Margot Douaihy
Margot Douaihy, Ph.D, is an American writer whose works include "Scorched Grace" (Gillian Flynn Books, 2023), "Scranton Lace" (Clemson University Press), "Girls Like You" (Clemson University Press), a Lambda Literary Award Finalist, "Bandit / Queen: The Runaway Story of Belle Starr", and the chapbook "i would ruby if i could" (Factory Hollow Press). She is a Co-Editor of the Cambridge University Press "Elements in Crime Narratives Series" and the "Editor of" "Northern New England Review." Her writing has been featured in PBS NewsHour, "The Wisconsin Review", "Colorado Review", "The South Carolina Review", "Diode Editions", "Pittsburgh Post Gazette , The Tahoma Literary Review", "The Madison Review," "The Florida Review", "The Mark Literary Review", "The Tishman Review", "The Petigru Review", "The Elevation Review", "Petrichor", and "The Adirondack Review". Novels. "Scorched Grace" (Gillian Flynn Books, 2023): Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test in this “unique and confident” debut crime novel. When Saint Sebastian's School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and their surrounding community are thrust into chaos. Unsatisfied with the officials' response, sardonic and headstrong Sister Holiday becomes determined to  unveil the mysterious attacker herself and return her home and sanctuary to its former peace. Her investigation leads down a twisty path of suspicion and secrets in the sticky, oppressive New Orleans heat, turning her against colleagues, students, and even fellow Sisters along the way. Sister Holiday is more faithful than most, but she's no saint. To piece together the clues of this high-stakes mystery, she must first reckon with the sins of her checkered past-and neither task will be easy. An exciting start to Margot Douaihy’s bold series for Gillian Flynn Books that breathes new  life into the hard-boiled genre, Scorched Cross is a fast-paced and punchy whodunnit that will keep readers guessing until the very end. "Within five pages, I was in love with this novel." —Gillian Flynn, bestselling author of "Gone Girl" Honors. Douaihy received a 2021 Mass Cultural Council’s Artist Fellowship and the 2018 Jesse H Neal / Mattera Award for outstanding mentorship in the publishing industry. She was a finalist for the 2020 "Aesthetica Magazine Creative Writing Prize," 2020 Palette Poetry Sappho Prize, the 2019 Red Hen Press Quill Prose Award in Fiction, and Lambda Literary Awards of 2016 . Personal life. Margot Douaihy was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and is of Lebanese ancestry. A member of the LGBTQ+ community, she is a longtime advocate for inclusion, queer visibility, and antiracist education.