Anne Wingate (Martha Anne Guice Wingate) (September 4, 1943 – September 2, 2021) wrote multiple mystery series, including one of my all-time favorites. Under the name Lee Martin, she created the memorable character of Deb Ralston, a detective on the Fort Worth police force, with three adopted children, an unexpected first pregnancy at 42, and a husband in career crisis.

Finding information about Wingate herself is challenging because she did not consistently use the same name. Newspaper articles show that she was active in the Utah writing community, appearing at conferences and workshops. Wikipedia cites a number of references under the name Anne Wingate. The only obituary I could find is on the Neptune Society website: https://neptunesociety.com/obituaries/salt-lake-city-ut/martha-wingate-10336104

One of the threads throughout the 13 Ralston books published between 1984 and 1997 is Deb’s discovery of and eventual conversion to the Church of the Latter-Day Saints. Since Wingate is an adult convert to the LDS church, it’s easy to believe there’s a degree of autobiography in these stories. Each book discusses church beliefs to a greater degree than the previous one. I read in a discussion on the venerable mystery discussion list DorothyL that her interest in wrapping the church into her mysteries led to a parting of the ways between her and her long-time publisher St. Martin’s Press. The last book in the series was produced by Bookcraft, a Mormon publisher that was eventually acquired by Deseret Book Publishing, another LDS firm.

The third book in the series Murder at the Blue Owl (St. Martin’s Press, 1988) only hints at a church in which Deb has become interested. Deb and her husband Harry are spending the weekend with her childhood friend Fara and her mother, whom Deb remembers with great warmth. Margali Bowman was a much-married Hollywood film actress in the 1940s but her fame is well behind her and she’s Marjorie Lang of Fort Worth, Texas, now. Deb and Fara had drifted apart over the years and Deb is surprised to be invited to a weekend birthday party for Margali.

Deb is more than sad to find that Margali is drinking heavily and seems to be developing some form of dementia. Fara has married an unappealing man who is unkind to her and to their two daughters. Jimmy Messick, Margali’s son, is antic and Deb wonders if he is taking illicit drugs. A psychiatrist that Deb knows through her work is a member of the party and Deb wonders if she’s there for Margali or for Jimmy. The events of the weekend mostly involve viewing Margali’s old films, and Deb is looking forward to going home.

When the lights go on after a Margali double feature ends, Fara finds her mother unresponsive and it only takes a few minutes for the group to realize that she is dead. Deb finds blood on the back of Margali’s head and knows to call for a homicide unit. Only members of Margali’s birthday party and the projectionist were on hand in the small theatre Margali rented for the showing, creating a closed circle of suspects.

Deb would prefer to let someone else handle the case, but her department is perennially understaffed and her boss believes her familiarity with the personalities will be helpful.

Poisoned Diet Cokes, missing wills, questions about inheritances, along with Margali’s earlier assertion to Deb that someone in the house was trying to kill her all complicate her investigation. She learned enough to wonder about the deaths of a couple of Margali’s earlier husbands and decided she had to look into them as well. Wingate was originally a crime scene investigator so the narrative is imbued with authenticity.  

Deb’s interactions with her scatterbrained teenage son punctuate a thoroughly professional procedural with humor.

The entire series is out of print but can be found in the secondary market.