Linda Barnes (edit name/settings)

From the author's website

Linda Barnes has written fifteen mystery novels, eleven featuring her 6'1" redheaded Boston private eye Carlotta Carlyle, and four featuring actor/detective Michael Spraggue, an amateur sleuth. In addition to best selling mysteries, she has also written award- winning plays and short stories.

Born and raised in Detroit, Barnes graduated cum laude from Boston University's School of Fine and Applied Arts, then went on to become a drama teacher and director at Chelmsford and Lexington, Massachusetts schools. While teaching drama, Barnes wrote two plays, the award-winning Wings and Prometheus.

Barnes's celebrated Carlotta Carlyle first appeared in 1985 with the award-winning short story Lucky Penny. Since then, Barnes has written ten Carlotta Carlyle mystery novels: A Trouble of Fools (1987), The Snake Tattoo (1989), the Boston Globe bestsellers Coyote (1991) and Steel Guitar (1993), Snapshot (1994), Hardware (1995) and Cold Case (1997), which also appeared on The Boston Globe bestseller list. Flashpoint came out in 1999. The Big Dig was published in 2002, followed by Deep Pockets in 2004.

Among her many honors, Barnes won the Anthony Award and nominations for both the Shamus Award and the American Mystery Award for Best Short Story for "Lucky Penny" in 1985. In 1987 she received the American Mystery Award for Best Private Eye Novel and nominations for the Edgar, Anthony, and Shamus awards for A Trouble of Fools. The Snake Tattoo was named one of the outstanding books of 1990 by The London Times.

Linda Barnes lives near Boston with her husband and son. She can be reached at www.lindabarnes.com.