Faye Kellerman, Author Biographies

Dr. Faye Kellerman was born Faye Mauder, in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 31, 1952, the oldest of six children. Most of her childhood was spent in Sherman Oaks, California. Faye’s mother, Anne Steinberg, haled from a very prominent family in St. Louis, MO. Faye’s father, Oscar Mauder, was a U.S. Army veteran and served in World War II.

Faye says that as a young girl she mostly wrote plays even though she was slightly dyslexic. She attended UCLA and graduated with a B.A. in Theoretical Mathematics in 1974 and in 1978 received a Doctorate in Dental Surgery.

Faye married Jonathan Kellerman, a psychologist and suspense writer. They have four children, Jesse, Rachel, Ilana and Aliza. They make their homes in Los Angeles, California and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Faye has been a published novelist of mostly suspense and mystery since 1986. She has co-authored two books with her husband, Jonathan, and most recently a young adult novel with youngest daughter, Aliza. Her oldest son is also a published novelist.

The summer of 2009 was very busy. She, and Aliza, went on a book tour and signing together for their novel, “Prism.” Faye also had two other novels hit the book stores, “Mercedes Coffin,” in July and “Blindmans Bluff,” in August.

Faye says her favorite writers are, of course, her husband and son. She says she likes the old hard-boiled mystery writers, such as Ross MacDonald and Raymond Chandler. She also enjoys novels by Sue Grafton and Elmore Leonard, but her favorite is James Cain. Faye also loves to read biographies, non fiction and historical fiction.

Faye treats her writing as a job first. She says that for her writing is not a creative endeavor, but the act of writing brings out the creativity. She still has to juggle home and hearth just like any working woman.

Faye and her family are practicing Orthodox Jews. She brings to life all the challenges of an Orthodox Jew in modern society in her novels. She says that she enjoys writing about and sharing her culture.

Why does she write crime novels? Faye said in an interview, “There is nothing quite as compelling as murder. It addresses the darkest recesses of human nature much in the same way religion does. One deals with the corporeal, the other deals with the spiritual.”

Faye and Jonathan are the only couple thus far to have novels on the New York Times Best Seller list at the same time. Faye said it was through Jonathan’s patient encouragement, early on, that she became writer.

Series:

Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus:

The Ritual Bath (Peter Decker / Rina Lazarus) (1986)

Sacred and Profane (1987)

Milk and Honey (1990)

Day of Atonement (Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Mysteries) (1991)

False Profit (1992)

Grievous Sin (1993)

Sanctuary (1994)

Justice (1995)

Prayers for the Dead (1996)

(1997)

Jupiter's Bones: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels) (1998)

Stalker (2000)

The Forgotten (2000)

Stone Kiss (2002)

Street Dreams (2003)

(2007)

The Mercedes Coffin CD (2008)

Blindman's Bluff: A Decker and Lazarus Novel (2009)

Hangman (2010)

Stand Alone Novels:

The Quality of Mercy (1989)

Moon Music (Paperback) (1998)

Naked Came the Phoenix (2001) (with Nevada Barr, Mary Jane Clark, Diana Gabaldon, JA Jance, Anne Perry, Nanct Pickard, JD Robb, Lisa Scotoline, Marcia Talley)

Straight into Darkness (2005)

(2009) (with Aliza Kellerman)

Omnibus:

Ritual Bath/Sacred Profane (2007)

Double Homicide (2004) (with Jonathan Kellerman)

Capital Crimes (2006) (with Jonathan Kellerman)

Short Story Collections:

The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights (2006)

Anthologies Edited:

Women of Mystery (1992) (with Mary Higgins Clark and Cynthia Manson)