Molly Caldwell Crosby (born August 22, 1972)[1] is a journalist and author of three literary nonfiction books: The American Plague, Asleep, and The Great Pearl Heist.

Crosby received her BA from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and her MFA from Johns Hopkins University’s Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

[7] The book is the narrative account of a disease that once ravaged cities like New York, Philadelphia, and New Orleans culminating in the devastating 1878 yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, Tennessee—the worst urban disaster of its time.

Set against the backdrop of Edwardian London, the book follows the psychological cat and mouse game between a Scotland Yard detective and the wily gentleman thief responsible for the heist.

Candice Millard, author of River of Doubt and Destiny of the Republic, called it, "the thrilling story of a seemingly impossible theft…Crosby has written a book that is as enchanting and irresistible as its subject."