Eleanor Birney writes historical mysteries about class, moral ambiguity, and people who aren't satisfied with life on their side of the green baize door. She received a BA in History from UC Berkeley, and works as a legal research attorney, a day job that feeds her love of precision, research, and puzzles. Growing up in foster care gave her a lifelong fascination with the way society steers people into assigned places?and how some of those people refuse to stay in them. She lives in Northern California with her family. The Green Baize Door is her debut novel and the first of the Marie Chevalier Mysteries.