Bernadette Pajer

Bernadette Pajer is the author of the Professor Bradshaw Mysteries, whodunits set in her home of Washington State circa 1900, about a professor who applies his knowledge of the new science of electrical engineering to solve murders.

Biography

Pajer is a long-time resident of the Pacific Northwest. Richard Bach, the author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull inspired Bernadette to pursue her passion of writing. Pajer earned a Creative Writing Certificate from the University of Washington. In 2001 she decided to complete her pre-engineering bachelor's degree that she had started many years earlier, only instead to focus on Culture, Literature, and the Arts.[1]

Pajer is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Northwest Science Writers, and the Seattle7Writers.org. She lives in the Seattle area with her husband and son and is currently working on the fourth Professor Bradshaw Mystery.

Anti-vaccination lobbying

Pajer is a board member of Informed Choice Washington[2], an organization that opposes vaccination requirements in schools and daycare centers. Pajer lobbied against Washington State HB1638, a bill that banned personal exemptions to the MMR vaccine in the state[3].

Professor Bradshaw & Company

Research and historical accuracy are hallmarks of Pajer's Professor Bradshaw Mysteries. Her "historical information has been thoroughly researched and not only fits well by layering setting–time and place–as a fundamental part of the mystery with clues popping up all over the place but Ms. Pajer has also captured the other two parts of her story very well... weaving all the parts (historical fiction, mystery and romance) together seamlessly."[4] Pajer "doesn't just give the readers obvious details of setting; she digs a little deeper, works her research into the plot, and creates an immersive and enjoyable experience for the reader."[5]

Through the adventures of "the indefatigable Professor Bradshaw and his equally delightful cronies"[6] Pajer explores the world of Seattle circa 1900 and she "underscores the contrast between early Seattle's rough and tumble side and its more genteel aspirations."[7] "The reader really gets a sense of a people and a country bursting with promise in a world that is quickly changing."[8]

As for the characters, "Protagonist Professor Benjamin Bradshaw is such a warm-hearted and likeable character that readers cannot help but barrack for him. Equally charming are those near and dear to him – his curious son Justin, unrequited (?) love Missouri, her adventure seeking Uncle Henry and stalwart housekeeper Mrs Prouty."[8]

In each book of the series, readers are introduced to various electoral inventions, such as the Tesla Coil, through the protagonist, Benjamin Bradshaw, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington. While the books are character-driven, the scientific aspects of the stories are historically accurate and "she is also very good at explaining complex scientific concepts to the uninitiated."[7] "This ease of explanation (of electrical engineering concepts) is a testament to the amount of research Pajer has undertaken on the subject matter and time period."[8]

Publications
  • A Spark of Death (July 2011)[9]
  • Fatal Induction (May 2012)[10]
  • Capacity for Murder (June 2013)[11]
  • The Edison Effect (September 2014)[12]
gollark: Correction: most thermal readings.
gollark: Oops, I appear to have spontaneously lost all thermal readings.
gollark: What CPU does yours have?
gollark: I cleaned VAST quantities of dust out of my server while I was installing the GPU.
gollark: If I cared, I would purchase "noctuae" fans.

References
  1. - Cecilia Garza, Bainbridge Island Review, May 19, 2013, “Fiction Novel Finds a Setting in Scientific History.”
  2. "About Us - Informed Choice Washington".
  3. Herzog, Katie (2019-01-30). "Vaccine Skeptics Fight Washington Bill to End Personal Exemptions". The Stranger. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  4. - Susan Wingate, Writing From The Couch, April 30, 2013 “A Book Review of “Capacity for Murder”, a Mystery by Bernadette Pajer.
  5. Victoria Jansen, Crimanalelement.com, Monday April 30, 2012, “Fresh Meat: Bernadette Pajer’s Fatal Induction."
  6. - Sue Emmons, Mystery Scene, Summer 2011, Book Review “A Spark of Death, by Bernadette Pajer."
  7. Adam Woog, The Seattle Times. May 13, 2012. Crime Fiction: Seattle Area Authors set their mysteries here, there, and Cincinnati.
  8. Book Lover Book Reviews, Fatal Induction by Bernadette Pajer,
  9. Publisher’s Weekly, May 30, 2011, A Spark of Death: A Professor Bradshaw Mystery
  10. Publisher’s Weekly, Jan. 30, 2012, Fatal Induction: A Professor Bradshaw Mystery.
  11. Publisher’s Weekly, April 15, 2013, Capacity for Murder: A Professor Bradshaw Mystery.
  12. Publisher’s Weekly, July 14, 2014, The Edison Effect: A Professor Bradshaw Mystery.
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