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Kelli Stanley (born 1964) is an American author of mystery-thrillers. Her first novel, Nox Dormienda (A Long Night for Sleeping) (released in July, 2008) is the first of a proposed series set in Roman Britain in the first century C.E.(The Arcturus Series). Nox Dormienda takes its title from a line by the Roman poet Catullus in the poem known as Catullus 5 (Vivamus, mea Lesbia ...).

Stanley's second novel was published by Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Minotaur in February 2010. The title is City of Dragons, and the setting is 1940 San Francisco.City of Dragons tackles issues relating to the Second Sino-Japanese War, and is set mainly in Chinatown. Stanley has said that she wanted to create a femme fatale as a hero, playing tribute to noir conventions while at the same time challenging them. Miranda Corbie is the name of her private investigator protagonist, a former Spanish Civil War nurse and ex-escort.

The novel received early praise from notable writers, including Lee Child, Linda Fairstein, Robert B. Parker, George Pelecanos and Otto Penzler, and was published to high critical acclaim: three starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal, an RT Book Review Top Pick, an Indie Next Pick from the American Booksellers Association, and a Killer Book from the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.

Crime fiction critic Tom Nolan of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote in a review dated March 28, 2010, that "Stanley, winner (for a previous book set in ancient Rome) of the Bruce Alexander Award for best historical mystery, knows how to bring the past to life: not only with a wealth of references to old buildings and politics and popular culture, but with thoughts and attitudes, dialogue and gestures, that seem both true to another time and as spontaneous as right this minute. City of Dragons, with its brittle patter and its broken heart of gold, is a joy to read.”. Oline Cogdill of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel praised on February 21, 2010: "Kelli Stanley's riveting new series about 1940s San Francisco private investigator Miranda Corbie revels in the character's uniqueness without resorting to cliches ... The gritty, hard-boiled City of Dragons works as an insightful look at racism and sexism. Stanley never misses a beat as she also shows San Francisco's hidden corners, seething emotions in the days before WWII. ... City of Dragons is a wonderful start to what should be a long-running series."

The hardcover edition of City of Dragons reached #2 on the bestseller list for the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. The novel is currently available in hardcover, large-print, audio and e-editions, with a trade paperback forthcoming.

"Children's Day", a short story prequel to City of Dragons featuring Miranda Corbie, Stanley's private detective protagonist, will be published in the International Thriller Writers anthology First Thrills: High-Octane Stories from the Hottest Thriller Authors.The collection, which is edited by Lee Child, will be released on June 22, 2010, by Tor/Forge. The Curse-Maker, the sequel to Nox Dormienda, will be published by Thomas Dunne/Minotaur Books in 2011.. The sequel to City of Dragons (working title City of Spiders) will also be published in 2011.

Stanley holds a Master's Degree in Classics from San Francisco State University, is published in that field, and has lectured internationally at academic conferences. She lived and attended high school in northern Mendocino/southern Humboldt counties in northern California.

A member of the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, International Association of Crime Writers, and Private Eye Writers of America, Stanley has labeled her first series as "Roman noir," a pun on the French literary term for “black novel,” calling it a combination of historical setting and hardboiled style. She credits Raymond Chandler as her greatest writing influence.

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kelli Stanley", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0