The 2025 - 2026
Executive Committee
Kristin Kisska, President
Kristin Kisska used to be a finance geek, complete with her MBA and Wall Street pedigree, but now she is a self-proclaimed #SuspenseGirl. She has contributed over a dozen short stories to crime and mystery anthologies. Her debut novel, The Hint of Light, was an Agatha Award finalist for Best First Mystery Novel. Kristin is a Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, and James River Writers member. She loves hearing from friends, readers, and book clubs at www.KristinKisska.com
A long-time resident of Glen Allen, Kristin has been a member of Sisters in Crime—Central Virginia for ten years—four of which she served as the chapter’s Vice President and Programming Chair. She’s also contributed short stories to four of the chapter’s anthologies. For her, Virginia will always be for mysteries!
Judy Chalkley, Treasurer
J. A. Chalkley is a native Virginian. She is a writer, retired public safety communications officer, and a member of Sisters in Crime.
G.M. Malliet, Secretary
G.M. Malliet is the author of three mystery series; a dozen or more short stories published in The Strand, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine; and a standalone suspense novel.
Her Agatha Award-winning Death of a Cozy Writer (2008), the first installment of the DCI St. Just mysteries, was named one of the ten best novels of the year by Kirkus Reviews.
She has been a member of SinC for over fifteen years, serving as Member at Large on the SinC National Board for five years.
Support Committees
Social Media/Publicity Chair
Shari Garmise
Shari Garmise mainlines coffee, still struggles with empty nesting and tries to do good within the four walls of an office, usually by e-mail. She has published one non-fiction book, eight Spec e-romances under several pen names, and flash fiction in on-line journals. She is currently writing her first Spec mystery, which includes romance elements, because she loves a happy ending. Visit her at sharigarmise.com.
Membership Chair/Webmaster
Leah Price
(Immediate Past President)
Leah Price has served in a wide variety of roles during her working career—from baker, to FBI program manager, to newspaper columnist. Writing as Leah St. James, she draws on these experiences to fuel her stories of good and evil, mystery and suspense, and the redeeming power of love.
A member of Sisters in Crime, Central Virginia Chapter, and the Alliance of Independent Authors, Leah is a native of the Central Jersey Shore but now resides in the Richmond area with her husband. Learn more at leahstjames.com.
Anthology Co-editor
Josh Pachter
Josh Pachter is the editor of two dozen anthologies and single-author collections, including the Anthony Award finalists The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, Paranoia Blues: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon, and Happiness is a Warm Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Beatles. More than a hundred and thirty of his own short crime stories have appeared in EQMM, AHMM, and elsewhere. His first novel, Dutch Threat, was published by Genius Book Publishing in 2023, and his first chapter book for younger readers, First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet, was published by Level Best in 2024. In 2020, he received the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s Golden Derringer Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Anthology Co-editor
K. L. Murphy
K.L. Murphy is the author of Last Girl Missing and the forthcoming The Murderer’s Girl (July 2025) as well as the award-nominated Her Sister’s Death, a January 2023 Once Upon a Book Club Pick. Of Her Sister’s Death, Publishers Weekly said, “Murphy keeps the tension high…” and “readers will eagerly turn the pages,” and Library Journal called the book “[A] riveting tale…”
In addition, she is the author of the Detective Cancini Mystery Series featuring A Guilty Mind, Stay of Execution, and The Last Sin. Her short stories are featured in Deadly Southern Charm, Murder by the Glass, First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder and Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead. She also co-edited and is featured in Crime in the Old Dominion. K.L. makes her home in Richmond, VA, where she loves spending time with her family, friends, and two amazing dogs.
