I had a short story published, both a publisher and an agent got in touch with me and asked me if I was working on anything longer. As she told me for a Black Mystery Writer Roundtable I conducted for the Los Angeles Review of Books, “I did not set out to write a mystery. In fact, the character of Blanche herself was born in a short story. She was also a known short story writer, including being published in magazines like Essence. According to a 2015 Washington Post profile, Neely’s background included a master’s degree in Urban Planning (she also has one in creative writing), work as a journalist and radio talk show host and designing Pennsylvania’s first community-based woman’s correctional facility. She brought a lifetime of experiences and activism to her writing. Though she was new to crime fiction, Neely wasn’t some young, naive wunderkind when she published her debut in 1992 with St. Woods won the Macavity in 2000 and I won the Anthony in 2018.)
(Sujata Massey won the Agatha Award in 1997, Paula L. It would be years before another woman of color won those same awards. The first in the series, Blanche on the Lam, won the 1992 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, 1993 Anthony Award for Best First Novel and the 1993 Macavity Award for Best First Novel.
Although it wouldn’t be a long relationship-lasting just four books over eight years-it would most definitely be a memorable one, especially for readers and a generation of black mystery writers. This was our first introduction Blanche White. If anything the house-and its occupants-should be worried about her. Even though we don’t see her face, we can tell she’s not intimidated. She faces a house, one that would be at home on a Southern plantation. It features the back of a dark skinned black woman in an orange dress, with her hair up and her hand on her hip. And the original cover for Neely’s groundbreaking debut, Blanche on the Lam, definitely tells you all you need to know. Long before #BlackGirlMagic became a thing, a black mystery writer named Barbara Neely was showing the crime fiction community how it’s done.Īs many writers will tell you-even if takes them awhile to admit it-you can in fact judge a book by its cover.
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