Janet Evanovich was born on April 22, 1943 in South River, New Jersey. She received a bachelor's degree in art from Douglas College, which is part of Rutgers University. She was working as a secretary for a temporary employment agency when she sold her first romance novel, Hero at Large, which was published in 1987 under the pseudonym Steffie Hall. She went on to write 12 romances in five years using her real name before beginning to write mysteries. Her first mystery novel, One for the Money, became the first book in the Stephanie Plum series. Her title in this series, Top Secret Twenty-One, made The New York Times Best Seller List in 2014. She is also the author of the Alex Barnaby… series, A Between-the-Numbers Novel series, Lizzy and Diesel series, and Full series with Charlotte Hughes. She has also written several books with Lee Goldberg including The Heist and The Chase.Linda Fairstein was born in Mt. Vernon, New York on May 5, 1947. She received a B. A. in English literature from Vassar College in 1969 and a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1972. She was appointed to the staff of the New York County District Attorney's office in 1972. She investigated crimes of sexual assault and domestic violence. She retired in 2002. She is the author of the Alexandra Cooper Mystery series and one nonfiction book entitled Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape. In 2014 her title, Terminal City made The New York Times Best Seller List.
Otto Penzler owns the Mysterious Bookshop in New York & founded the Mysterious Press & Otto Penzler Books. He has written & edited several books, including the Edgar-winning "Encyclopedia of Mystery & Detection".
THOMAS H. COOK was born in Fort Payne, Alabama. He has been nominated for Edgar Awards seven times in five different categories. He received the Best Novel Edgar, the Barry for Best Novel, and has been nominated for numerous other awards.