Kathrine Willson is a historical fiction and crime noir author who likes her prose smart, her humor a little dry, and her murders (mostly) fictional. She writes stories that span centuries and crime scenes—from Gothic opera houses to smoky 1960s Los Angeles—all while keeping things PG enough for your grandparents and your teenage niece or nephew.

 

    Her writing career started with passing a notebook back and forth between herself and a pair of friends in high school, each of whom took a role in the story they collaborated on. Now she’s a librarian—because nothing feeds a love of fiction quite like living among the shelves. Today, she’s the author of two series: A Tale from the Darkness, a five-book historical and generational fiction saga inspired by The Phantom of the Opera, and The Darington Files, a noir-tinged crime series set in early 1960s Los Angeles featuring millionaire homicide detective Justin Darington. Think trench coats, typewriters, and a few smart remarks.

 

    Kathrine lives in Highland County, Ohio, where she balances writing with drawing, reading, piano playing (badly), and the very real and joyful job of being a grandma. She studied law enforcement in college—not to chase criminals, but to raise strong, savvy humans—and that experience tends to sneak into her crime fiction.

 

     Though she writes with humor and grit, she keeps her stories clean and accessible. As a Catholic, her faith sometimes influences the worldviews of her characters, though it rarely takes center stage. Her goal is always the same: to tell a good story that stays with you after the last page—preferably with a smirk or a shiver.