Award-winning author Terry Shames is the author of ten previous Samuel Craddock mysteries. As well as winning the Macavity Award for Best First Novel, A Killing at Cotton Hill was also shortlisted for The Strand Critics Award. The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake won the RT Critics Award for Best Mystery. Her books have also been shortlisted for Left Coast Crime Awards for Best Mystery. Terry grew up in Texas, and her Samuel Craddock series is set in the fictitious town of Jarrett Creek, which is based on the fascinating people, landscape and culture of the small town where her grandparents lived. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and on the board of Mystery Writers of America.