Richard Helms is a retired college professor and clinical/forensic psychologist. He has been nominated five times for the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award, with one win; eight times for the SMFS Derringer Award, winning it twice; eight times for the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award, with a win in 2021 and another in 2022; twice for the ITW Thriller Award, with one win; and twice for the Mystery Readers International Macavity Award, which he won in 2022. He is a frequent contributor to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, along with other periodicals. His story "See Humble and Die" was selected for inclusion in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Best American Mystery Stories of 2020, edited by C.J. Box and Otto Penzler. Vicar Brekonridge is his twenty-third novel. Mr. Helms is a former member of the Board of Directors of Mystery Writers of America, and the former president of the Southeast Regional Chapter of MWA. When not writing, Mr. Helms enjoys reading, travel, gourmet cooking, simracing, hanging with his grandsons, and rooting for his beloved Carolina Tar Heels and Carolina Panthers. Richard Helms and his wife Elaine live in Charlotte, North Carolina.