Richard Helms
Retired forensic psychologist and college professor Richard Helms is the author of eighteen published novels and multiple short stories. His latest title, Paid in Spades, published by Clay Stafford Books, was nominated for a Shamus Award in the “Best Original Private Eye Paperback” category. He has been nominated six times for the SMFS Derringer Award, six times for the PWA Shamus Award, twice for the ITW Thriller Award, and once for the MRI Macavity Award. He is one of only two authors ever to win the Derringer Award in two different categories in the same year–2008, for “The Gospel According to Gordon Black” (Thrilling Detective Website) and “Paper Walls/Glass Houses” (Back Alley Webzine). He also won the 2011 ITW Thriller Award for Best Short Story, for “The Gods for Vengeance Cry“, a Pat Gallegher story that appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in 2010.
He is a past president of the Southeastern Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, and served on the MWA National Board of Directors from 2011 to 2013. He was presented with SEMWA’s Magnolia Award for service to the chapter in 2017. Besides writing, Helms enjoys woodworking, traveling, reading, gourmet cooking, and rooting for his beloved Carolina Tar Heels and Carolina Panthers. A lifelong North Carolinian, Richard Helms and his wife Elaine live in Charlotte, NC.”
