Kelli Stanley

"[3] Stanley was a graduate student in Classics at San Francisco State University when she wrote the novel, and labeled this first series as "Roman noir,"[4] a pun on the French literary term for “black novel,” a unique combination of historical setting and hardboiled style.

[7] The first novel in the Miranda Corbie mystery series, City of Dragons is set in 1940 San Francisco, particularly Chinatown,[8] and tackles issues relating to the Second Sino-Japanese War.

[9] Stanley has said that she wanted to create a femme fatale as a hero, playing tribute to noir conventions while at the same time challenging them.

[18] Stanley's first contemporary fiction, a short story about the 2008 financial meltdown entitled "Survivor", is available in the "Scoundrels" anthology in both print and e-book formats.

The city and county of San Francisco awarded Stanley a Certificate of Honor for her invention of the "Roman noir" subgenre, and Nox Dormienda went on to win the Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award for best historical mystery published in 2008, despite its limited print run as a small-press book.

[19][20] City of Dragons received early praise from several notable writers, including Lee Child, Linda Fairstein, Robert B. Parker, George Pelecanos and Otto Penzler,[21] and was published to high critical acclaim: three starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal, an RT Book Review Top Pick, an Indie Next Pick from the American Booksellers Association, and a Killer Book from the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.

[22] Crime fiction critic Tom Nolan of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote in a review dated March 28, 2010, that "Stanley, winner (for a previous book set in ancient Rome) of the Bruce Alexander Award for best historical mystery, knows how to bring the past to life: not only with a wealth of references to old buildings and politics and popular culture, but with thoughts and attitudes, dialogue and gestures, that seem both true to another time and as spontaneous as right this minute.

[23] Oline Cogdill of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel praised on February 21, 2010: "Kelli Stanley's riveting new series about 1940s San Francisco private investigator Miranda Corbie revels in the character's uniqueness without resorting to cliches ...

Stanley never misses a beat as she also shows San Francisco's hidden corners, seething emotions in the days before WWII.

"Books to Die For" is edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke, and is published in the UK by Hodder and Stoughton and in the US by Washington Square Press.

As a graduate student, Stanley published an article on the sociological and cultural impact of Wonder Woman, the DC Comics superhero.

[34] Stanley is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, holds a master's degree in Classics from San Francisco State University, is published in that field, and has lectured internationally at academic conferences.

[43] Nox Dormienda was a Writer's Digest Notable Debut (July/August, 2008),[44] and Stanley was awarded a Certificate of Honor from the City and County of San Francisco for her creation of the "Roman noir".