Marion Foster (writer)

Marion Foster was the pen name of Shirley Shea (1924 - 1997), a Canadian writer of mystery novels.[1]

Marion Foster
Born	Shirley Shea 1924 Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Died	1997
Occupation	mystery writer
Nationality	Canadian
Period	1980s-1990s
Notable works	The Monarchs Are Flying, Legal Tender
Spouse	Betty Burrows

Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario,[2] Shea served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II and subsequently worked in radio and advertising in Toronto.[2] In the 1960s she met Betty Burrows, who would be her partner for the remainder of her life.[3] The couple retired to Chatsworth in the 1980s,[2] at which time Shea began writing.

She published the novel Victims: A Pound of Flesh in 1986 under her own name,[4] and then published two novels under the pen name Marion Foster.[5] The Foster novels centred on Harriet Fordham Croft, a lesbian lawyer turned private investigator.[2] The novels, described by critics as reminiscent of Raymond Chandler,[6] were also influenced by Shea's interest in feminist literature.[2]

She died in 1997.

Works

• Victims: A Pound of Flesh (1986, as Shirley Shea)
• The Monarchs Are Flying (1987, as Marion Foster)
• Legal Tender (1992, as Marion Foster)

References

1. Judith Markowitz, The Gay Detective Novel: Lesbian and Gay Main Characters and Themes in Mystery Fiction. McFarland & Company, 2004. ISBN 9780786482771.
2. David Skene-Melvin, Investigating Women: Female Detectives by Canadian Writers: An Eclectic Sampler. Dundurn Press, 1995. ISBN 9781459725430.
3. "Oral History with Betty Burrows & Shirley Shea, 1987". Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives.
4. "The Thrill Killers: The rise of 'recreational murderers' is a new North American phenomenon". Montreal Gazette, March 15, 1986.
5. "Author mishandles sensitive subjects". Windsor Star, June 11, 1988.
6. "Dames, dolls and detectives". Toronto Star, July 25, 1992.