Mary Stanton Books In Order

Publication Order of Heavenly Horse Books

Publication Order of Hemlock Falls Mysteries Books

as Claudia Bishop

Publication Order of Magical Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Unicorns Of Balinor Books

Publication Order of Casebook Of Dr. McKenzie Books

as Claudia Bishop

Publication Order of Beaufort & Company Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of To Have and To Hold Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

About Mary Stanton:

Mary Stanton came to professional writing in “middle age” after a variety of job experiences and a failed first marriage. She has been a prolific author, with nearly forty titles in her résumé. Mystery fantasy and crime novels are her specialties. She splits her writing between two personas, with almost half her output under the nom de plume, Claudia Bishop

Mary Stanton was born in 1947, spending her early years in Hawaii and Japan. She came to the continental United States in the late 1960s, graduating with a B.A. in Philosophy from Minnesota University. She did not complete her post graduate law and rehabilitation therapy studies and worked in a number of different jobs after leaving university.

Married in 1967, the relationship ended in divorce in 1973. Her second marriage lasted longer, from 1974 to 1999 and she has three step-children from that relationship.

First Writing

After beginning work as a copywriter in the mid-1980s, Mary Stanton wrote her first novel, The Heavenly Horse from the Outermost West, in 1984. The sequel, Piper at the Gate, was released in 1989. She turned to professional fiction writing in 1994 when she left the copywriting industry and at this time began to write as her alter ego, Claudia Bishop; to-date penning sixteen mystery novels under that pseudonym, the best known being the Hemlock Falls Series of murder mysteries

The Unicorns of Balinor

Mary Stanton is best known for her young reader’s mystery series, The Unicorns of Balinor, which she began in 1999, with The Road to Balinor being the first in the series. 1999-2000 was the most prolific period in her writing career with the entire Balinor series of eight volumes being completed by the end of the year 2000.

The series revolves around a young girl named Ari who runs away from her foster home with her horse Sunchaser and her favorite Collie, Lincoln. After suffering an illness, Arianna’s horse Chase (Sunchaser) is leant to a cruel girl named Lori who mistreats the horse. Arianna learns of this and determines to take Chase to safety by running away.

The mystery begins when the group falls through the Gap, a pathway between worlds. They are deposited in Balinor, a magical land of unicorns, where they encounter the evil entity Shifter. Ari discovers that she is really the missing princess of Balinor, Arianna, and heiress to the throne. Sunchaser is revealed as a special unicorn, the Lord of the Animals of Balinor.

Their mission, with the help of some friendly locals, is to restore Sunchaser’s broken horn and the Royal Scepter, to enable the defeat of the evil Shifter and the restoration of balance to the kingdom.

Arianna, Princess of Balinor

The story begins with Arianna aged thirteen, living with her foster parents. Ari suffers from amnesia and is unaware of her royal heritage. The series revolves around the question as to whether she can regain her memory in time to save the kingdom from the evil forces of the Shifter.

Arianna and Sunchaser face many tests and obstacles as they battle to regain the kingdom. The bond between the two is strained to breaking point as Arianna has both her legs broken in an accident and suffers significant memory loss, while Sunchaser loses both his horn and his ability to communicate with his human master. As a consequence all the animals of Balinor begin to lose their ability to speak and Shifter’s evil forces take control.

Arianna is not a natural heroine; she often struggles with her royal role and yearns for a return to a more simple life. Her character changes as the series progresses. Starting as a meek and mild thirteen year-old girl, Arianna matures into her birthright role as the heiress to the royal throne of Balinor.

Beaufort and Company

Known as “thrill and chill mysteries” of the paranormal genre, Mary Stanton excels with these tales of the ethereal. Brianna (Bree) Winston Beaufort is a lawyer extraordinary; a lawyer for the dead, the dead who need her help to achieve the justice denied to them while they were alive.

The first volume in the series, Defending Angels, features a dead businessman who is determined to find his murderer and to clear himself of celestial charges of greed. Stanton has penned a tale that keeps the reader in suspense to the end, with many surprises and twists along the way. The key to holding the experienced mystery reader to the end is to ensure that the reader does not anticipate what is coming next and Stanton achieves this with aplomb throughout the series.

Stanton develops interesting and engaging characters, ones who are believable whether epitomes of evil or model former citizens. She writes in a lively and fast-paced fashion and effortlessly engages the reader of the paranormal. Many of her themes are thought-provoking and discussion starters amongst fans of the series.

The Present and the Future

Mary Stanton lives part of the year on her goat farm in upstate New York and the remainder in West Palm Beach, Florida. Her interests away from writing include her goats, horse riding, gourmet cooking which she claims to be not very good at, and gardening.

Her writing career has not just involved mystery and crime novels. She has written on wide-ranging subjects such as veterinary surgery, history, biography, medicine and current affairs. She has penned an educational writing program for young writers, which has been well-received within American educational circles.

Mary is a long-standing member of the Mystery Writers Association of America and as Claudia Bishop she is a valued member of The Sisters in Crime,an organization to foster the development of female crime fiction writers in the United States.

Mary claims she is a most reluctant writer who struggles at times at the task. All of us who so love her works are so grateful that she has persisted throughout the years. She states that she strives in each of her writing tasks to make herself laugh at least once, gasp with shock or horror at least once, and reflect at least twice at how clever she is.

Clever she certainly is and the mystery and crime genres are richer for the sterling contribution she has made over the last twenty years. Let us hope that her enthusiasm for writing remains and that numerous new projects are in the pipeline.