View source for M. K. Wren

{{short description|American novelist}}
{{Infobox writer
| image = Photo of Martha Kay Renfroe.jpg
| pseudonym = M.K. Wren
| birth_name = Martha Kay Renfroe 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1938|6|5}}
| birth_place = [[Texas]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|08|20|1938|6|5}}
| death_place = [[Lincoln City, Oregon]]
| occupation = Writer
| language = English 
| nationality = American
| genre = [[Mystery fiction|Mystery]], [[Science fiction]]
| notableworks = The Phoenix Legacy
| partner = [[Ruth Dennis Grover]]
}}

'''Martha Kay Renfroe''' ({{Daterangedash|1938-06-05|2016-08-20|mdy}}) was an American writer of [[Mystery fiction|mystery]] and [[science fiction]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://boingboing.net/2016/10/14/rip-science-fiction-author-mk.html|title=RIP, science fiction author MK Wren|date=October 14, 2016 |last=Wang |first=Amy |newspaper=The Oregonian|via=BoingBoing.net|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-10}}</ref> Renfroe, who published her works under the pseudonym '''M.K. Wren''', was best known for her mystery series featuring the character Conan Flagg.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2846#m33988|title=Obituary Note - Martha Kay Renfroe (scroll down)|date=September 26, 2016|first=Brit|last=Bennett|magazine=Shelf Awareness|publisher=Ingram Publisher Services|accessdate=16 March 2020}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Renfroe was born in [[Texas]].

== Career ==
Using the ''nom de plume'' M. K. Wren, her works included the ''Conan Flagg Mystery'' series, the ''Phoenix Legacy'', a [[space opera]] trilogy, and ''[[A Gift Upon the Shore]]'' (1990),<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.newslincolncounty.com/archives/169254|title=Remembering M K Wren |date=October 17, 2016 |newspaper=News Lincoln County|accessdate=15 March 2020}}</ref> a post-apocalyptic novel. ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' in its review of ''A Gift Upon the Shore'' described Wren's descriptions of "the subsistence-level daily life – the triumphs, the losses and the desperation" – as "compelling depictions."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-345-36341-1|title=A Gift Upon the Shore - M. K. Wren, Author Ballantine Books|date=January 30, 1990|magazine=Publishers Weekly|accessdate=March 16, 2020}}</ref> A ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' review called Wren’s writing of the same book as "clear and concise for the most part, though bordering on the mystic when it comes to her descriptions of the woods, and especially the ocean in its many moods."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-29-bk-173-story.html|title=The Stuff of Nightmares : A GIFT UPON THE SHORE by M. K. Wren (Ballantine: $18.95; 375 pp.)|first=Sue|last=Martin
|date=April 29, 1990|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=16 March 2020}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' included it in its overview of recently released crime/suspense novels in its "Criminal At Large" column, describing Wren's ''A Multitude of Sins'' as "an artificial and pretentious formula mystery about an heiress who is a pianistic genius."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/03/archives/criminals-at-large.html|title=Criminals At Large|first=Newgate|last=Callendar|newspaper=The New York Times|date=Aug 3, 1975|accessdate=16 March 2020}}</ref>

The ''Conan Flagg'' mysteries were translated into German and released by München Goldmann publisher in the late 1970s in Germany.<ref>{{cite book |title=Curiosity Didn't Kill the Cat |publisher=OCLC |oclc = 74371411}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Renfroe was a longtime resident of [[Lincoln City, Oregon]].<ref name="auto"/> She was also an artist whose artwork showed in galleries and at juried and invitational shows.<ref name="auto1"/>

== Bibliography ==
{| class="wikitable"
!Title
!Publisher
!Date
!ISBN
|-
|''[[A Gift Upon the Shore]]''
|Ballantine Books
|February 3, 1990
|{{ISBNT|0-345-36341-8}}
|-
|''Neely Jones: The Medusa Pool''
|Minotaur Books
|October 13, 1999
|{{ISBNT|0-312-24223-9}}
|-
|''The Shadow of Light'' (unpublished)
| colspan="3" |{{Center|—}}
|}

=== ''A Conan Flagg Mystery'' (1973–1994) ===
{| class="wikitable"
!{{Abbr|No.|Number}}
!Title
!Publisher
!Date
!ISBN
|-
|1
|''Curiosity Didn't Kill the Cat''
| rowspan="6" |Doubleday
|January 1973
|{{ISBNT|0-385-06478-0}}
|-
|2
|''A Multitude of Sins''
|January 1975
|{{ISBNT|0-385-06720-8}}
|-
|3
|''Oh, Bury Me Not''
|January 1976
|{{ISBNT|0-385-12078-8}}
|-
|4
|''Nothing's Certain but Death''
|January 1978
|{{ISBNT|0-385-13283-2}}
|-
|5
|''Seasons of Death''
|April 1981
|{{ISBNT|0-385-17413-6}}
|-
|6
|''Wake Up, Darlin' Corey''
|January 1984
|{{ISBNT|0-385-19292-4}}
|-
|7
|''Dead Matter''
| rowspan="2" |Fawcett
|May 29, 1993
|{{ISBNT|0-345-37821-0}}
|-
|8
|''King of the Mountain''
|November 30, 1994
|{{ISBNT|0-345-39019-9}}
|}

=== ''Phoenix Legacy'' (1981) ===
{| class="wikitable"
!{{Abbr|No.|Number}}
!Title
!Publisher
!Date
!ISBN
|-
|1
|''[[Sword of the Lamb]]''
| rowspan="3" |Berkley
|February 1981
|{{ISBNT|0-425-04746-6}}
|-
|2
|''[[Shadow of the Swan]]''
|July 1981
|{{ISBNT|0-425-04747-4}}
|-
|3
|''[[House of the Wolf (novel)|House of the Wolf]]''
|October 1981
|{{ISBNT|0-425-05058-0}}
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{ISFDB name|1948}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wren, M. K.}}
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American mystery writers]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Pseudonymous women writers]]
[[Category:Novelists from Oregon]]
[[Category:Novelists from Texas]]
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:American women science fiction and fantasy writers]]
[[Category:American women mystery writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]