For 14 years, Linda Wiken owned the mystery specialty store, Prime Crime Books in Ottawa, Ontario. It was with sadness and a sense of anticipation that she closed the store in 2010. Now, she's embarked on a life of crime between the pages. Her first novel in the Ashton Corners Book Club mysteries, A Killer Read, will be published April, 2012 as her alter ego, Erika Chase.

Her short stories have appeared in the seven Ladies’ Killing Circle anthologies (three of which she co-edited), and in the magazines Mysterious Intent and Over My Dead Body. She has been short-listed for an Arthur Ellis Award, Best Short Story, from Crime Writers of Canada.

She is a founding member and past president of Capital Crime Writers in Ottawa; and helped organize the Ottawa chapter of Crime Writers of Canada, serving as the Regional Vice President for that year.

Before life in the world of mystery, she worked as an advertising copywriter, radio producer, journalist and community education worker.

Websites: www.lindawikencom  www.erikachase.com