Area residents are invited to join the St. Margaret’s School community for a presentation by mystery writer Ted Blain on Tuesday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the school’s library on Water Lane. The program will include a reading from The Parent, his novel in progress, and a discussion about the process of writing fiction

Blain’s boarding school mystery, Passion Play, was a finalist for the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best First Mystery Novel by the Mystery Writers of America. He also is the author of the novel Love Cools, and of numerous short works that have been appeared in such publications as English Journal and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.

In his professional life, Blain heads the English Department at Woodberry Forest School in Orange, where he has taught since 1982. He completed an M.A. in creative writing at the University of Virginia under the direction of Ann Beattie, and earned his undergraduate degree with highest honors from Washington and Lee University.

The SMS Speakers Series is a series of free, public presentations sponsored by St. Margaret’s School. For more information, contact program coordinator Tobey Taliaferro at (804) 443-3357.