Elizabeth Peters (writing as Barbara Michaels) was born and brought up in Illinois and earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago's famed Oriental Institute. After bestselling Gothic thrillers such as Greygallows and House of Many Shadows, Peters was named Grandmaster at the inaugural Anthony Awards in 1986, Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar¿ Awards in 1998, and given The Lifetime Achievement Award at Malice Domestic in 2003. She died in 2013.