{{Short description|American writer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}} {{Infobox writer | image = Susan wittig albert 2007.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Wittig Albert at the 2007 [[Texas Book Festival]] | pseudonym = Robin Paige, Carolyn Keene | birth_name = | birth_place = [[Vermilion County, Illinois]], U.S. | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|Year|Month|Day|Year|Month|Day}} --> | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Novelist | language = | nationality = | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = [[Danville High School (Illinois)|Danville High School]]<br>[[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]]<br>[[University of California, Berkeley]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]]) | alma_mater = | period = | genre = [[Mystery fiction|Mystery]] | subject = | movement = | notableworks = ''China Bayles'' Mysteries | spouse = Bill Albert | partner = | children = 3 | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = {{URL|susanalbert.com}} }} '''Susan Wittig Albert''', also known by the [[pen name]]s '''Robin Paige''' and '''Carolyn Keene''',<ref name=GWMW>{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/greatwomenmyster00lind/page/n18 7] |title=Great Women Mystery Writers |url=https://archive.org/details/greatwomenmyster00lind |url-access=limited |edition=2nd |first=Elizabeth Blakesley |last=Lindsay |date=2007 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-33428-3}}</ref> is an [[Americans|American]] [[Mystery fiction|mystery]] writer from [[Vermilion County, Illinois]], United States. Albert was an academic and the first female vice president of [[Southwest Texas State University]] before retiring to become a fulltime writer.<ref name=bestjob />
==Early life and education== Albert grew up in downstate Illinois, attending [[Danville High School (Illinois)|Danville High School]] before moving to the nearby community of [[Bismarck, Illinois|Bismarck]], where she graduated. She earned a degree from the [[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign]] and a [[Ph.D.]] in English from the [[University of California, Berkeley]].
== Educational career ==
She became a professor of English at the [[University of Texas, Austin]] and was a university administrator at [[Sophie Newcomb College]] in [[New Orleans]] and vice president for academic affairs at Southwest Texas State University.<ref name=GWMW/> She also writes a column for ''Country Living Gardener'' magazine.
== Writing career == Albert began writing young adult books in 1983, publishing as Susan Blake. In 1985, she was hired to write [[Nancy Drew]] books as [[Carolyn Keene]]. She also published two [[Hardy Boys]] books.<ref name=thyme>{{cite web | website=Place & Thyme | date=August 21, 2023 | title=How I Got to be Carolyn Keene When I Grew Up | last=Albert | first=Susan Wittig | url=https://susanwittigalbert.substack.com/p/bookscapes-1| access-date=August 21, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | newspaper=Journal Gazette (Mattoon, Illinois) | date=September 23, 2008 | page=9 | title=National best-selling mystery author to visit Marshall | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77111955/susan-wittig-albert-carolyn-keene/ | access-date=May 5, 2021}}</ref>
Albert began the China Bayles series in 1991.<ref name=thyme /> Her first China Bayles novel was ''Thyme of Death''. The book was nominated for two national mystery awards, the 1992 [[Agatha Award|Agatha]] award and the [[1993 Anthony Award|1993 Anthony]] award in the "Best First Novel" category.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.malicedomestic.org/agathaawards_past.html |title=Malice Domestic Convention - Bethesda, MD |publisher=Malicedomestic.org |date=August 23, 1988 |access-date=April 3, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412020049/http://www.malicedomestic.org/agathaawards_past.html |archive-date=April 12, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bouchercon.info/nominees.html |title=Bouchercon World Mystery Convention: Anthony Awards Nominees |publisher=Bouchercon.info |date=October 2, 2003 |access-date=April 3, 2012}}</ref>
The titles of all the China Bayles novels include the names of [[herb]]s and include herbal themes that invoke the title. Albert is a guest speaker at both herbal clubs and women's groups around the country. She describes her books as "cozy mysteries" because they do not contain much violence or gratuitous behavior.
Albert and her husband, Bill,<ref>[http://www.mysterypartners.com/ ''Partners in Crime HQ''] (official site)</ref> have also co-written ''The Robin Paige Victorian Mysteries'', a series of a dozen mysteries set in the late [[Victorian era]]. Albert is also the author of ''The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter'', a series of mysteries featuring author [[Beatrix Potter]].
