Jessie Chandler

Jessie Chandler was born in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, and raised primarily by a single mother, her father having died before she was born. She spent part of her early life with her grandparents in Siren, Wisconsin, then lived with her school teacher mother in the Minneapolis – Saint Paul metro area until taking off to attend St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where she received a bachelor's degree in journalism. She met her long-time partner, Betty Chandler, over two decades ago, and they were finally able to marry in Iowa in 2010.

A former police officer, Chandler has worked in management at both Borders Books and True Colors Bookstore in Minneapolis, previously known as Amazon Bookstore Cooperative. Currently she spends her days writing and running a small, home-based business.

She is the author of the Shay O'Hanlon Caper series, the Operation series, and the Quest series. Her debut novel, Bingo Barge Murder, won the Golden Crown Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award. Hide and Snake Murder, the second novel in the series, won a Golden Crown Goldie Award and an Independent Publisher Book Award for LGBT fiction. Hide and Snake Murder and the third in the series, Pickle in the Middle Murder, were both finalists, and Chip Off the Ice Block Murder, the fourth Shay O'Hanlon book, won the LGBT fiction category of the 2014 USA Book Awards. Chip Off the Ice Block Murder was also a finalist in both the mystery category of the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards and the 2015 Golden Crown Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award. Blood Money Murder, the fifth in the Shay series, was a 2017 Lambda Literary Award finalist. Quest for Redemption (Feb 2020) won the LGBTQ American Fiction Award.

Chandler lives in central Minnesota with her wife, partners in crime, three mutts, Nato, Fozzy Bear and Ollie. In the fall and winter, Jessie writes, and spends her summers selling T-shirts and other assorted trinkets to unsuspecting conference and festival goers. You can visit her at www.jessiechandler.com