Ep 146: Reclaiming Women’s History with Page-Turning Mysteries with Author Kelly Oliver
Meet Dr. Kelly Oliver, a recently retired philosophy professor turned mystery author. Kelly shares her unique journey from academia to fiction, explaining how her background in philosophy—especially her work on women’s issues and justice—informs her novels.
She discusses her two main series: the Jessica James mysteries, inspired by her own grad school experiences and tackling serious social issues with humor, and the Fiona Figg historical mystery series, which spotlights real women from history who have been overlooked or marginalized.
Kelly also shares some behind-the-scenes tidbits from her latest series, The Detection Club, and stories about Agatha Christie’s real-life adventures.
Are you ready for another literary escape? Let’s go!
Want to support me & my podcast? I’d love for you to Buy me a coffee!
Meet Kelly Oliver
Kelly Oliver grew up in the Northwest, Montana, Idaho, and Washington states. Her maternal grandfather was a forest ranger committed to saving the trees, and her paternal grandfather was a logger hell bent on cutting them down. On both sides, her ancestors were some of the first settlers in Northern Idaho. In her own unlikely story, Kelly went from eating a steady diet of wild game shot by her dad to becoming a vegetarian while studying philosophy and pondering animal minds. Competing with peers who’d come from private schools and posh families “back East,” Kelly’s working class backwoods grit has served her well. And much to her parent’s surprise, she’s managed to feed and cloth herself as a professional philosopher.
When she’s not writing mysteries, Kelly Oliver is a Distinguished Professor Emerita of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. She earned her B.A. from Gonzaga University and her Ph.D. from Northwestern University. She is the author of thirteen scholarly books, ten anthologies, and over 100 articles, including work on campus rape, reproductive technologies, women and the media, film noir, and Alfred Hitchcock. Her work has been translated into seven languages, and she has published an op-ed on loving our pets in The New York Times. She has been interviewed on ABC television news, the Canadian Broadcasting Network, and various radio programs.
Kelly lives in Nashville with her partner, Benigno Trigo, and her furry family, Mischief, Mayhem, and Mr. Flan.
Listen to Episode 146 Here
A Chat with Author Kelly Oliver
In This Episode
We had so much fun chatting with Kelly and here are some of the things we talked about:
- Being a philosophy professor
- How she chose mystery as her genre
- Spotlighting women’s social issues in her books
- Researching sights/sounds etc for historical fiction books
- Character arcs across series
- Agatha Christie
Books Mentioned in this Episode
Covert in Cairo
Murder in Moscow
Wolf
The Case of the Christie Conspiracy
Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
Connect with the Author
Kelly would love to hear from you! Here’s how you can keep in touch with her:
Here are 3 ways we keep up with our favorite novels and what’s coming out each month:
- Join Audible Premium Plus and get two free books. You’ll be able to listen to old favorites or new titles each month.
- And, you can try Kindle Unlimited Membership Plan for free for one month. You can find all the new books coming out each month.
- This is one of my favorites. With your Amazon Prime membership, you have access to their Amazon First Reads each month. One free, new book at the beginning of each month! Not a member? Sign up now and get one month FREE!
Let’s Keep in Touch
Connect with Becki
Follow me on social to stay up-to-date on the book club and my author news.
@Becki Lee Author on Instagram
Sign up for my newsletter
Sign up for book club!
Or CLICK HERE to sign up
