiw co-founded a publishing company called Level Best Books. This company publishes anthologies annually that comprise of the crime fiction of New England. Other than her writing commitments, Oleksiw has published a manuscript in 1988 and co-edited another one in 1999. Author Oleksiw has several side interests and one of them is photography. She has filled her personal website with numerous photos, including the ones from her tour of India, showcasing her talent in photography. Prior to beginning her career in the literary field, Oleksiw obtained a Ph.D. in the subject of Asian Studies from Pennsylvania University.

The Anita Ray series written by author Susan Oleksiw is comprised of a total of 4 books released between 2010 and 2016. This series features a professional photographer named Anita Ray as the central character. Anita is an Indian-American, who lives with her aunt in south India. They both manage a hotel together. The other essential characters mentioned in this series include Aunt Meena and several others. This series’ debut is entitled ‘Under the Eye of Kali’. It was released in 2010 by Five Star publication. Initially, it is depicted that Aunt Meena owns a seaside hotel in southern India called Hotel Delite and Anita Ray helps her run and manage the place. But, when trouble falls on a couple of American tourists staying at the cozy hotel, Anita decides to take it upon herself to solve the matter. Her investigation reveals that the tourists worked as nurses and one of them was involved in smuggling medical supplies to the black market across the country. Anita knows that her sleuthing is going to take her into the dangerous world of smugglers and drug dealers. But, she puts aside her fears and keeps investigating to find out why one of the nurses was killed. She finds the key to her questions as well as a clue to revealing the murderer’s identity in one of her photographs.

The second volume of the series is known as ‘The Wrath of Shiva’. It was also published by the Five Star/Gale publication in 2012. This novel opens by depicting that a family waits for the arrival of their granddaughter on an estate alongside a quiet river in Kerala. The family starts worrying when the granddaughter doesn’t appear and doesn’t even receive or make calls. As Anita Ray’s is related to the grandmother of the girl as a close relative, she accompanies Aunt Meena to meet the grandmother and comfort her. Anita is approached by a maidservant, who tells her that Goddess Devi is angry at the family and has punished them in this manner. The maidservant also says that the girl is not coming back ever. This frightens the family even more and forces them to call an astrologer to perform an exorcism. Anita Ray feels something is not right and she begins to investigate the lives of the maidservant, the astrologer, and his associates. In her investigation, she finds that numerous family antiques have disappeared in the past. This book takes the readers into Kerala’s little-known world and gets them acquainted with the South Indian city’s sacred groves, gods, devotees, exorcists, and the treasures that are scattered all over the Indian landscape.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Susan Oleksiw

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