I’ve spent most of my life covering the news as a journalist. I worked at the New York Post, New York Daily News, Star magazine and NBC News. I was there for all of the big crime stories over the past several decades: Son of Sam, O. J. Simpson, John… Read more
All eyes are on Windsor Castle with the wedding of Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle just days away. In the run-up to the festivities, the Queen and her court attended The Royal Windsor Horse Show, held on the private grounds of Windsor Castle. A headline from an Australian… Read more
Almost two decades ago, I was sitting at my computer looking out the window at my horses grazing in the pasture. The dogs were sleeping, and the cats were plotting anarchy, but I had bigger problems. I’d finished my last book contract, and I was in that delicious place where… Read more
Cornwall, on the rugged west coast of England, 1999. Laura and Kit are at a festival to see a total eclipse of the sun. In the hushed aftermath, they interrupt something terrible. Back in London, Laura can’t forget what she saw. Months later, when she is the star witness in… Read more
I started writing A Baby’s Bones as a fantasy novel, like my other books. It had a present-day mystery investigating the “science” of magic used to save a dying child and a historical strand following the exploits of Edward Kelley, the 16th-century alchemist, as he evolved the sorcery needed. I had started… Read more
One of my favorite things about reading is traveling to the various locations that authors have created as their setting. To me, there is no better adventure than looking through the eyes of the author and characters as they take you through a place and time they’ve grown up in… Read more
There are a few female mystery writers that you’ll see on most “who inspired me” lists—and for good reason. The idea of a female professional detective didn’t get rolling in the genre until the 1970s, and those of us writing today owe a huge debt of gratitude to pioneering writers… Read more
Thirty years is a long time to go without ever really speaking your mind, but that’s precisely what a law enforcement career is. It’s about keeping your opinion to yourself and doing your job. To be sure, Police Chiefs get to pontificate constantly, even though their career path often involves… Read more
Because I write stories set in the here and now—and because, at least in some ways, I hew to the notion of writing what you know—I sometimes have to do some fancy dancing to avoid seeming to be stealing from someone’s life. Or, in the case of my French village… Read more
If you’ve ever watched the Great British Baking Show, you know how much the British enjoy their sweet treats. And most of all, they love their cakes, which is perfectly understandable since they’ve been baking cakes of one kind or another since the Middle Ages. According to food historians, however,… Read more
