Featured Fiction Guests.
Julia Bartz
Julia Bartz is the New York Times bestselling author of THE WRITING RETREAT, a practicing therapist, and a creative coach. Her fiction writing has appeared in The South Dakota Review, InDigest Magazine, and more. She lives in Brooklyn.
Connect with her on social media @JuliaBartz
Photo by Nina Subin
Alafair Burke
Founding Honorary Co-Chair
Alafair Burke is a New York Times bestselling author whose most recent novels include FIND ME, THE BETTER SISTER, THE WIFE, and THE EX which was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel.
She has also been the co-author of the bestselling UNDER SUSPICION series with Mary Higgins Clark. She currently serves as the President of Mystery Writers of America, the first woman of color to be elected to that position.
A former prosecutor, she now teaches criminal law and lives in Manhattan and East Hampton. For more about Alafair Burke, visit alafairburke.com.
Photo by Sam Sauter Photography
S. A. Cosby
Guest of Honor
S. A. Cosby is an award-winning writer from Southeastern Virginia. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers ALL THE SINNERS BLEED and RAZORBLADE TEARS, and BLACKTOP WASTELAND, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, The Anthony, The Barry, The Macavity, the ITW novel of the year, was also a New York Times Notable Book, and was named a best book of the year by NPR, The Guardian, and Library Journal, among others.
He resides in Gloucester with an unruly cat named Flipper.
Photo: Sam Sauter Photography
Will Dean
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands of the United Kingdom. After studying law at the London School of Economics and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden where he built a wooden house in a vast forest, and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes.
His debut novel, DARK PINES, was selected for Zoe Ball’s book club on ITV, shortlisted for the National Book Award (UK), The Guardian’s Not the Booker prize, and was named a Telegraph book of the year.
He is also the author of THE LAST ONE, FIRST BORN, THE LAST THING TO BURN, which was shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and THE CHAMBER.
A. J. Finn
founding Honorary Co-Chair
A. J. Finn lived in England for many years before returning to his native New York.
His debut novel, THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, has been published in more than forty languages and sold millions of copies worldwide. In 2021 it was adapted for the screen in a huge film starring Amy Adams and Gary Oldman.
His latest book, END OF STORY, has just been published.
Photo by Jacob Smith
Ashley Flowers
Guest of Honor
Ashley Flowers is Founder and Chief Creative Officer of audiochuck, the award-winning, independent media and podcast production company. She is also the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, ALL GOOD PEOPLE HERE.
Audiochuck is known for its standout content and storytelling across different genres, including true crime, fiction, comedy, and more. As CCO, she works with her team to create an overarching content strategy and vision for the network of shows and company growth. Ashley also hosts several audiochuck shows, including top-rated podcasts Crime Junkie, The Deck, and The Deck Investigates. At the core of the company and all its podcasts, Ashley and her team are committed to developing responsible true crime content.
Ashley is passionate about advocacy work and established the nonprofit Season of Justice in 2020 to provide financial resources in order to help solve cold cases.
Flowers was born and raised in Indiana, where she lives with her husband, her daughter, and their beloved dog, Chuck. She received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Services from Arizona State University.
Janice Hallett
Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office, and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea.
A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NETHERBARD, and co-wrote the feature film RETREAT.
She lives in London and is the author of THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALPERTON ANGELS, THE APPEAL, THE CHRISTMAS APPEAL, and THE TWYFORD CODE.
Jennifer Hillier
Jennifer Hillier is the USA Today, Toronto Star, and The Globe and Mail bestselling author of THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK, described as “an intoxicating thrill ride” by The New York Times and “propulsive and chilling” by People magazine. It’s a Book of the Month Club selection, an Indigo Top Ten Best Book of the Year, an Amazon Editor’s Spotlight Pick, a Loan Stars pick, and her third consecutive novel to be honored as a LibraryReads pick.
She is also the author of six other psychological thrillers. Her USA Today bestselling novel LITTLE SECRETS is currently being adapted for Peacock by Tish Cyrus’s Hopetown Entertainment, writer Melissa Scrivner Love and Universal Television, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Anthony Award.
JAR OF HEARTS won the ITW Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel and was also shortlisted for the Anthony and Macavity Awards.
