Joan Hess is the author of the critically acclaimed Maggody mysteries, including the Pocket Books paperbacks Muletrain to Maggody, Maggody and the Moonbeams, Misery Loves Maggody, and murder@maggody.com, nominated for the prestigious Nero Wolfe Award. She has received numerous awards, including the American Mystery Award, the Agatha Award, the Drood Review Readers' Award, and the Macavity Award. A former president of the American Crime Writers League, she is currently president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance, as well as a member of Sisters in Crime. Joan Hess lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.