If you had told her teachers she would become a bestselling novelist they might have believed you, actually. She was always scribbling something. Got sent to the principal regularly for daydreaming in class instead of doing her work. She married a rock musician, had kids. When her oldest turned out to be Deaf she moved the whole family to Albuquerque for a Deaf education programme, enrolled at UNM herself, and studied Sign Language Interpreting. Graduated summa cum laude. Still writing novels on the side through all of it.
“I write the kinds of books I want to read, ones that make you laugh, make you cry, and make you want to throat-punch the villain.”
Her big break was the Charley Davidson series, thirteen books about a private investigator who also happens to be the Grim Reaper. Yes, literally. The books mix paranormal romance with mystery and a lot of comedy, which sounds like it should not work but absolutely does. Golden Heart, RITA, Daphne du Maurier Award. New York Times bestseller, USA Today bestseller. Thirteen books and people wanted more.
After thirteen Charley Davidson books she dropped the paranormal completely. Sunshine Vicram is pure mystery. Sunny got elected sheriff in Del Sol, New Mexico, and immediately discovered that somebody in town wants her dead. She also never found out who grabbed her off a street when she was fourteen. Three books. Funny. Sharp. Set in a dusty little town where everybody knows your business and nobody locks their front door.
Quick facts
- Breakthrough: Charley Davidson series (13 books)
- Awards: Golden Heart, RITA, Daphne du Maurier
- Bestseller: New York Times and USA Today
- Education: Summa cum laude, University of New Mexico (Sign Language Interpreting)
- Setting: The American Southwest
Jones writes like she talks, which is to say fast and funny with occasional gut punches you do not see coming. Her characters get themselves into ridiculous situations and then think their way out with dialogue that makes you laugh on the bus and get strange looks from other passengers.
A Bad Day for Sunshine (2020)
A Good Day for Chardonnay (2021)
A Hard Day for a Hangover (2022)