About Christine

Suspense by the River

Oregon author Christine Finlayson writes mystery/suspense novels set in the wicked woods and waters of the Pacific Northwest. Over the years, she’s worked as a water scientist, paralegal, science writer, and environmental educator, but she’s found her home in plotting fictional death and disaster–and making her characters’ lives more miserable.

When she’s not at the computer, Christine loves to photograph all things weird and wild, explore hiking trails, bike paths, and beaches, travel the world, and study forensics and police procedures. Her current suspense projects included River of Broken Glass (set in Portland) and Under a Blood Red Rose (a story that roams throughout the Pacific Northwest).

Writer. Reader.

Christine is not only a writer, but an avid reader, enjoying all kinds of good writing—but especially mysteries, suspense, and thrillers. She’s been reading since the age of four and writing for even longer (at least on the carpet…)

Her earliest novels were heavy on the pictures, light on text (writing is hard work, you know). Christine bound her stories in construction paper, designed and illustrated fancy covers–like “A Storry of Frog’s” below–and priced them at 30 cents apiece. According to her mom, Christine went door-to-door around the block, selling her handmade books to elderly neighbors. Sales were hot until she raised the price to one dollar, a small fortune in those days!

Photographer. Athlete. Nature Lover.

In her spare time, Christine loves to explore the beaches, trails, and towns of the Pacific Northwest, photograph the beautiful and the bizarre, and and dip her triathlete toes into cold mountain lakes for a swim. 

Nature inspired her early: Christine attended her first environmental protest in a baby backpack. Her mom’s sign read, BLOOMS NOT FUMES. Her sister’s sign said, I LIKE FLOWERS, and Christine’s miniature sign read, ME, TOO.

~ Christine Finlayson