Twenty years ago, Clella Bay Murray authored a mystery novel, A Pox on You, just one her of several works of fiction—but writing wasn’t her first career.
Born in Albia, Iowa, in 1930, Clella studied science at Smith College and earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, where she researched the atomic effects on chromosomes.
Clella went to work at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, where she met and married fellow researcher Richard B. Murray in 1956. They moved to Delaware, where Richard joined the University of Delaware’s Department of Physics, and raised two daughters, Ada and Annette.
When Richard became provost at University of Delaware, Clella turned to writing. Her mystery series features the fiction Noir group that resolves international incidents out of the public eye. Her daughters inspired her humorous magic series, including Matrimonial Magic and Mayonnaise. Her first children’s book, Dangerous Journey, is based on a true 18th-century journal written by her great-great-grandmother.
Clella’s writing life has been far from solitary. She organized church and community groups and Girl Scouts. And she’s still an organizer—including a book club at Jenner’s Pond, where she has lived since 2011.