Notorious Female Murderer

Described as a ‘squat’ woman, who only spoke broken English, Ottilie Klimek came to the United States as an infant. Her family settled in Chicago, in a Polish community, where she continued to live when she became an adult. Tillie was married to her first husband, John Mitkiewicz, for 29 years, before his death in…

How well can we ever know someone?

  Dying to See You – or am I? When people ask what inspired my book, Dying to See You, I tell them a piece of paper. The usual response is, ‘Eh?’ but then I explain. Picture the scene. I’m in my office looking down at that piece of paper which is the sort of…

Women in Crime Fiction

Crime fiction became popular in an era when a woman’s place was believed to be in the home. As the genre grew so did the voice of women, when they were given the right to vote, and society began to accept their intelligence as well as their caregiving role. As the changes continued many writers…

My Writing Day

‘I’ve got a golf competition this weekend so I won’t be around much. Is that OK?’ my husband asks. What? ‘Of course it is. I’ll be fine.’ Am I the perfect wife? Not really. I’m actually relishing the thought of some time on my own and headspace to think and write. People ask what my…