Author Archives: Charlene DAvanzo

About Charlene DAvanzo

I'm a marine ecology/college professor who never, ever thought I'd write fiction. That assumption changed in an instant as I listened to another scientist - a climatologist named Ray Bradley at UMass, Amherst - describe being harassed by climate change deniers. The idea to write mysteries with climate change understories to help readers understand what's happening to our climate in the context of a fast-paced exciting story came to me out of nowhere. That's what I do in my "Maine Oceanographer Mara Tusconi" series.

“Every Body Leaves A Trace”

Posted on January 20, 2020

“The Nature of Life and Death: Every Body Leaves A Trace”—now that’s a book for mystery writers. And the subtitle “Tales of A Forensic Ecologist” certainly got this ecologist’s attention. Author Patricia Wiltshire is a botanist and palynologist who identifies … Continue reading →

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Life Lessons For The New Year

Posted on December 27, 2019

Need inspiration as we begin the 2020 decade? Help could be in the holiday books lying around the house. For those who celebrate Christmas the list starts, of course, with A Christmas Carol. Dickens had recently visited the Field Lane … Continue reading →

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Time for Thanksgiving – and Crime.

Posted on November 29, 2019

Ah, the week of Thanksgiving. Time for family, friends, food—and crime? It’s true. According to the Journal of Criminal Justice “Crimes of expressive violence were significantly more prevalent on major holidays ….” (2003, vol. 31, pages 351-360). Sad to say, … Continue reading →

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Walter Mosley on Writing Fiction

Posted on October 28, 2019

Last week Walter Mosley’s “Elements of Fiction” appeared on my library’s new book display. Delighted, I nabbed it. Mosley is best known for his hard-boiled Easy Rollins series that features a black Los Angeles PI. Maine crime writers will remember … Continue reading →

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Posted on September 27, 2019

Today I finished the first edits of book four in my Oceanographer Mara Tusconi mystery series. So it’s time to kick back and celebrate with a glass of wine, right? Alas, not at all. As any author knows very well, … Continue reading →

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On Semicolons

Posted on August 29, 2019

Get a handful of writers together and ask them about punctuation—not an unreasonable request—and I guarantee someone will harp about semicolons before long. They wouldn’t be alone. While proper use of punctuation makes a lot of people nervous, the semicolon … Continue reading →

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For The Love Of Libraries

Posted on July 30, 2019

This summer I’ve talked about “my transformation from professor to cli-fi mystery writer” in several Maine libraries with more to come. Being not-from-here, this has given me the opportunity to visit little towns I never knew existed. There are about … Continue reading →

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