Andrea Hummel
Mystery fans will certainly recognize the name Donis Casey, author of the Alafair Tucker mysteries. Casey has twice won the Arizona Book Award, been a finalist for the Willa Award, and has been a seven-time finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award. Now local fans can meet her in person following the February Friends of the Library meeting.
The FOL meeting will take place Feb. 12 at 9 a.m. in their new location, Room 4 in the Education Building of the United Methodist Church. The meeting generally runs about an hour and is open to the public. Casey will be speaking immediately afterwards, around 10 a.m.
Although Ms. Casey was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she has lived with her husband in Tempe for the past 20 years. She graduated from the University of Tulsa with a Master’s Degree in Library Science, taught school for a short time, and then worked as an academic librarian at both the University of Oklahoma and Arizona State University.
Fans of Casey’s work have especially enjoyed the nine volumes in the Alafair Tucker series. These books follow an Oklahoma family and are set in about the year 1900. The series begins with The Old Buzzard Had It Coming and, most recently, a spin-off, The Wrong Girl, in which one of Alafair’s daughters runs off to Hollywood in 1920.
Casey is a soft-spoken lady who has translated her family’s and Oklahoma’s history into very enjoyable reads. There is no charge for this program, but Casey will have copies of her books for sale, cash or check only.