Ragnar Jónasson
Ragnar Jónasson is an international award-winning author, with over four million books sold in 36 territories. His books have been number one bestsellers in Germany, where he had three books on the top ten of the Spiegel bestseller list at the same time, as well as on Amazon Kindle in the UK, Canada and Australia.
His books are frequent number one crime fiction bestsellers in France, and in 2021 he became the first Icelandic author to enter The Sunday Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.
His series, the DARK ICELAND series, and the HULDA series, are being developed for television by CBS Studios/Stampede and Warner Bros. respectively.
His most recent novel is REYKJAVIK, which he co-wrote with Iceland’s Prime Minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir.
Jean Kwok
Jean Kwok is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of GIRL IN TRANSLATION, MAMBO IN CHINATOWN, SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE, and, most recently, THE LEFTOVER WOMAN. Her work has been published in twenty countries and is taught in universities, colleges, and high schools across the world.
She has been selected for numerous honors, including the American Library Association Alex Award, the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award and the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award international shortlist.
She received her bachelor's degree from Harvard University and earned an MFA from Columbia University. She is fluent in Chinese, Dutch, and English, and divides her time between the Netherlands and New York City.
Photo by Nina Subin
Angie Kim
Angie Kim moved as a preteen from Seoul, South Korea, to the suburbs of Baltimore. After graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy, she studied philosophy at Stanford University and attended Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Her debut novel, MIRACLE CREEK, won the Edgar Award and the ITW Thriller Award, and was named one of the 100 best mysteries and thrillers of all time by Time, and one of the best books of the year by Time, The Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, and the Today show.
HAPPINESS FALLS, her second novel, was an instant New York Times bestseller and a book club pick for Good Morning America, Barnes & Noble, Belletrist, and Book of the Month Club.
Vanessa Lillie
Vanessa Lillie is the USA Today bestselling author of BLOOD SISTERS, a new series centered on the stories of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, which was a Target Book Club pick and GMA Book Club Buzz Pick, as well as a best mystery of the year from the Washington Post, Amazon Editor’s and Reader’s Digest.
She’s the creator and coauthor of the # 1 Audible Charts bestseller, YOUNG RICH WIDOWS series, set in Providence, RI where she lives, with the recently released paperback, and sequel, DESPERATE DEADLY WIDOWS. Her other bestselling thrillers are LITTLE VOICES and FOR THE BEST.
Originally from Miami, Oklahoma, she is a proud citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She hosts an Instagram live show chatting with crime fiction authors ‘Twas the Night Before Book Launch and was a columnist for the Providence Journal.
Photo by Ashley Elston
Megan Miranda
Megan Miranda is the New York Times bestselling author of ALL THE MISSING GIRLS; THE PERFECT STRANGER; THE LAST HOUSE GUEST, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick; THE GIRL FROM WIDOW HILLS; SUCH A QUIET PLACE; THE LAST TO VANISH; and THE ONLY SURVIVORS. She has also written several books for young adults.
She grew up in New Jersey, graduated from MIT, and lives in North Carolina with her husband and two children.
Follow @MeganLMiranda on Twitter and Instagram, @AuthorMeganMiranda on Facebook, or visit MeganMiranda.com
Photo by Sam McIntosh
Chris Pavone
Chris Pavone is the author of five international thrillers, including THE EXPATS, winner of both the Edgar and Anthony Awards.
His novels have appeared on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal; are in development for film and television; and have been translated into two dozen languages.
Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Yrsa Sigurdardottir is the author of the bestselling THORA GUDMUNDSDOTTIR crime series and several stand-alone thrillers. She was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1963 and works as a civil engineer. She made her crime fiction debut in 2005 with LAST RITUALS, the first installment in the THORA GUDMUNDSDOTTIR series, and has been translated into more than 30 languages.
Her work stands ‘comparison with the finest contemporary crime writing anywhere in the world’ according to The Times Literary Supplement. The second installment in the THORA GUDMUNDSDOTTIR series, MY SOUL TO TAKE, was shortlisted for the 2010 Shamus Award.
In 2011 her stand-alone horror novel I REMEMBER YOU was awarded the Icelandic Crime Fiction Award and was nominated for The Glass Key, and has been made into a film starring Jóhannes Haukur by ZikZak Filmworks.
