According to Literacy Volunteers of Pitt County — which for 20 years has strived to improve the literacy skills of local adults — one in four adults can't write a letter or follow directions on packages. Tasks such as balancing a checkbook and paying bills can be a struggle without literacy skills.

The third annual Enriching Minds program will raise money to help the organization combat those problems locally. The event will include a "Whodunit" seminar from 9-10:30 a.m. Wednesday with mystery writer and North Carolina native Margaret Maron.

Following the seminar, Maron will speak at the "It's a Mystery Brunch" from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

As the author of 22 books, Maron's work has been translated into seven languages and is included on reading lists about contemporary Southern literature. Her books have been nominated for every major award in the American mystery field.

She is a founding member and the third president of Sisters in Crime, a world-wide organization for women mystery authors. She is also a past president of the American Crime Writers League and current president of Mystery Writers of America.

Maron grew up on a farm near Raleigh but also lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., and in Italy when she married a naval officer. A few years later, she and her husband, Joe, returned to North Carolina.

For the first 12 years of her professional writing career, Maron wrote short stories until the market dried up in the late 1970s.

Initially intimidated by the concept of writing novels, she started by doubling a short story three times until she had enough to call it a book.

Maron then began to conceive a series of works based on her Southern upbringing. "Bootlegger's Daughter," the first of those novels, was a Washington Post best-seller.

The series follows the life of the main character, Deborah Knott.

In "Bootlegger's Daughter," Deborah is the youngest child and only daughter of ex-bootlegger Kezzie Knott. Deborah runs for district court judge in rural North Carolina while looking into an old unsolved murder.

In addition to its best-seller status, "Bootlegger's Daughter" won the Agatha Christie Mystery award in 1993.

Maron has since added numerous awards to her collection, including the 1996 Agatha Award for "Up Jumps The Devil" and the 2000 Agatha for "Storm Track."

Her latest novel, "Winter's Child," released in August, is the 12th Deborah Knott novel.

Prior to the Enriching Minds event, Maron will read from "A Winter's Child" at a VIP reception from 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Parker-Kennybrook Books and Acasia's Tipsy Teapot.

The novel is about a wife-beating husband who is found dead in his pickup truck. For Judge Deborah Knott, it means her husband of one month, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, has a murder to solve.

Want to know more about "Winter's Child?"

Then you'll have to get the book, which, by the way, attendees receive as part of the Enriching Minds "Whodunit" seminar.

It'll even be autographed by Maron.

If you Go:

The third annual Enriching Minds lecture series will be held Wednesday at the Hilton Greenville, 207 S.W. Greenville Blvd.

Margaret Maron, author of 22 novels and two collections of short stories, will speak at the event presented by Literacy Volunteers-Pitt County.

A "Whodunit" seminar is scheduled from 9-10:30 a.m. and includes an autographed copy of "Winter's Child." The cost is $85. The "It's a Mystery Brunch" is planned from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is $45. The price for both is $115.

A VIP reception with Maron is planned from 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Parker-Kennybrook Books & Acasia's Tipsy Teapot. Maron will read excerpts from her book and auction a cameo in her next novel. Tickets are $20. For tickets and more information, call 353-6578.

Deborah Knott series

1. "Bootlegger's Daughter"

2. "Southern Discomfort"

3. "Shooting at Loon"

4. "Up Jumps the Devil"

5. "Killer Market"

6. "Home Fires"

7. "Storm Track"

8. "Uncommon Clay"

9. "Slow Dollar"

10. "High Country Fall"

11. "Rituals of the Season"

12. "Winter's Child"

Sigrid Harald series

1. "One Coffee With"

2. "Death of a Butterfly"

3. "Death in Blue Folders"

4. "The Right Jack"

5. "Baby Doll Games"

6. "Corpus Christmas"

7. "Past Imperfect"

8. "Fugitive Colors"

Non-series

1. "Bloody Kin," a Deborah Knott prequel

2. "Shoveling Smoke," collected short stories

3. "Suitable for Hanging," more collected short stories

4. "Last Lessons of Summer"

Contact features writer Kelley Kirk-Swindell at 329-9596 or kkirkswindell@coxnc.com.