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Michael McGarrity holds a BA with distinction in psychology and a master's
degree in clinical social work. As an undergraduate, he held a Ford Foundation Scholarship at the
University
of New Mexico. Additionally, he is an honor graduate of the New Mexico
Law
Enforcement
Academy.
His career in criminal justice includes work in corrections, law enforcement,
security, police officer training, and serving as an expert witness to the court. As a deputy sheriff for
Santa Fe
County he worked as a patrol officer, community relations officer, training
and planning supervisor, and lead investigator for the sex crimes unit, which he established.
He also has served as an instructor at the
New Mexico
Law
Enforcement
Academy,
an investigator and caseworker for the Public Defender's Office, and an investigator for a state government agency. In 1987, he was honored as
Santa Fe's Police
Officer of the Year.
.
Michael McGarrity is the author
of Dead or Alive; Nothing But Trouble; Tularosa; Hermit's Peak; The Big Gamble; Under the Color of Law; Everyone
Dies; Mexican Hat; Serpent Gate; Slow Kill; The Judas Judge; and, Death Song.
Publisher’s Weekly said of Nothing
But Trouble, “Returning from 2004's Slow Kill, stoic Sante Fe police chief Kevin Kerney receives an
unexpected visit from Johnny Jordan, a childhood friend and now cantankerous former rodeo pro, who convinces Kerney to serve
as a technical adviser in the shooting of a local western film. Eager for a break, Kerney heads to the location in southwestern
Bootheel with his lovely wife, Army Lt. Col. Sara Brannon, and his young son, Patrick, in tow. But what starts out as a working
vacation in this seventh Kerney outing quickly detours into a bloody crime scene when the body of an undercover Border Patrol
agent is dumped onto Highway 81. In no time, U.S. Customs joins Kerney's investigation into a possible illegal immigrant
and drug smuggling operation. Meanwhile, Sara's army job unexpectedly takes her to Ireland where she must track down and
seize the notorious George Spalding, a gemstone smuggler and wartime deserter. McGarrity focuses on the details of the settings
and on the characters' tactical maneuvers career- and parenting-wise. The result is slightly amplified sleuthing, deftly
swapped out at surprising moments to the POV of the bad guys, and with fine but low-grade intensity.”
Amazon.com said of Hermit's
Peak, “Kevin Kerney might just be the best cop currently working the mean streets of mystery fiction.
As deputy chief of the New Mexico State Police, he is not tortured by the doubts, angst, alcoholism, or mixed motives that
seem to overwhelm many of his fictional colleagues. His methods are rarely flashy or excessively macho, and he treats other
cops of all ranks with a minimum of attitude. Author Michael McGarrity, who worked for Santa Fe's sheriff's department
before retiring to write, has managed to make Kerney human without loading him with excess baggage.
As we've come to realize in three
previous books--Mexican Hat, Serpent Gate, and Tularosa--Kerney works as a police officer to make the money he needs to buy
a cattle ranch like the one he grew up on. In Hermit's Peak, that dream comes closer to reality when a woman painter leaves
Kerney a large portion of her own property on a mesa northeast of Santa Fe. McGarrity describes this land with the keen simplicity
of natural poetry. Reality (in the form of a huge inheritance tax bill) darkens the picture. But the discovery of a very rare
cactus plant and the unexpected arrival of Sara Brannon (the career army officer with whom Kerney had a romance in an earlier
book) let in a few rays of sunlight. Meanwhile, Kerney and a tough local cop have to deal with a rape and murder, plus enough
everyday crimes to keep them seriously busy without busting the boundaries of believability.”
Publisher’s Weekly said of The
Big Gamble, “Smooth writing, well-drawn characters and several neat plot twists distinguish the seventh
Kevin Kerney novel from Anthony Award-nominee and former deputy sheriff McGarrity (Tularosa). Never losing sight of his people
in the forensic detail, the author skillfully makes us want to know what happens next without unnecessary violence or contrivance.
When two murder victims turn up after a fire in an abandoned fruit stand on a rural highway, Kerney, now the police chief
of Sante Fe, N.Mex., takes a personal interest in the case. One blackened corpse is a John Doe, stabbed three times, who is
soon identified as a homeless Vietnam vet. The other remains belong to a 29- year-old college student, Anna Marie Montoya,
who disappeared 11 years before. As it happens, Kerney was involved in the search for the missing Anna Marie. Investigating
the John Doe is Kerney's estranged son, Clayton Istee, now a deputy sheriff for the Lincoln County (N.Mex.) police, whose
mother was a full-blooded Mescalero Apache. Clayton, a sympathetic character struggling to support a wife and two small kids,
eventually finds himself in charge of a task force looking into a much more complex crime. Kerney would like to effect a reconciliation
between himself and his son, but the process proves awkward for them both. McGarrity keeps the parallel plots moving nicely
along toward a rational solution. This is an exceptionally intelligent, humane mystery in a series that deserves a wide readership.”
