I.J. Parker was born and educated in Europe and turned to mystery writing after an academic career in the U.S. She has published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, winning the short story Shamus award in 2000. The Akitada series, about an eleventh century Japanese nobleman/detective, now consists of fourteen titles plus a short story collection. The books are available in print, audio format, and on Kindle and are translated into twelve languages. The two-volume historical novel THE HOLLOW REED is available on Kindle, and so is THE SWORD MASTER. These are set in twelfth century Japan during the Heike wars. An eighteenth century thriller, THE LEFT-HANDED GOD, is set in Europe and is also on Kindle and in print.