About Us

Samantha Jay is the pen name for first-cousin writing duo Samantha Cusano and Juliet Grames. Samantha, a licensed funeral director, has probably embalmed at least two thousand people over her decade as a mortician. She recently hung up her embalming gown to take a job as a forensic autopsy tech at the Medical Examiner of the State of Connecticut, where she works high-profile crime cases. In her free time, Samantha likes to unwind by creating stained glass that she exhibits through her studio, Graveyard Glassworks. Juliet is the national and international bestselling author of two other novels, The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna and The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia. Her writing has appeared in Best American Mystery & Suspense, People, Real Simple, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Parade, and many other places. When she’s not writing novels, she’s serving as Editorial Director at Soho Press. She’s the recipient of the Mystery Writers of America’s Ellery Queen Award. Both cousins live in New England, where they juggle the professional obligations they take very seriously with the social demands of their loving Italian family. They each own two black cats.