J. S. Borthwick

Creighton was born in Buffalo, New York, and studied at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut, before matriculating as a pre-medical student at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She left school to work as a nurse at an army hospital during World War II, and soon thereafter married and had three children; after their births she completed her bachelor's degree and returned to the University at Buffalo to pursue a graduate degree in English. For years a summer resident of Maine, she moved to the state full-time in 1976,[1] maintaining a residence in Thomaston.[2] Her novels, featuring as detective a student and later academic of English named Sarah Deane, are mostly set in Maine.[1] Basically cozies in nature, many featured maps and drawings created by one of her daughters to augment the narrative. The first of the books featured a mystery centered on the world of birdwatching; Creighton claimed it was inspired by her observation that birdwatchers were often so intent on their pursuit that they would likely fail, in her opinion, to notice a murder taking place in their immediate vicinity.[3]

Creighton taught English in middle and high schools in Maine, and was an instructor at Indiana University for a time; later in life she taught at Coastal Senior College in Thomaston.[2] Besides mystery fiction, she also wrote poetry and works for children. Creighton died in Yarmouth, Maine.[4]

List taken from:[5]

• The Case of the Hook-Billed Kites (1982)
• The Down East Murders (1985)
• The Student Body (1986)
• Bodies of Water (1990)
• Dude on Arrival (1991)
• The Bridled Groom (1994)
• Dolly is Dead (1995)
• The Garden Plot (1997)
• My Body Lies Over the Ocean (1999)
• Coup de Grace (2000)
• Murder in the Rough (2002)
• Intensive Scare Unit (2004)
• Foiled Again (2007)