Katherine Ramsland
Writer and Speaker

Although I've written about many different subjects, from ghosts to vampires to finding your bliss, my first love is crime writing. I recently completed my 33rd book and have already launched into three more. I have another one coming out this year in the series that includes The Forensic Science of CSI, The Science of Cold Case Files, and The CSI Effect, and from my research for Beating the Devil's Game, about the history of forensic science, and The Human Predator, about the history of serial murder, I came up with a dozen cases of serial murder investigation that advanced forensic detection to some extent, sometimes dramatically. That's another book.

I hold a master's degree in forensic psychology from the nationally esteemed John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a master's degree in clinical psychology, and a Ph.D. in philosophy. I have published over 400 articles on serial killers, criminology, and criminal investigation; worked on courtroom research for a forensic psychologist and several attorneys, and spent a year as a research assistant to former FBI profiler John Douglas (Mindhunter), the results of which were published in The Cases that Haunt Us (Scribner, 2000). I also co-wrote The Unknown Darkness: Profiling the Predators among Us (Morrow, 2003) with former FBI profiler Gregg McCrary and have co-written several profiles on famous unsolved crimes with him for Court TV’s Crime Library. Currently, I contribute editorials on forensic issues to The Philadelphia Inquirer, write a quarterly column on historical forensics for The Forensic Examiner, and teach forensic psychology as an assistant professor at DeSales University in Pennsylvania.

Among my other books are Inside the Minds of Serial Killers, Inside the Minds of Healthcare Serial Killers, Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers, and The Criminal Mind: A Writers' Guide to Forensic Psychology. With Professor James E. Starrs, I wrote A Voice for the Dead (Putnam 2005), a collection of his cases of historical exhumations and forensic investigation. I have also published biographies of Anne Rice (Prism of the Night) and Dean Koontz (A Writer's Biography), and my Vampire Companion: The Official Guide to Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles was a bestseller. My books and articles have been translated into ten languages. I give talks around the country on forensics, psychology, and writing. In my spare time, I watch movies (and also reviewed crime movies for Court TV).

In the supernatural arena, I went around the country for a year with ghost hunters to write Ghost, and recently penned a book of local lore - Bethlehem Ghosts. I also went undercover in the vampire subculture, writing Piercing the Darkness and The Science of Vampires, as well as two vampire novels, The Heat Seekers and The Blood Hunters. In addition, I wrote a book about behind-the-scenes tales about funeral homes and cemeteries (Cemetery Stories), and I'm currently collecting tales about murder in the Lehigh Valley for another book.

Visit my website to see more about my work.