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About Ellen

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photo credit: © André de Nesnera
For many years I worked as a freelance journalist in the US and while living overseas in London, Moscow, and Geneva, Switzerland before turning to writing fiction full time. My last job as a stringer was as a regional feature writer for The Washington Post, covering the many of the places where my wine country mysteries are set.

In the late 1980s, I worked for ABC Radio News as their Moscow correspondent, and over the years have written feature stories for such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Journal newspapers, the Washington, D.C. area's largest suburban newspaper (now called the Washington Enquirer).

While living in London, I wrote my first novel, Moscow Nights, (Piatkus Books, 2001) which was published in the UK and was based on my experiences in the former Soviet Union during the waning days of the Gorbachev era.

Click to see a higher resolution photo Prior to working as a journalist, I was an economist at the United States Senate. I have a master's degree in international relations from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. in political science from The Catholic University of America. I spent my junior year of undergraduate school in Madrid, Spain and did a semester of graduate studies in Bologna, Italy.

I am fairly fluent in French and Spanish and speak a smattering of Russian (I can count to ten and say "I don't understand" like a native speaker). I remember less Italian than I believe I do, and it has gotten me into trouble.
Ellen Crosby photo
Click on any photo on this
page for a high-resolution image.
photo credit: © André de Nesnera


I was born in Boston, Massachusetts but grew up mostly in Connecticut, after detours to Alabama and Pennsylvania. I now live with my family in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. -- where The Merlot Murders, The Chardonnay Charade, The Bordeaux Betrayal , The Riesling Retribution The Viognier Vendetta and The Sauvignon Secret (Scribner, 2011) are set.

I am a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime; I also serve on the advisory committee to the Virginia Festival of the Book.


Last updated: 1/15/2012