A native of
St. Louis, Missouri, Viets has a degree in journalism and became a longtime popular media figure in St. Louis. She was a regular columnist for the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch for 25 years, Viets researches these books herself by taking the same sort of low-level dead-end jobs—
telemarketer, shop
clerk, and so forth—as the series' protagonist, Helen Hawthorne. Viets, married for over 30 years to author and actor Don Crinklaw, is active in the trade organizations
Mystery Writers of America and
Sisters in Crime. She is a board member of the Mystery Writers of America. In 2004, she was nominated for three
Agatha Awards. In 2005, she won awards presented for Best Short Story at two notable mystery conventions: an
Agatha Award at Malice Domestic Ltd and an
Anthony Award at
Bouchercon, both for her story
Wedding Knife. On April 11, 2007, Viets's fellow contributors to The Lipstick Chronicles reported that Viets had suffered a stroke. According to a subsequent update, Viets is recovering well and is again creating mysteries based on real life and the people who live it. She appeared one the very first episode of Mythbusters during the "Biscuit Bullet" story. ==Publications==