Eleanor Taylor Bland was a pioneering author of police procedural mysteries who made a mark on the mystery world with her Marti MacAlister series. She not only made a mark with her books, Eleanor Taylor Bland inspired and guided unpublished mystery authors in fulfilling their dreams of being published. Her work with new authors and the mystery writing communities inspired the creation of the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award from the Sisters in Crime organization.

Eleanor's mystery series is based around the life of police detective Marti MacAlister. In each of the 13 books in the series, Marti MacAlister deals with the crime in a small midwestern town. Besides the challenge of finding the person or persons responsible for the crime, Marti MacAlister manages the obstacles faced by an African American female police detective in a world where the norm is white males. Marti MacAlister and her partner detective Matthew 'Vik' Jessenovik work together to solve crime and they also provide an interesting dynamic between cultures. One aspect of Eleanor Taylor Bland 's mysteries is that her main character has a full family life. Often in mysteries, the family life of the detective / sleuth is minimized to justify the hours needed to track the criminal.

Before her death, Eleanor Taylor Bland wrote 13 books.

1. Dead Time (1992)
2. Slow Burn (1993)
3. Gone Quiet (1994)
4. Done Wrong (1995)
5. Keep Still (1996)
6. See No Evil (1998)
7. Tell No Tales (1999)
8. Scream in Silence (2000)
9. Whispers in the Dark (2001)
10. Windy City Dying (2002)
11. Fatal Remains (2003)
12. A Cold and Silent Dying (2004)
13. A Dark and Deadly Deception (2005)

Eleanor Taylor Bland also edited "Shades of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African-American Writers". This anthology is a great place to start on your journey to discover mystery and crime stories written by black people.

Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award

Diverse Authors: Frankie's List