== Personal life == Albert has three children.<ref name=bestjob>{{cite news | newspaper=Chicago Tribune | date=September 27, 1992 | page=79 | title='Best' job may be found by walking out the office door | last=Kleiman | first=Carol | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108545568/susan-wittig-albert-children/}}</ref> She lives on a 31-acre plot of land in the [[Texas Hill Country]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://susanalbert.com/ |title=Susan Wittig Albert NYT Bestselling Author |access-date=August 29, 2022}}</ref>
==Bibliography== {{Library resources box|about=no|by=yes}} ===Fiction=== * ''A Wilder Rose'' (2013) - The story of [[Rose Wilder Lane]], daughter of [[Laura Ingalls Wilder]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Albert |first=Susan Wittig |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780989203500 |title=A wilder rose |date=2013 |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-9892035-0-0}}</ref> * ''Loving Eleanor'' (2016)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vanda |date=2016-01-31 |title='Loving Eleanor' by Susan Wittig Albert |url=https://lambdaliteraryreview.org/2016/01/loving-eleanor-by-susan-wittig-albert/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=Lambda Literary Review |language=en-US}}</ref> * ''The General's Women'' (2017)<ref>{{Cite web |title=The General's Women - Albert, Susan Wittig: 9780989203593 - AbeBooks |url=https://www.abebooks.com/9780989203593/Generals-Women-Albert-Susan-Wittig-098920359X/plp |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=www.abebooks.com |language=en}}</ref>
===The China Bayles mysteries=== The [[China Bayles]] herbal mystery series centers around the title character's deductive reasoning and knowledge as an herbalist and ex-lawyer, who solves murders with her best friend, Ruby Wilcox, owner of a [[New Age]] shop.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Swanson |first1=Jean |first2=Dean |last2=James |title=Killer Books: A Reader's Guide to Exploring the Popular World of Mystery and Suspense |publisher=Berkley Prime Crime |location=New York |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-425-16218-7}}</ref> *''Thyme of Death'' (1992) *''Witches' Bane'' (1993)<ref>{{cite web | title=Witches Bane by Susan Wittig Albert | url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780684196367 }}</ref> *''Hangman's Root'' (1994)<ref>{{cite web | title=Hangman's Root by Susan Wittig Albert | url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780684196770 }}</ref> *''Rosemary Remembered'' (1995)<ref>{{cite web | title=Rosemary Remember by Susan Wittig Albert | website=PublishersWeekly.com | url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780425149379 | access-date=2025-08-27}}</ref> *''Rueful Death'' (1996)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rueful Death (China Bayles, book 5) by Susan Wittig Albert |url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/susan-wittig-albert/rueful-death.htm |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=www.fantasticfiction.com}}</ref> *''Love Lies Bleeding'' (1997)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Love Lies Bleeding by Susan Wittig Albert |url=https://www.biblio.com/love-lies-bleeding-by-susan-wittig-albert/work/61307?srsltid=AfmBOoo8f_UIGbpdKOOJP0Jy8tcaOcFbBSvgdXbHXlm2cTySnDluO6ZI |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=www.biblio.com}}</ref> *''Chile Death'' (1998)<ref>{{cite web | title=Chile Death | website=Books Tell You Why, Inc. | url=https://www.bookstellyouwhy.com/pages/books/16030/susan-wittig-albert/chile-death-1st-edition-1st-printing | access-date=2025-08-27}}</ref> *''Lavender Lies'' (1999)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bayles |first=China |url=https://cmc.marmot.org/Record/.b14718868 |title=Lavender lies: a China Bayles mystery}}</ref> *''Mistletoe Man'' (2000)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mistletoe Man (China Bayles, book 9) by Susan Wittig Albert |url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/susan-wittig-albert/mistletoe-man.htm |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=www.fantasticfiction.com}}</ref> *''Bloodroot'' (2001)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bloodroot (China Bayles, book 10) by Susan Wittig Albert |url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/susan-wittig-albert/bloodroot.htm |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=www.fantasticfiction.com}}</ref> *''Indigo Dying'' (2003) *''An Unthymely Death (Short Story Collection)'' (2003) *''A Dilly of a Death'' (2004) *''Dead Man's Bones'' (2005) *''Bleeding Hearts'' (2006) *''The China Bayles Book of Days (365 Celebrations of the Mystery, Myth, and Magic of Herbs)'' (2006) *''Spanish Dagger'' (2007) *''Nightshade'' (2008) *''Wormwood'' (2009) *''Holly Blues'' (2010) *''Mourning Gloria'' (2011) *''Cat's Claw'' (2012) *''Widow's Tears'' (2013) *''Death Come Quickly'' (2014) *''Bittersweet'' (2015) *''Blood Orange'' (2016) *''The Last Chance Olive Ranch'' (2017) *''Queen Anne's Lace'' (2018) *''A Plain Vanilla Murder'' (2019) *''Hemlock'' (2021) *''Forget Me Never'' (2024)
