The Conan Doyle Notes: The Secret of Jack the Ripper (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781780926186)

Diane Gilbert Madsen is the acclaimed author of the DD McGil Literati Mystery Series. Madsen attended the Universtiy of Chicago and earned an M.A. in the 17th century English Literature from Roosevelt University. She is the former Director of Economic Development for the State of Illinois where she oversaw the Tourism and Illinois Film Office during the time the Blues Brothers was filmed. Later she ran her own consulting firm, and is listed in the World Who's Who of Women, Who's Who in Finance & Industry and Latino American Who's Who.The Literati Mystery series focuses on incidents in famous author's lives. The first in the series, "A Cadger's Curse" concerns Scotland's Bard, Robert Burns and some precious Burns artifacts that turn up after 300 years. The second is the award-winning "Hunting for Hemingway," launched at the Ernest Hemingway Museum in Oak Park, Illinois, Hemingway's boyhood home, and sponsored by the Hemingway Foundation. The mystery surrounds some stolen Hemingway manuscripts that finally surface after being lost for 90 years. The third is "The Conan Doyle Notes: The Secret of Jack the Ripper," about whether Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, really knew the identity of the most infamous murderer in history, Jack the Ripper. Diane has an article on "The Cardboard Box and Jack the Ripper" appearing in the Spring 2014 issue of The Baker Street Journal. She has also published articles in The Hemingway Review; Mystery Scene Magazine; Mystery Reader's Journal; Sisters in Crime Newsletter and The Write City Magazine of the Chicago Writers Association. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America; Sisters in Crime; the International Association of Crime Writers; and the Chicago Writers Association. Diane belongs to several Scottish Societies and holds membership in the Burns Club of the St. Andrews Society of Sarasota; the Robert Burns Association of North America and the Robert Burns World Federation. She was the first woman to be invited to present the Immortal Memory at the 2011 Burns Supper of the St. Andrews Society of Sarasota. Her rare book dealer friend Tom Joyce and her many attorney and police contacts add a "slice of life" authenticity to her work. The "Agony Column" she's kept for many years consisting of reports of unusual and weird incidents fuels her plots. Her lifelong interest in literature and history, especially Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, provide inspiration in writing her Literati Mystery Series. Currently Diane lives with her husband Tom and their Japanese Chin Angel at Twin Ponds, a five-acre wildlife sanctuary on Cape Haze in Florida.