Lori Armstrong is a fourth generation South Dakotan. She left the firearms industry in 2000 to pursue her dream of writing crime/mystery fiction. The first book in the Julie Collins mystery series, BLOOD TIES was nominated for a 2005 Shamus Award for Best First Novel by Private Eye Writers of America. HALLOWED GROUND was nominated for a 2006 Shamus Award and won the 2007 WILLA Cather Literary Award. SHALLOW GRAVE was nominated for a 2008 High Plains Book Award and was a finalist for the 2008 WILLA Cather Literary Award. The 4th book in this series, SNOW BLIND, won the 2008 Shamus Award for Best Paperback Original. The first book in the Mercy Gunderson mystery series, NO MERCY, won the 2010 Shamus for Best Hardcover Novel and was a finalist for the WILLA Cather Literary Award. MERCY KILL, the second book in the series was released 1-11-11 from Touchstone(Simon and Schuster)MERCILESS, book 3 in the Mercy Gunderson series, will release Jan. 8th 2013 - and check out the short story free read SILENT MERCY on Dec. 4th 2012Lori lives in Rapid City, South Dakota. For more info visit the website: www.loriarmstrong.comIf you like your stories with more romance and steam, check out Lori Armstrong's alter ego ~ she also writes contemporary erotic western romances as Lorelei James ~ www.loreleijames.com