MARY MONICA FERRIS
By Bob Reiss From the Re-Echo, Fall 2005

Mary Monica Ferris is a prolific mystery writer.  She is currently writing a series of books about middle-aged Betsy Devonshire, who lives in Excelsior and owns a needle shop. Mary Monica's current book is in the fourth in a series and entitled Embroidered Truths.

Mary Monica is the pen name of a long time local resident named Mary Kerfeld.  She moved to the Park from Madison, Wisconsin.  She volunteers at the St. Louis Park public schools, talking about writing mystery stories and sometimes about life in medieval England.  She also works with WRR, a group that rescues injured and orphaned wildlife.  Her particular favorites are crows.

Mary has written more than 15 mysteries and has used several noms de plume. Her first series was the Peter Britcher series she wrote as Mary Monica Pulver.  With coauthor Gail Frazer, they wrote six historical fiction novels as Margaret Frazer.  When she was asked by an editor to write a series about a needleworking sleuth who lived in a small town, she picked the name Mary Monica Ferris.  Ferris was picked because of the Ferris wheel that was in the former Excelsior Amusement Park.

In an interview, Mary Monica was asked about the local writing community.  Her reply was, "I have never known a place with so concentrated a collection of writers.  And it is not like we are all writing mysteries - there is some of every kind.  Maybe it's in the water."  (We know about that!)

Other novels in the Betsy Devonshire series:

A Stitch in Time

Crewel World

Unraveled Sleeve

Framed in Lace


 

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.