====The Pecan Springs ''Enterprise'' trilogy==== The trilogy of novellas features characters from the China Bayles mysteries, focused on reporter Jessica Nelson and the ''Enterprise'' newspaper. *''Deadlines'' (ebook July 7, 2020; omnibus print edition August 18, 2020) *''Fault Lines'' (ebook July 21, 2020; omnibus print edition August 18, 2020) *''Fire Lines'' (ebook August 4, 2020; omnibus print edition August 18, 2020)
====The Crystal Cave trilogy==== The trilogy of novellas features Ruby Wilcox. *''NoBODY'' (2019) *''SomeBODY Else'' (2019) *''Out of BODY'' (2020)
===The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter=== *''The Tale of Hill Top Farm'' (2004) {{ISBN|978-0-425-20101-5}} *''The Tale of Holly How'' (2005) {{ISBN|978-0-425-20274-6}} *''The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood'' (2006) *''The Tale of Hawthorn House'' (2007) *''The Tale of Briar Bank'' (2008) *''The Tale of Applebeck Orchard'' (2009) *''The Tale of Oat Cake Crag'' (2010) *''The Tale of Castle Cottage'' (2011)
===The Robin Paige Victorian-Edwardian mysteries=== These were co-written with her husband, Bill Albert under the name Robin Paige.
*''Death at Bishop's Keep'' (1994) *''Death at Gallows Green'' (1995) *''Death at Daisy's Folly'' (1997) *''Death at Devil's Bridge'' (1998) *''Death at Rottingdean'' (1999) *''Death at Whitechapel'' (2000) *''Death at Epsom Downs'' (2001) *''Death at Dartmoor'' (2002) *''Death at Glamis Castle'' (2003) *''Death in Hyde Park'' (2004) *''Death at Blenheim Palace'' (2005) *''Death on the Lizard'' (2006)
===The Darling Dahlias mysteries=== Takes place in a fictitious town called Darling, Alabama during the 1930s. Centers on a group of amateur, mystery solving women in a garden club called the Darling Dahlias.
*''The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree'' (2010) *''The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies'' (2011) *''The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose'' (2012) *''The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star'' (2013) *''The Darling Dahlias and the Silver Dollar Bush'' (2014) *''The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'Clock Lady'' (2015) *''The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover'' (2018) *''The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle'' (2018) *''The Darling Dahlias and the Voodoo Lily'' (2020) *''The Darling Dahlias and the Red Hot Poker'' (2022)
===Nonfiction=== *''Work of Her Own: A Woman's Guide to Success off the Career Track'' (1992) {{ISBN|978-0-87477-767-3}} *''Writing From Life: Telling Your Soul's Story'' (1997) {{ISBN|978-0-87477-848-9}} *''Together, Alone: A Memoir of Marriage and Place'' (2007) *''An Extraordinary Year of Ordinary Days'' (2009)
==References== {{Reflist |25em}}
==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.susanalbert.com}} *[http://www.perseveropress.com/ ''Persevero Press: The Home of Susan Wittig Albert's Author-Published Books''] * {{LCAuth|n50014452|Susan Wittig Albert|58|}} * [https://lccn.loc.gov/no94039682 Robin Paige] at LC Authorities, with 11 records, and [https://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-no94039682 at WorldCat] * {{ISFDB name|7148}}
{{Nancy Drew}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albert, Susan Wittig}} [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American mystery writers]] [[Category:Writers from Illinois]] [[Category:Stratemeyer Syndicate]] [[Category:Novelists from Texas]] [[Category:People from Vermilion County, Illinois]] [[Category:UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni]] [[Category:University of Texas at Austin faculty]] [[Category:Tulane University faculty]] [[Category:Texas State University faculty]] [[Category:People from Burnet County, Texas]] [[Category:20th-century American novelists]] [[Category:21st-century American novelists]] [[Category:21st-century American women novelists]] [[Category:American women mystery writers]] [[Category:20th-century American women novelists]] [[Category:Novelists from Illinois]] [[Category:Novelists from Louisiana]] [[Category:American women academics]] [[Category:University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni]]