CATHERINE
MOLONEY

I was born in Ikom, Nigeria (where my parents were missionaries) and come from a Liverpool medical family, but am not a doctor of medicine.  My first degree was in Jurisprudence from Jesus College Oxford and I was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn, however was always much more interested in English; this led to a PhD in English Literature at London’s Birkbeck College.  My doctoral thesis – Pulmonary Consumption: A Shadow on the Lung of the Victorian Psyche – explored the curse-and-cachet of tuberculosis in the nineteenth century (with particular reference to the works of George Eliot and Henry James).  Despite this unerring focus on the Victorian cult of the Bona Mors, I somehow managed to avoid contracting galloping hypochondria and went on to publish on a variety of subjects.  I was awarded the 2002 Oleg Zinam Award for Best Essay in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies for “advancing dialogue across geographical, disciplinary and denominational boundaries, successfully bridging facts and values, knowledge and faith, science and religion…affirming transcendental values and faith” (William and Henry James: Towards Literary Liberalisation of the Professions).  Lest this suggests that my output falls exclusively sub specie aeternitatis, I should point out that I equally enjoy the secular mode.

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With such a wide-ranging career history, I have no doubt acquired an enormous breadth of ignorance! English was always my first love, however, and I feel that I have now found my niche. My crime fiction includes twenty-one titles in the Detective Markham series (published by Joffe Books), with Crime in the Salon my most recent instalment. Crime in the Tower and Crime in the Park are on the way.