David (Aimée Duvall Thurlo a Joint Pseudonym Aimée Martel a Joint Pseudonym) Biography

Education: Attended University of New Mexico.

Addresses

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Forge, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010.

Career

Writer. Teacher of mathematics, science, and technology.

Honors Awards

(With wife, Aimée Thurlo) WILLA Award, 2003, for contemporary fiction; RITA Career Achievement Award, 2003.

Writings

ROMANCE NOVELS; WITH WIFE AIMÉE THURLO

Ariel's Desire, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1987.

The Right Combination, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1988.

Expiration Date, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1989.

Black Mesa, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1990.

Suitable for Framing, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1990.

Strangers Who Linger, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1991.

Night Wind, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1991.

Breach of Faith, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1992.

Shadow of the Wolf, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1993.

Spirit Warrior, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1993.

Timewalker, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1994.

Bearing Gifts, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1994.

Fatal Charm, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1995.

Cisco's Woman, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1996.

Black Raven's Pride, Harlequin (New York, NY), 2000.

"FOUR WINDS" TRILOGY; WITH AIMÉE THURLO

Her Destiny, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1997.

Her Hope, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1997.

Her Shadow, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1997.

WITH AIMÉE THURLO UNDER JOINT PSEUDONYM AIMÉE MARTEL

Secrets Not Shared, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1981.

The Fires Within, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1984.

Hero at Large, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1984.

Redhawk's Heart, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1999.

Redhawk's Return, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1999.

WITH AIMÉE THURLO UNDER JOINT PSEUDONYM AIMÉE DUVALL

Too Near the Sun, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1982.

Halfway There, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1982.

Lover in Blue, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1982.

The Loving Touch, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1983.

After the Rain, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1984.

One More Tomorrow, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1984.

Brief Encounters, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1985.

Spring Madness, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1985.

Kid at Heart, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1986.

Made for Each Other, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1987.

To Tame a Heart, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1988.

Wings of Angels, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1989.

"ELLA CLAH" MYSTERY SERIES; WITH AIMÉE THURLO

Blackening Song, Forge (New York, NY), 1995.

Death Walker, Forge (New York, NY), 1996.

Bad Medicine, Forge (New York, NY), 1997.

Enemy Way, Forge (New York, NY), 1998.

Shooting Chant, Forge (New York, NY), 2000.

Red Mesa, Forge (New York, NY), 2001.

Changing Woman, Forge (New York, NY), 2002.

Tracking Bear, Forge (New York, NY), 2003.

Plant Them Deep, Forge (New York, NY), 2003.

Wind Spirit, Forge (New York, NY), 2004.

White Thunder, Forge (New York, NY), 2005.

"SISTER AGATHA" MYSTERY SERIES; WITH AIMÉE THURLO

Bad Faith (mystery), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Thief in Retreat, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2004.

"LEE NEZ" SERIES; WITH AIMÉE THURLO

Second Sunrise, Forge (New York, NY), 2002.

Blood Retribution, Forge (New York, NY), 2004.

OTHER

(With Aimée Thurlo) Second Shadow (mystery), Forge (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Aimée Thurlo) The Spirit Line (young-adult fiction), Viking (New York, NY), 2004.

Author of Hands-on Science, Math, and Technology, Franklin Schaffer Publications (New York, NY), and science-activity workbooks. Contributor, with Aimée Thurlo, to periodicals, including National Enquirer, Grit, and Popular Mechanics.

Sidelights

Working with his wife, Aimée Thurlo, David Thurlo is coauthor of the romance and mystery novels published under his wife's name as well as under the joint pseudonyms Aimée Martel and Aimée Duvall. The couple's most popular novels are set in the American Southwest and feature Native American characters. In addition to adult novels, the couple has also penned The Spirit Line, a novel for teen readers that finds talented weaver Crystal Manyfeathers forced to turn detective after one of her rug creations is stolen from her loom. The novel mixes mystery with a coming-of-age story that School Library Journal contributor Cris Riedel praised as "well-paced" and containing "believable teen dialogue" in addition to a well-drawn portrait of the "conflict modern Native young people face."

The Thurlos' novel Second Shadow features Irene Pobikan, a Tewa Indian and architect who is commissioned to restore a hacienda owned by the Mendoza family. Soon after the work begins, Irene spots an owl—an omen signifying bad luck among the Tewa. When several strange accidents then occur, Irene finds a long-dead murder victim. The murderer is still at large, and Irene, who has fallen in love with Raul Mendoza, must summon the help of her guardian spirit, the mountain lion, to help her and those around her. While Library Journal contributor Marion F. Gallivan observed that the thoughts of character Raul Mendoza "seem out of place," the suspense in Second Shadow "builds effectively to the finale."

Blackening Song, the first of the Thurlos' novels featuring Navajo Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Ella Clah, was published in 1995. Ella lives in San Francisco, California and no longer follows Navajo ways, but is called home when she learns that her Christian minister father has been murdered at the reservation she left at the age of eighteen. The mutilation of his body suggests a ritual killing, and when Ella returns to the reservation, she discovers that her older brother, Clifford, is the prime suspect. Clifford is a hataali, or medicine man, who had angrily opposed his father's plan to build a church on the reservation. Now in hiding, Clifford uses a go-between to contact Ella to claim his innocence and explain that the skinwalkers, a group of black-magic devotees, are responsible for the murder.

In Death Walker Ella has left the FBI and joined the Navajo tribal police as a special investigator. When several tribal elders are murdered and investigators find religious objects at the crime scenes, it appears that the skinwalkers have returned to threaten the safety of the reservation. Ella must again grapple with the tension between her Navajo background and her training in science and logic to solve the case. Death Walker features female characters who "are particularly well drawn" and "tend to steal the show," wrote Mitzi M. Brunsdale in Armchair Detective, referring to characters Justine Goodluck, Ella's cousin and assistant, and Ella's gifted mother, Rose Destea. Brunsdale dubbed the novel a "satisfying combination of a right-now heroine and an age-old culture," while a Publishers Weekly contributor judged Ella to be "a tough, appealing heroine."

The Thurlos have collaborated on several popular novels featuring Navajo police investigator Ella Clah, a savvy sleuth whose baffling cases play out against a backdrop of modern Navajo culture. (Cover designed by Greg Spelanka.)

In Wind Spirit, Ella returns to action after the invalid wife of a tribal councilman is burned to death in a suspicious house fire in which arson is suspected. While a radio talk show host turns up as the prime suspect, things become less cut and dry when he becomes the target of deadly threats. Ella's ability to track down the killer becomes complicated after she falls down an old mine shaft and manages to survive, because the tribe's elders suspect that evil spirits helped her. Now considered an untrustworthy figure, Ella must divert from her job to undergo a cleansing ritual to please them. "The Thurlos hit all the right notes," wrote Connie Fletcher in a Booklist review, while a Publishers Weekly critic concluded that "there are no slow spots in the action." Other novels in the "Ella Clah" series include White Thunder which finds Ella trying to located an FBI agent who has gone missing on the reservation, and Plant Them Deep, which involves the theft of rare, native medicinal plants. Harriet Klausner, in a review for MBR Bookwatch, concluded that "An Ella Clah mystery is always a special treat."