Linda Barnes

I was born in Detroit; I always say it's where I learned about crime, but I mean no disrespect to a great city. It's also where I learned to love Motown music and do the Stroll. Came to Boston for college, and like so many, stayed, awed by the Atlantic Ocean and accessible public transportation. I still love walking Boston's cobbled streets, riding the T, breathing the history. I started writing while teaching high school theater. Required to enter a one-act play festival sponsored by the Boston Globe, I posted the cast list before I selected the play. (I had great students that year, and 12 of them certainly deserved to be in the festival cast.) When I couldn't find a one-act with 12 roles, I had to write one myself. The festival was a competition, and darned if we didn't keep winning, right up until the state finals, where a man introduced himself to me and inquired whether he might publish that play. I said yes, wrote more plays, then segued into crime fiction. My first Carlotta Carlyle short story, "Lucky Penny," won an Anthony Award. The first Carlyle novel, A TROUBLE OF FOOLS, was nominated for an Edgar and a Shamus, and won the American Mystery Award. Eleven books later, the most recent Carlyle, LIE DOWN WITH THE DEVIL, was named one of the Best Mysteries of 2008 by Publisher's Weekly. In April my first stand alone novel, THE PERFECT GHOST, comes out. It was exciting to work with brand new characters in a wonderfully scenic Cape Cod locale. Please check my website at lindabarnes.com for upcoming appearances and follow me on Facebook.