Janet Dawson

Janet Dawson began her life of crime with the award-winning Kindred Crimes, which features Oakland private eye Jeri Howard, who has now sleuthed her way through 14 cases. The most recent is The Things We Keep, which involves two skulls in a Navy footlocker and crimes that go back decades.

She also writes the Jill McLeod series, with her inquisitive Zephyrette riding the rails on the California Zephyr in the early 1950s. The first in the series is Death Rides the Zephyr and the most recent, Death Above the Line. Another series features Kay Dexter, a geriatric care manager who works with elderly clients and their families in a small mountain city in California. The first in that series is The Sacrificial Daughter. Other publications include a suspense novel, What You Wish For; a novella, But Not Forgotten; and numerous short stories, including Macavity winner Voice Mail.

She calls California home and has worked as a reporter and Navy journalist. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and writes full time. In addition to writing and getting lost in research rabbit holes, she enjoys gardening, the theatre, music and museums. She also denies being a crazy cat lady.