Ryan is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana. She attended Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio and studied at the International School in Hamburg, Germany. Her first job in broadcasting was in 1971 as reporter for WIBC radio, then after a stint as a legislative assistant in Washington, DC for the Administrative Practice and Procedure Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, she became an editorial assistant at Rolling Stone's Washington Bureau. She joined WTHR-TV in Indianapolis as political reporter in 1975, then WSB-TV in Atlanta in 1976 as political reporter and weekend anchor. Ryan joined WNEV-TV in 1983 as a general assignment reporter and in 1989, she was named principal reporter for the station's investigative unit. Ryan has won 34 Emmy Awards and 14 Edward R. Murrow Awards for her investigative and consumer reporting. A nationally bestselling author of 11 mystery novels, Ryan has won multiple prestigious awards for her crime fiction: five Agathas, three Anthonys, the Daphne, two Macavitys, and for The Other Woman, the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. National reviews have called her a "master at crafting suspenseful mysteries" and "a superb and gifted storyteller." Ryan's newest book is the acclaimed standalone psychological suspense thrillerTrust Me, which Suspense Magazine's reviewer calls "By far one of the best thrillers I've read in years." The Booklist starred review says "a knockout!" and New York Post, BOOK BUB, PopSugar and CrimeReads named it one of the Best Thrillers of Summer 2018. The bestselling The Other Woman,, was the first in her Jane Ryland series It's listed as a Best Book of 2012 by the Kansas City Star, the Sacramento Bee, Suspense Magazine, and The Boston Globe, won the prestigious Mary Higgins Clark Award, and was the only novel nominated for the Agatha, Anthony, Macavity, Shamus and Daphne awards for Best Novel of 2012. Her 2013 novel, The Wrong Girl, had the extraordinary honor of winning the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel and the Daphne Award for Mainstream Mystery/Suspense, and is a seven-week Boston Globe bestseller. Truth Be Told is the winner of the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel—a landmark back-to-back-to-back nomination and back-to-back win—and is a Library Journal BEST BOOK OF 2014. It was also an Anthony Award nominee for Best Novel of 2014, an RT Book Reviews nominee for Best Suspense/Thriller of 2014, a Library Journal Editor's Pick and RT Book Reviews Top Pick, with starred reviews from Booklist and from Library Journal, which raves, "Drop everything and binge read!" She won a second Agatha Award in 2015 for Best Nonfiction, as editor of Writes Of Passage, an anthology of essays by mystery authors, which was also honored with a Macavity Award and Anthony Award. Ryan's novel What You See is an Agatha nominee for Best Contemporary Novel 2015 and an Anthony nominee for Best Novel 2015. Ryan won her third Anthony Award in 2018 for Best Online Content for the Jungle Red Writers Blog; she is a founder and contributor. Her first four mysteries, beginning with the Agatha Award-winning Prime Time, feature Charlotte McNally, a Boston television reporter. Face Time was a BookSense Notable Book, and Air Time and Drive Time were both Anthony and Agatha Award nominees for best novel of 2009 and 2010. The McNally series is now available in all new editions. An award-winning investigative reporter at Boston's WHDH-TV and a television reporter since 1975, her work has resulted in new laws, people sent to prison, homes removed from foreclosure, and millions of dollars in refunds and restitution for victims and consumers. Along with her 34 EMMYs and 14 Edward R. Murrow awards, Ryan has won dozens of other honors for her groundbreaking journalism. She's been a radio reporter, a legislative aide in the United States Senate and an editorial assistant at Rolling Stone Magazine. Ryan was a founding teacher at Mystery Writers of America University, and past president of national Sisters in Crime. Watch for The Murder List, coming in 2019. Ryan is also the 2019 Guest of Honor at Bouchercon, the world mystery convention.
