O'Connell, Carol, 1947-

Carol O'Connell (born May 26, 1947, in New York) is an author of crime fiction, including a series of a dozen mysteries featuring a sociopathic but gifted detective, Kathy Mallory. O'Connell earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Arizona State University and embarked on a career as an artist, writing fiction "in the closet" as a hobby. She grew more interested in writing fiction than in her art career and, after initially having the manuscript for her first book, Mallory's Oracle, turned down by American publishers, she sold publication rights to a British publisher, Hutchinson, with rights auctioned to European publishers. It then was acquired for the U.S. and Canadian markets by Putnam in an $800,000 two-book deal.