Joe C. Ellis

About the Author

Joe C. Ellis, a big fan of the North Carolina’s Outer Banks, grew up in the Ohio Valley. A native of Martins Ferry, Ohio, he attended West Liberty State College in West Virginia and went on to earn his Master’s Degree in education from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. After a thirty-six year career as an art teacher, he retired from the Martins Ferry City School District.

Currently, he is the pastor for the Scotch Ridge Presbyterian Church and the Colerain Presbyterian Church.

His writing career began in 2001 with the publication of his first novel, The Healing Place. In 2007 he began the Outer Banks Murder Series with the publication of Murder at Whalehead (2010), Murder at Hatteras (2011), Murder on the Outer Banks (2012), and the latest installment, Murder at Ocracoke (2017).

Joe credits family vacations on the Outer Banks with the inspiration for these stories. Joe and his wife, Judy, have three children and five grandsons. Although the kids have flown the nest, they get together often and always make it a priority to vacation on the Outer Banks whenever possible. He comments, “It’s a place on the edge of the world, a place of great beauty and sometimes danger—the ideal setting for murder mysteries.”