Biography

About Merry Bloch Jones…

Merry Jones has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. “If I don’t write,” she says, “over time, I get agitated and irritable, as if energy is building up inside and I have to let it out.”


Accordingly, over the years, she has written a wide range of material, in a variety of styles and for diverse media. She began her career by spending about fifteen years writing and producing video and multi-media for corporate clients, but, when her second child was born in 1989, she decided to pursue her passion and began to write books.

All of Merry’s work deals with inter-personal relationships, particularly their unanticipated aspects. For several years, she approached this topic through light humor (including the best-selling I LOVE HIM, BUT…) and serious non-fiction (including BIRTHMOTHERS: WOMEN WHO HAVE RELINQUISHED BABIES FOR ADOPTION TELL THEIR STORIES). Now, she has moved into a genre she loves: shadowy mysteries.

Merry’s most recent books are two award-winning stand alones–THE WOMAN IN THE CUPBOARD, which plunges into the darkness of human trafficking, and WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW, a dive into betrayal, guilt and lifelong secrets. Before that came the award-winning CHILD’S PLAY, the third thrilling suspense novel featuring unreliable narrator Elle Harrison, also the protagonist of THE TROUBLE WITH CHARLIE and ELECTIVE PROCEDURES.

Her series of thrillers, beginning with SUMMER SESSION, depicts heroine Harper Jennings, an Iraq war veteran living in Ithaca, New York. Sequels are BEHIND THE WALLS, WINTER BREAK, OUTSIDE EDEN and IN THE WOODS.

Jones has also written the popular Philadelphia-based Zoe Hayes mysteries, including THE NANNY MURDERS (2005), THE RIVER KILLINGS (2006), THE DEADLY NEIGHBORS (2007) and, in September 2008, THE BORROWED AND BLUE MURDERS.

Merry sees mysteries as more than merely page-turning stories. “Mystery gives the reader—and the writer–a safe environment to approach the frightening aspects of life. You know, going in, that normal order is going to be disrupted by something evil and dark. But you also know that order and normalcy will be restored. Unlike in life, where we never know the outcome, we can face fear and evil and darkness and overcome it, at least for the duration of the novel. But within those pages, the mystery gives us the opportunity to look closely at the nature of our fears, and of ourselves.”

In addition to her books, Merry has published pieces in GLAMOUR, THE LADIES’ HOME JOURNAL, AMERICAN WOMAN and many other magazines. Her books have been printed abroad in Spanish, Chinese, Hebrew, French, German, Norwegian, Turkish and Dutch.

A member of The Philadelphia Liars Club, The Authors’ Guild, International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America, Merry lives in Philadelphia. Born and raised in the Midwest (Skokie, IL), she is an alumna of Niles Township High School North, Cornell University (BA) and The University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communications (MA).

The mother of two and grandmother of two, Merry is an avid rower, sculling out of Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia, and a member of the Masters Rowing Association.

Merry welcomes comments and questions and invites readers to leave her messages by clicking here.