Charlotte MacLeod facts for kids

Charlotte MacLeod (born November 12, 1922 – died January 14, 2005) was a Canadian-American writer. She was famous for her many mystery fiction books.

A Writer's Life

Charlotte Matilda MacLeod was born in 1922 in Bath, New Brunswick, Canada. When she was just a baby, her family moved to the United States in 1923. She later became a US citizen in 1951.

Charlotte went to the Art Institute of Boston to study. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, she worked as a copywriter. This means she wrote advertisements for Stop & Shop Supermarkets in Boston.

Later, she joined an advertising agency called N. H. Miller & Company. She was very good at her job and became a vice president there. She retired from this job in 1982.

Writing Her Stories

Even while working at the advertising company, Charlotte MacLeod started writing mystery books. She ended up publishing over 30 novels! Many of her stories are set in New England.

One popular series features a university professor named Peter Shandy. Another series is about a couple, Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn, who live in Beacon Hill. She also wrote mysteries set in Canada. For these books, she used a different name, called a pen name, which was Alisa Craig.

Charlotte MacLeod wrote her books in a style called "cozy mystery." This means her stories usually avoid a lot of violence. Instead, they are often funny and clever. Her books feature main characters, called protagonists, that readers can easily like. They also have many interesting and sometimes quirky side characters.

Her books were very popular, selling over one million copies. People in the United States, Canada, and Japan enjoyed her stories.

Awards and Recognition

Charlotte MacLeod was a co-founder of the American Crime Writers League. She even served as its president. In 1987, she won a special honor called the Nero Award for her book The Corpse in Oozak's Pond. This book was also nominated for another important award, the Edgar Award.

In 1998, she received the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement. This award recognized her long and successful career in mystery writing.

How She Wrote

Charlotte MacLeod had a special routine for writing. She would start writing at 6 a.m. every day and continue through the morning. The afternoons were for making changes and improving her stories. She only started new books on Sundays.

People described her as a "true lady" who often wore a hat and white gloves. But when she was writing, she would stay in her bathrobe. This helped her avoid the temptation to leave the house for errands and focus on her stories.

Charlotte MacLeod spent her last years living in Maine. She passed away on January 14, 2005, at the age of 82.

Awards and Nominations

Charlotte MacLeod received several awards and nominations for her mystery novels.

• Nero Award (1 win)
• Edgar Allan Poe Award (2 nominations)
• American Mystery Awards (5 wins)
• Bouchercon XXIII Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1986 Anthony award nomination for Best Novel, The Plain Old Man
• 1992 Anthony award nomination for Best Short Story Collection, Christmas Stalkings: Tales of Yuletide Murder
• Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award