McCRUMB, Sharyn

(1948-)

   US writer, in most of whose titles detective plots intersect with fantasy and/or sfmaterial,though her first novel to invoke these genres, Bimbos of theDeath Sun: Murder Most Fun at the Ultimate Fantasy Con (1987),a RECURSIVE tale set at an sf convention, does not actuallyturn into sf, and the first of theJay Omega sequence. What is most remarkable about the book, for the sf reader, maybe SMcC's intimate understanding of fans and writers and their typical interactions, aknowledgeability which also marks Zombies of the Gene Pool (1992), in which sf writer Jay Omega - in real life James Mega, aprofessor of engineering - visits another convention, and becomes embroiled in ancient sf scandals; there may be some roman a clefmoments in the text. Of her other novels, The Hangman's BeautifulDaughter (1992) and She Walks These Hills (1994) both have fantasy elements.

   JC