Rita Mae Brown

Rita Mae Brown is a highly accomplished American author, known for her mystery novels, romance novels, women's fiction, screenplays, and poetry. She has a degree in classics and English from New York University and is best known for her novel "Rubyfruit Jungle," which dealt with lesbian themes in an explicit manner. Brown was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, in 1944, to an unmarried, teenage mother and her mother's married boyfriend. She was left at an orphanage and was raised by her mother's cousin Julia Brown and her husband Ralph in York, Pennsylvania, and later in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Brown's early life was marked by hardship and struggle, but she overcame these obstacles to become a successful writer and political activist. She attended the University of Florida at Gainesville on a scholarship, but was expelled for participating in the civil rights movement. She then enrolled at Broward Community College and later at New York University, where she received a degree in Classics and English. Brown also received a degree in cinematography from the New York School of Visual Arts and holds a Ph.D. in literature from Union Institute & University in Washington, D.C.

Brown is a prolific writer, with numerous novels, screenplays, and poems to her name. She is best known for her mysteries and other novels, including "Rubyfruit Jungle," "In Her Day," "Six of One," and "The Sand Castle." She is also an Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a poet. Brown is a political activist who has been involved in various movements, including civil rights, anti-war, gay liberation, and feminism. She is a former partner of fellow author Fannie Flagg. Brown enjoys American fox hunting and playing polo, and currently resides in Afton, Virginia.
Mags Rogers Books
# Title Year
1 A Nose for Justice 2010
2 Murder Unleashed 2011
Mrs. Murphy Books
# Title Year
1 Wish You Were Here 1990
2 Rest in Pieces 1992
3 Murder at Monticello 1994
4 Pay Dirt 1995
5 Murder, She Meowed 1996
6 Murder on the Prowl 1998
7 Cat on the Scent 1999
8 Pawing Through the Past 2000
9 Claws and Effect 2001
10 Catch as Cat Can 2002
11 The Tail of the Tip-Off 2003
12 Whisker of Evil 2004
13 Cat's Eyewitness 2005
14 Sour Puss 2006
15 Puss 'n Cahoots 2007
16 The Purrfect Murder 2008
17 Santa Clawed 2008
18 Cat of the Century 2010
19 Hiss of Death 2011
20 The Big Cat Nap 2012
21 Sneaky Pie for President 2012
22 The Litter of the Law 2013
23 Nine Lives to Die 2014
24 Tail Gait 2015
25 Tall Tail 2016
26 A Hiss Before Dying 2018
27 Probable Claws 2018
28 Whiskers in the Dark 2019
29 Furmidable Foes 2020
30 Claws for Alarm 2021
31 Hiss & Tell 2023
32 Feline Fatale 2024
Runnymede Books
# Title Year
1 Six of One 1978
2 Bingo 1988
3 Loose Lips 1999
4 The Sand Castle 2008
5 Cakewalk 2016
"Sister" Jane Books
# Title Year
1 Outfoxed 2000
2 Hotspur 2002
3 Full Cry 2003
4 The Hunt Ball 2005
5 The Hounds and the Fury 2006
6 The Tell-tale Horse 2007
7 Hounded to Death 2008
8 Fox Tracks 2012
9 Let Sleeping Dogs Lie 2014
10 Crazy Like a Fox 2017
11 Homeward Hound 2018
12 Scarlet Fever 2019
13 Out of Hounds 2021
14 Thrill of the Hunt 2022
15 Lost & Hound 2023
Standalone Novels
# Title Year
1 Rubyfruit Jungle 1973
2 In Her Day 1976
3 Southern Discomfort 1982
4 Sudden Death 1983
5 High Hearts 1986
6 Venus Envy 1993
7 Dolley 1994
8 Riding Shotgun 1996
9 Alma Mater 2001
Collections
# Title Year
1 Songs to a Handsome Woman 1973
2 Poems 1987
Non-Fiction Books
# Title Year
1 A Plain Brown Rapper 1976
2 Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual 1988
3 Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser 1997
4 Sneaky Pie's Cookbook for Mystery Lovers 1999
5 Animal Magnetism: My Life with Creatures Great and Small 2009
Rita Mae Brown Anthologies
# Title Year
1 Sisterhood is Powerful 1970
2 Hand That Cradles the Rock 1971
3 Cries of the Spirit: A Celebration of Women's Spirituality 1991
4 I'd Kill For That 2004