Thomas A. Burns, Jr. writes the Natalie McMasters Mysteries from the small town of Wendell, North Carolina, where he lives with his wife and son, four cats, and a Cardigan Welsh Corgi. He was born and grew up in New Jersey and earned B.S. degrees in Zoology and Microbiology at Michigan State University and a M.S. in Microbiology at North Carolina State University. As a kid, Tom started reading boys' mystery series with the Hardy Boys, Ken Holt, and Rick Brant, then graduated to the classic stories by authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L. Sayers, John Dickson, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Rex Stout, to name a few. He's written fiction as a hobby all of his life, beginning with the Man from U.N.C.L.E. stories in marble-backed copybooks in grade school. He went on to build a career as technical, science and medical writer, and editor for nearly 30 years in industry and government.
Now that he's a full-time novelist, Tom is excited to publish his own mystery series, as well as writing stories about his second most favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes. His Holmes story, "The Camberwell Poisoner," appeared in the March-June issue of The Strand Magazine in 2021. The sixth book in the Natalie McMasters Mysteries, Killers!, won the Silver Falchion award for best action/adventure book of 2021 at the Killer Nashville International Writers' Conference. Tom has also written a Lovecraftian horror novel, The Legacy of the Unborn, under the pen name of Silas K. Henderson, a sequel to H.P. Lovecraft's masterpiece, At The Mountains of Madness. He is currently at work on a book of Sherlock Holmes stories. Visit his website at www.3MDetectiveAgency.com.
Now that he's a full-time novelist, Tom is excited to publish his own mystery series, as well as writing stories about his second most favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes. His Holmes story, "The Camberwell Poisoner," appeared in the March-June issue of The Strand Magazine in 2021. The sixth book in the Natalie McMasters Mysteries, Killers!, won the Silver Falchion award for best action/adventure book of 2021 at the Killer Nashville International Writers' Conference. Tom has also written a Lovecraftian horror novel, The Legacy of the Unborn, under the pen name of Silas K. Henderson, a sequel to H.P. Lovecraft's masterpiece, At The Mountains of Madness. He is currently at work on a book of Sherlock Holmes stories. Visit his website at www.3MDetectiveAgency.com.