The Little Death

P. J. Parrish is actually two sisters — Kristy Montee and Kelly Nichols — who pooled their talents and their lifelong love of writing to create the character of Louis Kincaid. Their New York Times and USA Today bestselling novels include An Unquiet Grave, A Killing Rain, Island of Bones, Thicker Than Water, Paint It Black, Dead of Winter, and Dark of the Moon.

Their collaboration is unique in that the sisters live in separate states (Kelly in Mississippi, Kristy in Florida). The sisters were born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Kristy graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a teaching degree but went on to journalism, working as a police reporter and a features editor; she also served as the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel's dance critic for eighteen years. She now lives in Fort Lauderdale with her husband.

Kelly attended college at Northern Michigan University in the state's remote upper peninsula. Kelly has lived in Arizona and Nevada, and currently lives in northern Mississippi. She worked in the gaming industry for the last twenty years, and was a senior specialist in the human resources department of a Native-American casino in Mississippi. She has two daughters, a son, and three grandchildren.