On June 6, author Sasscer Hill will be speaking to the Upstate Sisters in Crime. Sasscer has been involved in horse racing as an amateur jockey and breeder for most of her life. Now that she has turned to writing, it is only natural that her first two mystery novels are about horse racing.
Hill has a rich history as an amateur steeplechase jockey, horse farm owner, and has ridden in fox hunts for 22 years. For some 30 years Hill owned and operated a horse breeding farm in Maryland where she raised thoroughbred horses. Among the best horses she bred and raised was For Love and Honor which won $418,000 in New York racing at Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct.
Hill’s love for horses is deeply inbred over a long lineage tracing to Samuel Ogle, colonial governor of Maryland in the mid-1770s. Samuel Ogle is credited with bringing horse racing to North America, staging the first English-style race at Annapolis, Maryland in 1745. Ogle imported Queen Mab, part of the first pair of English-bred Thoroughbreds imported to the colonies. Queen Mab was a gift from Lord Baltimore presented when Ogle travelled to England in 1745.
Her love of horses, experience in steeplechase racing, knowledge of horses and writing style has prompted many book lovers and critics to compare Hill with the famous British horse racing mystery writer, Dick Francis. Her first novel, Full Mortality, was nominated for both the Agatha and Macavity Best First Mystery Awards.
As promotions director for an academic publishing house, and several trade associations, Hill ran Capitol Hill luncheons, dinners, banquets, exhibits, and produced catalogs for direct-mail to more than 250,000 academicians, libraries and other users.
Born in Washington, D.C., Hill earned a BA in English Literature from Franklin and Marshall College and now lives with her husband in Aiken, SC.
The monthly Sisters in Crime meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 6 at The Runway Café, 21 Airport Rd, Greenville, S.C. Be there at 6:15 p.m. to meet Sasscer and enjoy the club fellowship. Supper should be served at 6:30. Hill's presentation will begin at 7:00. Both the dinner and the meeting are open to the public.
In order for the Runway Café to speed service, dinner orders must be emailed to Ellis Vidler (ellis@ellisvidler.com) by noon the day of the meeting. If you can't eat, we would still like to know you plan to attend so we can be sure you have a seat. To see the special menu for our group, click on the Advance Order Menu tab at right. If you place an order and do not attend or fail to cancel by noon, you will be charged for the meal. And like always, we'll enjoy it.
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