Lori Duffy Foster

A former crime reporter, Lori Duffy Foster was born and raised in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, where a piece of her heart remains. Her previous novels include NEVER LET GO, a thriller, and the Lisa Jamison Mystery Series. Her books have been nominees or finalists for Agatha, Silver Falchion and Shamus awards. Lori is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, The Historical Novel Society, International Thriller Writers, The Finger Lakes Authors & Readers Experience and Pennwriters. After several moves about the country with her family, Lori now lives and writes in the hills of Northern Pennsylvania. Look out for two new novels in 2026 and 2027 from Speaking Volumes LLC, SPRING MELT, an historical courtroom drama, and NO STRANGER HERE, a thriller.

Brief Bio

The Long Version

Crime is in her blood. A former journalist, Lori Duffy Foster was born in the Adirondack Mountains to a prosecutor who later entered private practice and had a bad habit of never billing his clients, and an immigrant mother who lived through World War II in Nazi Germany, later becoming a nurse for the American Army. She grew up on stories – stories of rum-running cousins and great uncles who tangled with the Montreal mafia; stories of a grandfather who fled Germany for a decade to avoid Nazi recruitment; stories of local crimes and criminal trials; and the tales of a young girl torn from her family and placed in the homes of strangers to protect her from bombings.

Her parents told her never to become a writer; There was no money in it.

So, she did.

Lori started her career as a newspaper reporter in Syracuse, NY, covering mostly crime, but also a bit of everything. She left journalism after more than a decade when she and her husband moved to Arizona and started a family. As their family grew, Lori freelanced articles and worked part-time jobs, writing fiction when she could. She kept writing through moves to Cincinnati and to the hills of Northern Pennsylvania, where she and her family settled. Though she loves her adopted community, a piece of her heart will always remain in the Adirondacks.

Lori is a graduate of SUNY-Oswego and Binghamton University. Her novels include NEVER LET GO, a thriller, and the Lisa Jamison Mystery Series. Her books have been nominees or finalists for Agatha, Silver Falchion and Shamus awards. Lori is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, The Historical Novel Society, International Thriller Writers, The Finger Lakes Authors & Readers Experience and Pennwriters. Look out for two new novels in 2026 and 2027 from Speaking Volumes LLC, SPRING MELT, an historical courtroom drama, and NO STRANGER HERE, a thriller.