Abandoned by her mother at age seven, Alexandra Winslow took solace in the mystery stories she read with her devoted father -- and soon she was writing them herself, slowly graduating to dark, violent, complex crime stories that reflected skill and imagination far beyond her years. After her father's early death, at fourteen Alex is taken in by the nuns of a local convent, where she finds twenty-six mothers to take the place of the one she lost, and the time and encouragement to pursue her gift. As she climbs the ladder of publishing success, however, she does so with her father's admonition firmly in mind: men read crime stories by other men only -- and so Alexandra Winslow publishes under the pseudonyn Alexander Green, her true identity known only to a few close associates. Moving from Alex's childhood to her forties, through loss and triumph, the inner workings of the publishing world and Hollywood adaptations -- with the truth behind the celebrated Alexander Green concealed at all costs.