Toni L.P. Kelner has been writing thoughtful mysteries for over thirty years. She won an Agatha Award for her short story "Sleeping With the Plush" and her story "Baby Trap" was selected for inclusion in Best American Mystery and Suspense 2024, edited by S.A. Cosby and Steph Cha. Kelner's short fiction has also been nominated for the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Derringer.
Toni L.P. Kelner and Leigh Perry are two authors in one.
As Toni L.P. Kelner, she's the author of eleven novels: eight Laura Fleming mysteries set in Byerly, a small North Carolina town filled with Laura's extended family members, and three "Where are they now?" mysteries, about a freelance entertainment reporter who specializes in stories about the formerly famous. She's also the co-editor of seven urban fantasy anthologies with Charlaine Harris. Kelner has won the Agatha Award and an RT BookClub Lifetime Achievement Award, and has been nominated for the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Derringer. Her story "Baby Trap" was selected for inclusion in Best American Mystery and Suspense 2024, edited by S.A. Cosby and Steph Cha.
As Leigh Perry, she writes the Family Skeleton series about Georgia Thackery, an adjunct English professor, and her family's unusual family skeleton. Which is a skeleton. Named Sid. Sid walks, talks, and tells bad bone jokes. Together, Georgia and Sid solve crimes.
Both Leigh and Toni write short stories, and The Skeleton Rides a Horse and Other Stories is their first team-up.
No matter which name she's using, she lives north of Boston with fellow writer Stephen P. Kelner, Jr. and their daughters: a graphic artist and a flute finisher. The family has many books.