Publisher’s Weekly said of Under
the Color of Law, “Popular cop Kevin Kerney acquires new depth and substance in this sixth installment
in McGarrity's solid series. In his previous job as deputy chief of the state police, Kerney killed a cop gone bad. Now
he is settling into his new job as police chief of Santa Fe, N.Mex., and his new subordinates are of two minds whether they
should trust him or not. They have ample opportunity to observe him in action, because as the book opens, Phyllis Terrell,
the estranged wife of an ambassador and ex-military honcho, is found stabbed to death in the kitchen of her hilltop mansion,
and Father Joseph Mitchell, an ex-soldier turned priest researching the government's covert operations, turns up dead
in the Christian Brothers Residence at the College of Santa Fe. The police investigation has barely begun before evil Feds,
who dismiss Kerney as merely "an over-the-hill lightweight cop who occasionally got lucky," move in and start sanitizing
the crime scenes. The chief keeps digging on the sly, of course, as every possible witness ends up dead. McGarrity (Tularosa;
The Judas Judge; etc.) writes well, with chapters that march the reader along, and is very convincing on procedural matters
his credentials include a stint as deputy sheriff for Santa Fe County. Unfortunately, when he moves into action movie territory,
the material does not seem natural for him, and in particular the main antagonist a human killing machine never comes off
as anything more than an image taken from film. The strengths of this book are in the quiet moments, the procedural detail,
the local scene and Kerney's reflections on his history and his future.”
Publisher’s Weekly said of The
Judas Judge, “McGarrity's novels keep getting richer as they change focus slightly with each new publisher.
This novel, the fifth in the series, is the first to be issued by Dutton, McGarrity's third publisher; it's also the
most personal book of the series, with Kerney, Deputy Chief of the New Mexico State Police, now married to career U.S. Army
officer Lt. Col. Sara Brannon and about to become a millionaire by selling the huge tract of land he inherited in Hermit's
Peak (1999) to the Nature Conservancy. The story opens with a slam-bang scene in which Kerney is forced to shoot a crooked
cop. The theme recurs, but the meat of the novel involves the murders of six people in quick succession. The police at first
think they're "spree" killings, but Kerney soon identifies the last crime as different and its victim, a retired
district court judge, as the real target. Most of the action focuses on Kerney's methodical and excruciatingly detailed
police work, as well as on his spot-on intuitive hunches. Although this volume moves a little slower than the previous four,
it still rivets attention not with shoot-'em-ups and car chases, but by gradually uncovering secrets hidden by a large
cast of well-drawn suspects, with McGarrity serving up enough red herrings to sate the population of Stockholm. It's the
discovery of the murderer's means, opportunity and psychological make-up that makes this such a difficult case and a book
that's hard to put down.”
Publisher’s Weekly said of Dead
or Alive, “McGarrity's 12th Kevin Kerney novel (after Death Song) displays the author's usual
fine sense of place along with an unusual amount of gore. When escaped convict Craig Larson goes on a rampage that includes
the murder of Riley Burke, a neighbor and business partner of former Santa Fe police chief Kerney, that's enough to bring
Kerney, at least temporarily, out of retirement—and back from London, where Kerney's wife is a U.S. embassy employee.
Larson's crime spree becomes more deadly as he tacks back and forth as far south as Texas and north almost to Colorado.
Kerney, acting as a special investigator with the New Mexico State Police, and his lawman son, Clayton Istee, partner up for
the statewide manhunt. McGarrity is particularly adept at portraying multijurisdictional investigations. While this isn't
a good starting place for newcomers, series fans will relish the deepening relationship of Kerney and Istee, who only recently
learned they were father and son.”
Publisher’s Weekly said of Slow
Kill, “In McGarrity's latest Kevin Kerney procedural, Kerney, police chief of Santa Fe, N.Mex., is
drawn into a messy murder investigation while vacationing at a California ranch. A wealthy hotel magnate, Clifford Spalding,
dies of poisoning in the guest room next to Kerney's. Finding himself a suspect, Kerney decides to pursue the case on
his own for a few days, uncovering some peculiar circumstances and characters in Spalding's background. They include an
unfaithful trophy wife and her shady boyfriend, a deranged and bitter ex-wife and a missing son who presumably died in Vietnam
30 years ago, as well as a couple of police officials who are not as forthcoming as one would expect. Within a few days, Kerney
is cleared by California authorities and returns home to more familiar ground. But because of the case's Santa Fe connections,
he and his stable of detectives continue the pursuit. As in McGarrity's eight previous Kerney novels (Everyone Dies; etc.),
the author excels at detailing police procedures as well as creating a homespun, wry tone that suits setting and characters.
His action sequences are shakier, however, and several highly dramatic moments—the arrest of the main suspect, her release
and eventual capture—are flat and hurried. A bit more attention to pacing and momentum could give this appealing series
a needed shot of adrenaline.”
The Library Journal said of Tularosa,
“Kevin Kerney is a tough ex-cop turned modern-day private eye. His godson, a soldier assigned to White Sands Missile
Range in desolate southern New Mexico, is reported missing. The military authorities believe he has gone AWOL, but Kerney
correctly suspects foul play. He travels to Tularosa and joins forces with Captain Sara Brannon to investigate the disappearance.
The two face many challenges and risks, including attempted murder, and become romantically involved while determining the
innocent soldier's whereabouts. Eventually, his body is discovered. This is a fast read that also informs a bit about
the Southwest, the military, and Native American traditions.”
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