Lorraine (Viscardi) Murray grew up in Miami. She graduated from the University of Florida with graduate degrees in English and philosophy and then taught both subjects in college. In her forties she finally got serious about pursuing her dream of writing and left teaching to become a free-lance writer. Today she is a columnist with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Georgia Bulletin. Her column in The Georgia Bulletin won a first-place award in national competition from the Catholic Press Association in 2014. She has written eight books so far, including a biography of Flannery O'Connor ("The Abbess of Andalusia"). She also enjoys writing cozy mysteries: "Death in the Choir," "Death of a Liturgist," and "Death Dons a Mask." They all feature Francesca Bibbo, Tubs the cat, and a hamster named Ignatius. Lorraine lives in Decatur with her husband, and when she is not hunkered down at the computer, she likes to bake bread, watch hummingbirds, grow orchids, and chase squirrels out of the garden.