Eighteen

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Let me tell you about Jan Burke.

I remember thinking sometime during the early 1990s that the baby boom had finally hit the mystery field. Each month brought a crop of new young writers to publishers’ lists, people I’d never heard of and probably would never read. When Jan Burke’s first novel about reporter Irene Kelly, Goodnight, Irene, appeared in 1993 it caused barely a ripple on my consciousness. Even when it was nominated for both the Agatha and Anthony Awards that year I didn’t feel the need to read it. There were too many other books and too little time for them all.

My opinion began to change the following year when Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine published her small gem of a story called “Unharmed,” which promptly won that magazine’s annual Readers Award. While publishing a new Irene Kelly novel each year, Jan was also turning up with increasing frequency in magazines, anthologies and limited editions. One story, “A Fine Set of Teeth,” was unique in having an audio version read by the author with music by her husband Tim Burke. It was the first Irene Kelly short story and I found it a delightful mixture of music and mystery, with some very funny musician jokes along the way.

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