Margot Douaihy

Dr. Margot Douaihy is a poet, crime writer, and the author of the Sister Holiday mystery series published by Gillian Flynn Books (a Zando imprint).

Her debut, Scorched Grace (2023), was named a Best Crime Novel of the Year by The New York Times, The Guardian, CrimeReads, Apple Books, and Barnes & Noble, among others, and won the Pinckley Prize for Best Debut Mystery. Blessed Water (2024) was also named a Best Crime Novel of the Year by The New York Times and Feminist Book Club, and won a Publishing Triangle Award for LGBTQ Crime Fiction. Divine Ruin, the third installment, published in 2026 as an American Booksellers Association Indie Next Pick, a Times of London Crime Fiction Pick, and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Dr. Douaihy’s mystery series has been optioned for a screen adaptation. The fourth and final Sister Holiday novel, Ravaged Light, is forthcoming in 2028.

Dr. Douaihy is also the author of the poetry collections Bandit/Queen: The Runaway Story of Belle Starr, Scranton Lace, and Girls Like You (a Lambda Finalist). She is co-editor of the Cambridge University Press Elements in Crime Narrative series and Multimodal/Multimedia Section Editor of the Journal of Creative Writing Studies. She is an active member of Radius of Arab American Writers, Queer Crime Writers, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and Mystery Writers of America.