Susan Van Kirk

Susan Van Kirk was born in Galesburg, Illinois, and educated at Knox College (BA) and University of Illinois (M.Ed). She taught for thirty-four years at Monmouth High School in Monmouth, Illinois,(1968-2002), and an additional ten years at Monmouth College (2002-2012.)Her story, “War and Remembrance,” was published in Teacher Magazine in March/April 2006. She wrote a memoir of her teaching life in "The Education of a Teacher (Including Dirty Books and Pointed Looks)," published 2010. Her first mystery, "Three May Keep a Secret," was published in late 2014 by Five Star Publishing. The next mystery in this series, "Marry in Haste," came out November 2016. These books are part of The Endurance Series, named after the small town that is the setting of each book. "Death Takes No Bribes," came out May, 2017, and "The Witch's Child" in 2021. Harlequin Worldwide Mysteries has republished the series and "The Witch's Child" will be republished in March 2023.On April 10, 2016, she published an e-book on Amazon called "The Locket: From the Casebook of TJ Sweeney." It, too, is an Endurance mystery, but it follows the town detective instead of Grace Kimball, the main character in her hardcover mysteries. "A Death at Tippitt Pond" was published by Encircle Publications on June 15, 2019, and has since been republished by the author.Her newest series is the Art Center Mysteries beginning with "Death in a Pale Hue," published by Level Best Books in June, 2022. "Death in a Bygone Hue," the second in the series, comes out from Level Best Books in June, 2023.She divides her time between her home in Monmouth, Illinois, and Phoenix, Arizona, where her children and grandchildren live.