Cathy Pickens, a lawyer and college professor, is a crime fiction writer (Southern Fried Mysteries, St. Martin's/Minotaur) and true crime columnist for Mystery Readers Journal. She taught law in the McColl School of Business and served as provost at Queens, as national president of Sisters in Crime and on the boards of Mystery Writers of America and the Mecklenburg Forensic Medicine Program (an evidence collection/preservation training collaborative).