In 2015, THE SILENCE OF THE SEA won the Petrona Award for the year’s best Scandinavian crime novel, and THE LEGACY, the first novel in the FREYJA and HULDAR series, was nominated for The Glass Key and won the Icelandic Crime Fiction Award.
All of her books have been European bestsellers.
Photo by Emily Tirella
Peter Swanson
Peter Swanson is the author of seven novels, including THE KIND WORTH KILLING, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger; HER EVERY FEAR, an NPR book of the year; BEFORE SHE KNEW HIM, and EIGHT PERFECT MURDERS.
His books have been translated into 30 languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine.
He lives on the North Shore of Massachusetts, where he is at work on his next novel.
Photo by Jeremy Cowart
Brad Thor
Guest of Honor
Brad Thor is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of now twenty-three thrillers, including RISING TIGER, BACKLASH (one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of the Year), SPYMASTER (declared by The Washington Times as “one of the all-time best thriller novels”), THE LAST PATRIOT (nominated best thriller of the year by the International Thriller Writers Association), BLOWBACK (one of the “Top 100 Killer Thrillers of All Time” by NPR), and THE LIONS OF LUCERNE.
Known for his innovative plots and extensive knowledge of intelligence, special operations, and terrorist communities, Brad has appeared on FOX News Channel, CNN, CNN Headline News, MSNBC, TheBlaze, ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS to discuss terrorism and current events, as well as how closely his novels of international intrigue parallel the real threats facing the world today.
Thor was recruited into the Department of Homeland Security’s “Red Cell” program: an elite group of writers and artists commissioned to brainstorm terrorist scenarios for the U.S. government. “What I developed there stays there – that was the deal,” Thor states. “That said, the ideas I come up with for my novels are created in the same way the scenarios for the Red Cell Program are.”
To collect valuable research for his novels, Thor has traveled around the world, including a trip to Afghanistan where he shadowed a black ops team. “It was dangerous, but very exciting at the same time,” Thor says. “It also lends a tremendous amount of authenticity and detail to my thrillers that just wouldn’t have come through had I not been there to see and experience their world first-hand.”
Wendy Walker
Wendy Walker is the author of the psychological suspense novels ALL IS NOT FORGOTTEN, EMMA IN THE NIGHT, THE NIGHT BEFORE, DON’T LOOK FOR ME, WHAT REMAINS and AMERICAN GIRL. Her novels have been translated into 23 foreign languages, topped bestseller lists both nationally and abroad, and have been optioned for both television and film.
Wendy holds degrees from Brown University and Georgetown Law School, and has worked in finance and several areas of the law. As a former family law attorney with training in child advocacy, Wendy draws from her knowledge of trauma and psychology to write compelling and complex characters and stories.
Photo by Gemma Day Photography
Ruth Ware
Guest of Honor
Ruth Ware worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language, and a press officer before settling down as a full-time writer.
She is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of IN A DARK, DARK WOOD; THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10; THE LYING GAME; THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY; THE TURN OF THE KEY; ONE BY ONE; THE IT GIRL and, most recently, ZERO DAYS.
Ruth lives with her family in Sussex, on the south coast of England.
Tessa Wegert
Tessa Wegert is the author of the popular Shana Merchant novels, which include DEATH IN THE FAMILY, THE DEAD SEASON, DEAD WIND, and THE KIND TO KILL.
Tessa grew up in Quebec and now lives with her husband and children in Coastal Connecticut, where she studies martial arts and is co-president of Sisters in Crime CT.
Ashley Winstead
Ashley Winstead is the author of IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE, THE LAST HOUSEWIFE, MIDNIGHT IS THE DARKEST HOUR, FOOL ME ONCE, and THE BOYFRIEND CANDIDATE. Her books have been Library Read picks, Loan Star picks, Best of Amazon picks, and Best of Apple Books picks, and have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, BookPage, and Library Journal.
Her work has been covered by The New York Times, The Washington Post, CrimeReads, Parade, Cosmopolitan, Good Morning America, Good Housekeeping, The Seattle Times, and The Southern Review, among other outlets. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages worldwide and optioned for film/television.
Ashley holds a Ph.D. in contemporary American literature and lives in Houston.
