I’m prepping to fly to San Diego for BOUCHERCON tomorrow! I’ll be moderating a Thursday morning panel on writing about the past from the vantage of today. So my prep has less to do with fashion decisions (well, there’s that too–how much black should a gal wear?) than reading the FANTASTIC books of our panelists. Here’s a little about these writers so you can see just how lucky I am to get to have this conversation:
MARIAH FREDERICKS was born, raised, and still lives in New York City. She graduated from Vassar College with a degree in history. She is the author of the Jane Prescott mystery series, which has twice been nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award. Her historical standalone, Anthony Award-nominated THE LINDBERGH NANNY is also a Macavity/Sue Feder nominee.
Born in England in 1965, TE (TIM) KINSEY’s Lady Hardcastle series debuted in 2014 with self-published short stories. A publishing deal with Thomas & Mercer led to more books, each meeting with success. Notable titles include “Death Around the Bend,” “A Picture of Murder,” and the recent A FIRE AT THE EXHIBITION in 2023. With some delays and spin-offs in between, due to a cancer diagnosis and brutal surgery, his work has still, consistently, captivated audiences. Tim lives outside Bristol with his wife, immersed in a home filled with drum kits, guitars, and Legos, all stored in the space where his children used to live.
LISA M. LANE is a historian and author of BEFORE THE TIME MACHINE. She is a semi-retired college professor who writes historical fiction, including cozy mysteries set in Victorian England, as well as non-fiction. Born in England but living in California most of her life, her work embraces the tension between historical fact and historical imagination. When she’s not researching and writing, she can be found pontificating about online pedagogy, gardening in root-bound soil, or watching classic movies.
KAREN ODDEN is a USA Today bestselling historical mystery author with a PhD from New York University. Her academic work explores 19th-century trauma narratives, influencing her love for writing mysteries that examine the past, including the award-winning novels “A Lady in the Smoke,” and “A Trace of Deceit.” Influenced by literary classics from her grandmother’s library, her stories explore true crime, family secrets, and political intrigue in 1870s London. She taught literature at the UW-Milwaukee and now lives in Phoenix. Her fifth book UNDER A VEILED MOON, featuring Scotland Yard inspector Michael Corravan was nominated this year for the Lefty, the Agatha, and the Anthony for best historical.
JOLIE TUNNELL is an award-winning and Amazon best-selling author who brings the past to life with suspenseful historical mysteries. She lives in San Diego with her husband, five kids, and a twenty-two-pound cat. Her Idyllwild mystery series features Miss Loveda Brown, a young protagonist who falls in love with a feisty small-town community in the heart of a big mountain. Jolie adds a Wild West flavor to her fast-paced historical whodunnits, a flickering romance, plenty of hidden villains, and turn-of-the-century sensibilities. Her most recent release is LOVEDA BROWN: OBITUARY.