Author Kate Ellis pronounced herself "terrified" at meeting an audience of readers in Dartmouth library. With 13 books to her credit, as well as a host of short stories in print, she is no stranger to these events - but this was the first time she had come to meet readers so close to the setting for her Wesley Peterson stories. She had nothing to fear, however, and received a warm welcome as she spoke and answered questions. Apologising for making Dartmouth into a "murder capital", she treated the audience to a brief preview of her next novel, due in 2007.

Kate was born and brought up in Liverpool and she studied drama in Manchester. She worked in teaching, marketing and accountancy before first enjoying writing success as a winner of the North West Playwrights competition. Crime and mystery stories have always fascinated her, as have medieval history and archaeology which she likes to incorporate in her books. She lives in North Cheshire, England, with her husband, two sons and an overweight cat called Vivaldi!

Kate's novels feature archaeology graduate Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson who fights crime in the "mean streets" (or should it be "mean lanes"?) of South Devon. Each story combines an intriguing contemporary murder mystery with a parallel historical case.

Kate has also written short stories for crime fiction anthologies and magazines. She is a member of the Crime Writers Association and she is currently working on her eleventh Wesley Peterson novel.