Major Works
Phil Hardwick. Photo by Nancy Jacobs 2007
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Letters from Lexington (2007)
- Sixth Inning in Southaven (2002)
- Cover-Up in Columbus (2001)
- Found in Flora (1999)
- Justice in Jackson (1999)
- Captured in Canton (1999)
- Newcomer in New Albany (1999)
- Vengeance in Vicksburg (1999)
- Conspiracy in Corinth (1999)
- Collision in Columbia (1998)
- Two Hours of Real Estate One Minute at a Time (1993)
Biography of Phil Hardwick
by Walt Goree (SHS)
Phil Hardwick was born on June 20, 1948. Early in life, Hardwick realized the power of literature as he read from the Progressive Farmer and the Readers’ Digest to his illiterate grandfather. This was the first step in Hardwick’s journey to becoming a writer. Later, when Hardwick was in the eleventh grade, he hurt his knee. Seemingly a setback because now he couldn’t play football, he took up journalism. His journalism teacher said that he was a born writer (Hardwick).
Walt Goree, SHS researcher
Hardwick harbored dreams of law enforcement so after high school he worked with the FBI while attending night school at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. In my interview with him, Hardwick said that nothing much related to writing happened while he was in college. Over the next several years, little happened to suggest that one day Hardwick would be an author. He joined the armed forces during which time he served as head of security for the presidential helicopter. Little by little, he began to gain attention as an investigator on the Mississippi Real Estate Commission (Hardwick). Then, in 1985, he was contacted by the Mississippi Business Journal and asked to write an article. Today he still writes regularly for that magazine. Now the time was right, Hardwick’s expertise in the fields of law enforcement, real estate, and writing, were all about to come together in a small Mississippi town called Flora.
Hardwick and others were attempting to come up with a way to promote the town of Flora’s tourism in a manner other than the usual boring pamphlets, billboards, and the like when they struck upon the idea of a book (promotional fiction), as Hardwick calls it (Frasier). The book set in the town of Flora not only gave information about the town, but it was also a book that had a great story as well. Thus was born Found in Flora. Well, the idea worked. Hardwick wrote a great mystery that promoted a great town. His work did not go unnoticed, and he was later approached by representatives from other towns, asking him to do for them what he had done for Flora. Out came the Mississippi Mysteries Series, a beautiful set of books, each set in and promoting a Mississippi town. To date (2000) he has written seven mystery books about towns in Mississippi. Hardwick is not just getting calls from towns in Mississippi any more. In an interview for the Daily Corinthian, Hardwick said, “…I’ve got some very large towns outside of Mississippi that have expressed an interest.
Author Phil Hardwick, photo by N. Jacobs
In addition to authoring books, as of this writing, Hardwick is vice president of Community and Economic Development for the Mississippi Valley Gas Company. He also teaches real estate as an adjunct faculty member at Millsaps College. That’s pretty much it for now, so what’s to come from Mr. Hardwick in the future? Only time will tell. (See UPDATE below).
2015 UPDATE:
Phil Hardwick was Coordinator of Capacity Development at the John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University. He is president of The Hardwick Company, which provides strategic planning, goal-setting, and related services to corporate and nonprofit clients. His last three novels (making a total of ten) are Cover-Up in Columbus, Sixth Inning in Southaven, and Letters from Lexington. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America.
Reviews
A Review of Conspiracy in Corinth
by Walt Goree (SHS)
In Conspiracy in Corinth, Phil Hardwick paints a vivid picture of a homey little town nestled in the northeast corner of Mississippi, a town filled with controversy. Jack Boulder, the best P.I. in the state, gets a troubling phone message. It’s from Pace McHatten Sr., the father of Boulder’s best friend in Vietnam, the man Boulder let die in his arms. Pace never forgave Boulder for this, but now as a prominent attorney, Pace needed the best P.I. there was to help clear one of his clients of murder. The relationship between Boulder and McHatten makes for an interesting subplot to this riveting mystery/thriller.
The plot thickens as Boulder smells a cover-up. Was this death a suicidal overdose of acetaminophen, as everyone seemed to think, was it a poisoning by a distraught and over controlled husband, or was it even acetaminophen that killed this woman at all? All this, coupled with great historical information on some of the local buildings and sights, and an addiction to banana pudding, makes for the best novella I’ve read in recent memory.
Related Websites
- Author Phil Hardwick’s home page.
- Mississippi State announces Phil Hardwick’s position with Stennis Institute.
- Phil Hardwick’s blog
Bibliography
- Hardwick, Phil. Telephone interview. April 17, 2000.
- Johnston, Jebb. “Murder Mystery Novella set in Corinth.” Daily Corinthian Apr. 11. 1999, late ed.: 1A-2A.
- Frasier, Jim. “Hardwick Writes a New Type of Thriller.”