Margaret Fenton was born in Florence, Alabama, and grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Ocean Springs. She received her B.A. in English from the Newcomb College of Tulane University in New Orleans, and her Master of Social Work from Tulane. She worked in Children's Mental Health for fourteen years before becoming a writer. Hence, her work tends to reflect her interest in social causes and mental health, especially where kids are concerned. She has been a planning coordinator of the mystery conference, Murder in the Magic City, since its inception in 2003. Margaret lives in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover with her husband, a retired software developer, and their three adorable Papillons.
Margaret's series featuring child welfare social worker, Claire Conover, includes Little Lamb Lost, Little Girl Gone, and the most recent installment, Little White Lies, in which the office of Black mayoral candidate, Dr. Marcus Freedman, is bombed. While Marcus is found safe, his campaign manager, Jason O'Dell, is discovered dead in the rubble. Claire's office gets a call about Jason's daughter, Maddie, who was left in daycare and becomes Claire's latest charge as she investigates what happened.
There are more questions than answers when it's revealed that Jason O’Dell was living under an assumed name. He's actually Jason Alsbrook, son of prominent local mine owner, James Alsbrook, whose mining company has an unseemly notoriety for having the most mining accidents and deaths in Alabama. Not surprisingly, there are many people who would wish harm to him and to his family. But who would’ve acted on that hatred?
As she works to keep little Maddie safe and find out who would’ve harmed Jason—and why—Claire uncovers a complex web of deception, secrets, and lies. While she struggles to piece together this dangerous puzzle, Claire weathers the storms in her personal life that threaten to rip apart everything Claire holds dear. In the end, will all the little white lies come with a big cost?
Margaret Fenton stops by In Reference to Murder to talk about her writing:
Hi everyone! My name is Margaret Fenton and I write the Little social work mysteries published by Aakenbaaken and Kent. Three books are out in the series so far: LITTLE LAMB LOST, LITTLE GIRL GONE, and LITTLE WHITE LIES. I’m working on number four, titled LITTLE BOY BLUE. The books feature child welfare social worker Claire Conover, who is an investigator for the Jefferson County Department of Human Services in Birmingham, Alabama. She’s been doing this job for several years and comes from a family of people who are service-minded, especially her father.
First, a little about me, the author. I have a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Tulane University, and for close to fifteen years I worked as a mental health consultant for the Department of Human Resources here in the real Jefferson County. My team would evaluate children and families who came under the oversight of DHR, and offer them services including in-home family therapy, case management, psychiatric services, and more. The goal was to try to keep them out of foster care. I worked very closely with all the child welfare social workers in the county at the time and became familiar with how things in that world worked.
From this short bio, I’m sure it’s not hard to see that my research into some aspects of the books comes from reality. Claire’s character comes from several of the social workers I knew in real life, who were dedicated and determined to do the best for their clients. I got to see first-hand how the work affected their lives and families as well as some of the frustrations they faced.
That being said, I also break some of the rules. In LITTLE GIRL GONE, Claire meets a 13-year old black girl named LaReesa Jones, and they develop a long-term relationship. She eventually becomes her foster mother, but in real life that would never be allowed. Social workers are allowed to foster, but the child cannot be one that they have investigated or have had anything to do with professionally. LaReesa is a culmination of all of the resilient kids I worked with over the years. Kids who have faced so much strife and stress and somehow manage to succeed, even with some bumps along the way.
Most of my characters are based on real people. There is a romance that develops when Claire meets Grant Summerville in LITTLE LAMB LOST. He’s a very tall, very cute man who becomes Claire’s boyfriend. Oh, but then there’s Kirk Mahoney, the sexy bad-boy reporter from the News. Claire is not allowed to share any information with him about any of her cases, but that doesn’t stop him from asking. Again and again. Both Grant and Kirk are based on different sides of my husband’s personality. He likes to guess which ones.
Thank you for allowing me to share all this with you, and I hope you’ll check out the books!
You can find out more about Margaret Fenton via her website and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. Little White Lies is available in digital and print editions via all major online booksellers.
Comments