B.K. Stevens: R.I.P.

Such sad and unexpected news. Bonnie Stevens: R.I.P. She will be missed by so many in the mystery community. Sending sympathy to her family and friends.

B.K. Stevens wrote mysteries, both novels and short stories. Interpretation of Murder, published by Black Opal Books, is a traditional whodunit; Fighting Chance, set in Virginia, is a martial arts mystery for young adults and was published by Poisoned Pen Press. B.K. also published over fifty short stories, most in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Eleven of those stories are collected in Her Infinite Variety: Tales of Women and Crime, published by Wildside Press. She was awarded the Derringer and was nominated for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. 

Her husband Dennis Stevens posted this on B.K. Stevens' Facebook page.

It hurts me to post this message, but my wife Bonnie, B.k. Stevens, passed away today. She was preparing to give a joint presentation with Art Taylor at the Suffolk, Virginia Mystery Writers' Festival when she collapsed. She never recovered. Her two daughters, Sarah Gershone and Rachel Stevens, came to be by her side and to support me. They will never know how important this seemingly simple act was and how much it meant to me. 

Over the years, B.K. made great friends in the mystery community--fellow authors, fellow readers, editors, and publishers. She always looked forward to the Malice Domestic and Bouchercon conferences. Many people know of her short stories and novels, but not everyone knows that she was a college professor for many years before turning to mysteries. She published a book on writing, a book (co-authored with a colleague) on literary criticism, and a book on Jewish education. And in spite of her great love of mysteries, her favorite author was always William Wordsworth. The poem that she loved the most was "Ode: Intimations of Immortality," and she asked that lines from that poem be read at her funeral. She was the greatest wife, friend, and companion a man could have. I will miss her so.