Michael McGarrity


Michael McGarrity is a New Mexican author and former law enforcement officer. He has written a dozen crime novels set in New Mexico and the American West trilogy, historical novels also set in New Mexico consisting of Hard Country, Backlands and The Last Ranch. As deputy sheriff of Santa Fe County he founded their Sex Crimes Unit.

Early life

McGarrity attended the University of New Mexico for three years and graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor's degree with distinction in English and Psychology. He earned a Master's degree in clinical social work from the University of Iowa and is a graduate of the New Mexico Law Enforcement academy.

Career

Legal career and nonfiction writing

In addition to law enforcement work, he has been an investigator and caseworker for the New Mexico Public Defender's Office. He worked on rehabilitating prison programs after the New Mexico State Penitentiary riot in 1980. McGarrity has taught at several colleges and universities as well as the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy. As a social worker he published a number of articles in professional journals on a wide range of topics, ranging from therapy programs for children, to program assessment and evaluation, and drug treatment interventions.

Fiction writing

McGarrity's crime novels take place in modern New Mexico, with law enforcement officer Kevin Kerney as the protagonist. The settings are vividly evoked and range from the Tularosa Basin and Lincoln County to Hermit's Peak, although many take place in Santa Fe. "Hard Country," "Backlands," and "The Last Ranch" form a sweeping trilogy tracing the Kerney family's history in New Mexico from 1875 through the end of the Vietnam War. A ground breaking prequel trilogy, all three books are set on the Tularosa Basin of south central New Mexico.

Awards

McGarrity has been nominated three times for the Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best Western Novel as well as an Anthony Award for his debut novel, Tularosa.
He has received the following awards: