Kelli Stanley (born 1964) is an American author of mystery-thrillers. The majority of her published fiction is written in the genres of historical crime fiction and noir. Her best known work, the Miranda Corbie series, is set in San Francisco, her adoptive hometown.
Biography
Novels
Stanley's debut novel, Nox Dormienda (A Long Night for Sleeping) (released in 2008) was the first of a series set in Roman Britain in the 1st century CE (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 has said that the title is an homage to The Big Sleep, and roughly translates as "A night that must be slept, i.e., death." Stanley was a graduate student in Classics at San Francisco State University when she wrote the novel, and labeled this first series as "Roman noir," a pun on the French literary term for “black novel,” a unique combination of historical setting and hardboiled style. The Curse-Maker, the second novel in the series, was sold to Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Minotaur and published in 2011.
Stanley's second novel, City of Dragons, was published by Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Minotaur in 2010. The novel marked Stanley's move from a small press to a major publisher. The first novel in the Miranda Corbie mystery series, City of Dragons is set in 1940 San Francisco, particularly Chinatown, and tackles issues relating to the Second Sino-Japanese War. The protagonist, Miranda Corbie, is a private investigator, former Spanish Civil War nurse and ex-escort. 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.
City of Secrets, the sequel to City of Dragons, was published in 2011. The plot centers on the murders of two young women, the crime apparently motivated by anti-Semitism. The novel continues to explore the major themes of Stanley's oeuvre: racism, sexism, and the erroneous romanticism of history.
City of Ghosts, the third novel in the Miranda Corbie series, was published in August 2014. In addition to genre elements and an ongoing authorial redefinition of noir, the plot explores the role of art in culture, specifically centering on how Nazi Germany labeled most modern art "degenerate" while simultaneously looting Old Masters and other works from conquered European countries.
Short stories
Stanley's first published short-story, "Convivium", is a prequel to Nox Dormienda and was published in the now-defunct e-magazine "Hardluck Stories", founded by author Dave Zeltserman. "Convivium" was nominated for a Spinetinger Award for best e-story in 2007.
"Children's Day", a short story prequel to City of Dragons featuring Miranda Corbie, Stanley's private detective protagonist, was published in the bestselling International Thriller Writers anthology First Thrills: High-Octane Stories from the Hottest Thriller Authors. The collection, which was edited by Lee Child, was released in 2010 by Tor/Forge.
"Memory Book", another Miranda Corbie short story prequel to both City of Dragons and City of Secrets, was published September 6, 2011, on Macmillan's The Criminal Element website and as an e-book.
Stanley also participated in the first charity e-book anthology, spearheaded by author Timothy Hallinan. The project, which resulted in the bestselling e-book Shaken: Stories for Japan, contributes all money—including the share normally retained by Amazon—to the Japan America Society of Southern California, to be used to help the country recover from the devastating effects of the Great East Japan earthquake. Stanley's contribution is set during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and is entitled "Coolie".
Stanley's first contemporary fiction, a short story about the 2008 financial meltdown entitled "Survivor", is available in the "Scoundrels" anthology in both print and e-book formats. The anthology is edited by noir author Gary Philips.
Critical reception
The city and county of San Francisco awarded Stanley a Certificate of Honor for her invention of the "Roman noir" subgenre, and Nox Dormienda went on to win the Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award for best historical mystery published in 2008, despite its limited print run as a small-press book.