International bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, she later earned her MD at the University of California, San Francisco. While on maternity leave as a physician, she began to write fiction, publishing her first novel in 1987. She has since sold over forty million books in forty countries, winning both the Nero and RITA awards. Gerritsen's novels have been major bestsellers around the world. Critics praise her books as "pulse-pounding fun" (Philadelphia Inquirer), "scary and brilliant" (Toronto's Globe and Mail), and "polished, riveting prose" ( Chicago Tribune). Publishers Weekly dubbed her the "medical suspense queen." Gerritsen's series featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the TNT television series Rizzoli & Isles. Now retired from medicine, Gerritsen lives in Maine and writes full time.
