In 1986, women wrote 40 percent of the mystery books published and received 15 percent of the reviews in The New York Times. Figuring discrimination against women in the mystery field was downright criminal, a group of authors founded Sisters in Crime “to raise awareness of the contributions of female authors, and to promote the professional advancement of women who write mysteries.”
Today, the national Sisters in Crime organization has more than 3,600 members (men and women), including 200 in the New England chapter — authors, readers, publishers, agents, booksellers and librarians bound by a passion for the mystery genre.
On Saturday, five local members of Sisters in Crime New England will be at the Jones Library in Amherst for “Murder By the Minute,”an event (also happening all over New England) in which the authors will read brief excerpts from their works-in-progress. Participants include Dusty Miller, M.E. Kemp, Leslie Wheeler, Carol Goodman Kaufman and Lisa Lieberman.