Mariah Fredericks

Mariah Fredericks was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives today with her family. She is a graduate of Vassar College with a BA in history. She has written several novels for young adults; her novel Crunch Time was nominated for an Edgar in 2007.

Fredericks's new book is A Death of No Importance, her first mystery for adults.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

Confession: I am a book slut. I flit from read to read, and it’s rare I read just one book all the way through. I read a lot for research, so I always have a fiction and non-fiction going. And usually one re-read.

My mystery series is set in 1910s New York, so when Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919, Mike Wallace’s follow up to his magisterial Gotham, came out, I went straight to the bookstore and told them to bring it up from the stockroom. I could say I’m reading this book, but it’s more like I’m married to it. This is what my copy looks like [image left].

You want to know which blocks Irish immigrants in the building trade lived on? Wallace will tell you. You want to know when Sophie Tucker gave up black face and why? The Italian experience of the ILGWU? Wallace will tell you. And he writes beautifully. If he ever felt less than enthralled by any aspect of the city’s history, I would never know.

For fiction, I’m reading The New York Stories of Edith Wharton. It’s easy to get distracted by the bustles and beaver hats with a turn-of-the-century author. But even after decades of reading Wharton, I’m amazed at her witty, compassionate take on the intersections of sentiment and commerce, especially in the lives of New Yorkers. In the first story, “Mrs. Manstey’s View,” a lonely woman faces a crisis when her neighbor’s extension threatens her beloved view. What does the fragile, genteel lady do? She burns down the damn extension. Now that’s a New Yorker.

My re-read for this month was Presumed Innocent—so good on the jagged edges of human nature and how we torment one another. It has aged less well in some of its stereotypes, which Turow acknowledges but doesn’t entirely fix with the sequel, Innocent.

Finally, at my 11 year old’s recommendation, I’m reading Marvel Comics’ Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Which is every bit as wonderful as the title would suggest.

Visit Mariah Fredericks's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Girl in the Park.

The Page 69 Test: A Death of No Importance.

--Marshal Zeringue