A transplant to Michigan's Upper Peninsula at the age of 9, Nancy Barr grew up in the tiny town of Rapid River nestled at the top of Little Bay de Noc. She earned an associate's degree with honors from Bay de Noc Community College in Escanaba, Mich., and graduated cum laude from Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, with a bachelor's degree in business administration.

Her favorite memories as a young child are of weekly trips to the neighborhood library with her late mother to spend hours poring over mysteries (Nancy Drew for her, Ellery Queen for her mother). Her love of reading and writing led her to a career in newspaper journalism where she spent several years covering police, courts, schools and local governments for the Daily Press in Escanaba. A recipient of several awards from Associated Press and the Michigan Press Association, Barr currently serves as news editor for the Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton, Michigan. An animal aficionado, she lives in the nearby Hancock area with three demanding, but lovable, cats.

"Page One: Hit and Run" is her first novel. She began experimenting with fiction writing in college but didn't get serious until her work as a police and courts reporter inspired her to develop a mystery series based in the Upper Peninsula.