K.L. Murphy

The first thing K.L. Murphy wrote was a modified screenplay of a 1970s TV show. She and her siblings performed that show for their own built-in audience (mom and dad) to rave reviews (mom and dad again!). Later, she moved on to high school journalism before graduating from the College of William and Mary and taking a detour into banking and finance. Once she began writing again and focusing on fiction, the process felt like coming home.

K.L. is the author of The Great Forgotten (November 2025) which Library Journal called “[A] moving narrative…” and the Detective Callie Forde Mysteries, The Murderer’s Girl (August 2025) and Last Girl Missing. She is also the author of Her Sister’s Death, a 2023 Silver Falchion Finalist for Best Mystery and the January 2023 Once Upon a Book Club Pick. Of Her Sister’s Death, Publishers Weekly said, “Murphy keeps the tension high…” and “…readers will eagerly turn the pages.” Other work includes the Detective Cancini Mystery Series featuring A Guilty Mind, Stay of Execution, and The Last Sin.

Her short stories are featured in Crime in the Old Dominion which she co-edited, Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead, First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder, Murder by the Glass, and Deadly Southern Charm.

K.L. Murphy is also the author of The Center: From Generation to Generation, the 70-year history of the JCC, a beloved Richmond, VA, institution.

A member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Historical Novel Society, Historical Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and James River Writers, K.L. makes her home in Richmond, VA, where she loves spending time with her family, friends, and two amazing dogs.