Skidompha Public Library's popular "Chats with Champions" series continues with three of Maine’s resident mystery writers: Kate Flora, Dorothy Cannell and Barbara Ross. Their Chat, “Maine’s Mystery Women Share Some Secrets,” will take place on Thursday, April 9, 10 a.m., in the library’s Porter Meeting Hall, 184 Main Street, Damariscotta.

Kate Clark Flora is an attorney and Maine native whose fascination with criminal tendencies began in the Maine attorney general’s office, where her work fueled her curiosity about human behavior. She turned to crime, so to speak, and has written 14 books including seven Thea Kozak mysteries and four police procedurals in her star-reviewed Joe Burgess series, the most recent of which is “And Grant You Peace,” winner of the 2013 Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction.  

Flora’s Edgar Award-nominated true crime book, “Finding Amy,” is optioned for a film. Her true crime “Death Dealer” is a gripping story in which Maine game wardens and Maine Search and Rescue Dogs (MESARD) volunteers were instrumental in solving the case. She has served as international President for Sisters in Crime, which promotes the recognition and development of female crime writers.

Dorothy Cannell was born in Nottingham, England, and moved to the U.S. at 20.  She is the author of the classic Ellie Haskell mysteries, along with other books and short stories.

On a lark years ago, Cannell took a writing class and the rest is history. One result was her first Ellie Haskell novel, “The Thin Woman.” The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association selected the book as one of the “100 Favorite Mysteries of the Twentieth Century.” Booklist describes Ellie as “part Miss Marple, part modern British mum.” The series encompasses over a dozen “Ellie” mysteries.

Cannell’s latest venture is a series set in 1930’s England, featuring Florence Norris, housekeeper for a family at their country home. The series began with “Murder at Mullings,” and come this July, “Death at Dovecote Hatch,” will be released. Library Journal wrote, “"Cannell is a master of subtle wit and humorous asides that lift her cosies to great heights."

Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries. “Clammed Up” initiated the series and was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel and for a Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Amateur Sleuth. The book was also a finalist for the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. “Boiled Over” followed in 2014, and “Musseled Out” will be available this month.

Ross is a co-editor/co-publisher at Level Best Books, which produces an award-winning annual anthology of crime and mystery stories by New England authors.

Each writer will bring a selection of books for sale and be pleased to autograph them. Certain titles are available in e-book format, which fans may order on their own from various sources.  

Maine Coast Bookshop, located next door to the library, will be happy to order any of the authors’ in-print books. For those who order at the bookshop, there will be bookplates at the Chats program for the writers to autograph and to provide purchasers, who may affix them to books.    

For more information, call 207-563-5513.