Barbara D'Amato was the 1999-2000 president of Mystery Writers of America. D'Amato is also a past president of Sisters in Crime International. She writes a mystery series starring Chicago freelance investigative reporter Cat Marsala, a series starring Chicago patrol cops Suze Figueroa and Norm Bennis, and standalone novels.
D'Amato is a playwright, novelist, and crime researcher. Her research on the Dr. John Branion murder case formed the basis for a segment on Unsolved Mysteries, and she appeared on the program. Her musical comedy The Magic Man and the children's musical The Magic of Young Houdini, written with husband Anthony D'Amato, played in Chicago and London. Their Prohibition-era musical comedy RSVP Broadway, which played in Chicago in 1980, was named an "event of particular interest" by Chicago magazine.
A native of Michigan, she has been a resident of Chicago for many years. D'Amato has been a columnist for the Sisters in Crime newsletter and Mystery Scene magazine. She has worked as an assistant surgical orderly, carpenter for stage magic illusions, assistant tiger handler, stage manager, researcher for attorneys in criminal cases, and she occasionally teaches mystery writing to Chicago police officers.
Awards
The first annual Mary Higgins Clark Award, 2001, for Authorized Personnel Only
The 1998 Carl Sandburg Award for Excellence in Fiction and the 1999 Readers Choice Award for Best Police Procedural for Good Cop, Bad Cop
The 1992 Anthony Award for Best True Crime and the 1993 Agatha Award for Nonfiction for The Doctor, the Murder, the Mystery
The 1999 Readers Choice Award for the story "Hard Feelings"
The 1999 Agatha, Macavity and Anthony Awards for Best Short Story for "Of Course You Know that Chocolate Is a Vegetable."
Praise for Barbara D'Amato
"Marvelously grisly... A vivid supporting cast, sprightly yet controlled wit and some fine cooking advice...another delightful mystery from the ever-reliable author."
—Publishers Weekly (Hard Evidence)
“A clever solution to wrap up the driest and wittiest food mystery of the season."
—Kirkus Reviews (Hard Evidence)
"D'Amato's evocation of the trauma center, its desperate patients and harried personnel, often heroic and always human, is by itself worth the price of admission."
—San Diego Union-Tribune (Hard Case)
"Producers of TV's Chicago Hope and ER could do worse than buy—never steal!—an idea or two from Hard Case."
—Chicago Tribune (Hard Case)
"With its distinctly Chicago atmosphere this tale, the seventh in D'Amato's series, is edgy, surprising and spiced with rich characterizations."
—Publishers Weekly (Hard Bargain)
"A compelling picture of street life in a very recognizable Chicago."
—Chicago Tribune (Hard Bargain)
"Cat's seventh features enough problems for a month of Mondays—but D'Amato's expert dovetailing and eye for human drama make it a lot more exciting."
—Kirkus Reviews (Hard Bargain)
"D'Amato's fine writing, clever plot twists, and quick wit, her nicely understated but telling comments on the vagaries of human nature, and most of all, her appealing heroine make this book a perfect holiday read."
—Booklist (Hard Christmas)
"This effort rides far on the pleasures of Cat's company—and on her appealing, often funny, first-person voice."
—Publishers Weekly (Hard Christmas)
"Cat is as likable as she is clever."
—Publishers Weekly (Hardball)
"Her writing is clean and without pretension, what Cat calls 'English as I like to hear it — clear, unemotional, to the point.' The author also seems genuinely involved in the spirited debate she sets, up on the pros and cons of legalizing drugs."
—The New York Times Book Review (Hardball)
"Cat Marsala is the character I've been waiting for since the death of John D. MacDonald... This is a knockout series, and Hard Women, from its poignant question of a first sentence to its brilliant ending, is the best Marsala yet."
—Eugene Izzi, author of Tribal Secrets (Hard Women)
"Cat Marsala hits her stride in this third outing... Cat is emerging as a strong, feminist heroine."
—Kirkus Reviews (Hard Luck)
"Details of Cat's private life, including a parrot that quotes Shakespeare and a boyfriend in a detox unit, give the tough, street-smart reporter a distinctive, warmly human quality."
—Publishers Weekly (Hard Luck)
Because women mystery writers had been largely ignored by the publishing industry, a handful of them met in 1986 to form Sisters in Crime to make their work known—and it worked. Marking the organization's 20th anniversary, Sisters on the Case spotlights 20 stories (only three of them previously published) by its founders and leaders, now established names in the genre. Paretsky describes her popular PI's first case, in which ten-year-old V.I. Warshawski inadvertently solves a mob murder during the 1966 Chicago race riots. Barbara D'Amato, Margaret Maron, and Nancy Pickard provide delicious final twists in their tales about dealing with a wife's lover, dividing a mother's estate, and double-talking about death. Accomplished work.
—Michele Leber – Library Journal (Sisters on the Case)
Praise for Barbara D'Amato's Cat Marsala Novels
"Cat is as likable as she is clever."
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (Hard Road)
"Barbara D'Amato's books about Chicago's own Cat Marsala are full of all sorts of pleasures."
—CHICAGO TRIBUNE (Hard Road)
"Hard-hitting, gritty, witty, and wise... a riveting read."
—BOOKLIST (Hard Road)
"Faultless. Top-notch!"
—THE DROOD REVIEW OF MYSTERY (Hard Road)