Marian K. Riedy


I was born in a small-town hospital in Kansas. It was just before they installed air-conditioning. My mother said it was hotter than the hinges of Hades on that day in September. That’s why I always prefer summer and hate winter, she said.
As is usual in small, public schools, I did it all: played in the marching band, was a cheerleader (that still amazes me), was editor of the annual yearbook. Title IX wasn’t passed until the end of my senior year, so we had no girls’ sports in my schools. I’m bitter about that. I never did learn how to dribble a darn basketball. I faked it for years in a women’s league when I moved to D.C., though.
College in the 70’s was, well, I tell my nieces and nephews that “sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll” was not just a slogan. Still, I managed to graduate summa cum laude with a 4.0 gpa and got into Harvard Law, a terrific experience.
I got a great job at a big law firm in D.C. After a year or so I quit because I was bored. I picked up and traveled around the world with a friend for almost two years, which was an even better experience than Harvard.
I’ve tried my hand at several professional ventures, legal and otherwise. The legal work has turned out just fine, but I am, sadly, a serial failed entrepreneur. It was fun trying, though.
I’m enjoying writing fiction in my most recent venture, untethered from the constraints of legal precedent and statutory interpretation. I hope you’ll try and enjoy my legal thrillers!

With its courtroom drama, twisty plot, deception, blackmail, and a body in the wrong grave, Surprise Witness is a “head-scratching whodunit” of a legal thriller. In the novel, an unexpected revelation from a client leads the lawyers at A. Stein & Associates to discover a dark thread, veiled in secrets, connecting three war veterans to a life-altering encounter in the jungles of Vietnam. The attorneys must uncover the truth of what happened to stave off disaster, sending them on a wild pursuit of the surprising witnesses to it all.
New Book Released 6/16/22