What makes an exceptional mystery writer? Years of practice, no doubt, along with curiosity and a keen mind. For many crime fiction authors, though, there are other factors at play. We all know you can’t be a successful writer without first working as a linguistics professor. And virtually every accomplished author has past experience as a doula. Right?
Maybe not…but that’s certainly the case with Agatha Award-winning author, Sisters in Crime New England member, and former SinCNE president Edith Maxwell. Edith, whose most recent book A CHANGING LIGHT – the seventh Quaker Midwife Mystery – published this past April – is an exceptional mystery writer, but she’s also had a variety of other careers, each more interesting than the next. Prior to writing fiction, Edith taught English in 
Japan, wrote software manuals, earned a doctorate in linguistics, worked in early speech recognition, and ran a small organic farm – not necessarily in that order. As if that wasn’t enough, at various points in her life Edith also held a job as a car mechanic, taught childbirth classes, and provided independent editing services.
Today, writing mysteries is Edith’s only paying gig, but by the time she became a published author she had explored more than half a dozen vastly different careers. And she was about to put all that experience to good use.
“I brought linguistics into the two Lauren Rousseau books,” Edith explains. “My Local Foods Series is set on an organic farm with a protagonist who used to be a software engineer. The childbirth work informs the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries.” In other words, Edith’s past careers became fodder for her books. What’s more, Edith once wrote a proposal for a cozy series featuring a female car mechanic who only works on cars made before they had computers in them. “I still want to write that series one day!” she says.
Also useful to Edith was the fact that many of her previous careers involved writing, as this kept her “immersed in producing the written word.” Edith says, “My academic research skills stand me well when I need to dig into the internet or look up historical facts. My various kinds of teaching made me comfortable in front of a group, always a valuable skill for a published author.”
So what led Edith, already proficient in so many fields, to a career as an award-winning and bestselling author? Quite simply, she adored mysteries. “I love reading cozy and traditional mysteries with female sleuths and decided to try writing one,” she says. “My first published novel, SPEAKING OF MURDER, was also the first I completed, and it features a Quaker linguistic professor” (Edith notes that she’s been a Quaker for most of her adult life).
If ever Edith needs to tap into expertise she doesn’t have (given her breadth of knowledge, those moments are likely few and far between), she turns to family and friends. “I've never worked as a chef and I've never owned a bike shop,” she says, referencing her Country Store Mysteries and Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, “but hey, that's what sons and chef-friends are for, right?”
So perhaps the answer to the question of what makes a brilliant and prolific mystery writer is experience: work experience, life experience, and the ability to distill these into compelling stories. That’s certainly the case with Edith Maxwell – and that’s what this column is all about. In the months to come, I’ll be unearthing authors’ previous careers and exploring how past jobs shape their work as writers.
In the meantime, watch for Edith’s NO GRATER CRIME, Country Store Mystery #9, coming at the end of August, along with MURDER AT THE LOBSTAH SHACK, Cozy Capers Book Group #3, which releases in November.
Readers: What occupation or life experience would you like to see included in the next mystery you read?
Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Local Foods Mysteries, and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she pens the Country Store Mysteries and Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. A past president of Sisters in Crime New England, she’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and a lifetime member of Sisters in Crime.
A fourth-generation Californian, Maxwell lives with her beau and energetic kitten north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook. Find her (and Maddie) at EdithMaxwell.com, wickedauthors.com, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and on social media.
Tessa Wegert is the author of the Shana Merchant series of mysteries, which includes DEATH IN THE FAMILY and THE DEAD SEASON. A former freelance journalist, Tessa’s work has appeared in Forbes, The Huffington Post, Adweek, and The Economist. She grew up in Quebec and now lives with her husband and children in Coastal Connecticut. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and sign up for her monthly newsletter.